The most famous tattooed model Rick Genest, better known under the pseudonym Zombie Boy (“Boy Zombie”) committed suicide at the age of 32 years. The body was found in his apartment in the Plateau-Mont-Royal area in Montreal, Canada at 17:00 on Wednesday, August 1 - police representatives told Radio Canada about the incident.
The fact of his death was confirmed by representatives of the modeling agency in which he worked - they wrote about this on their Facebook account. The statement said: “The whole family is shocked by this tragedy. The Zombie Boy, Rico, was loved by all who had the pleasure of getting to know him and knowing him. An icon of the art scene and the fashion world, this innovator, contrary to popular culture, could charm any heart."
Genest first came to public attention when he covered his entire body in tattoos from head to toe - he still holds the Guinness record for the most tattoos on his body. In total, he had 176 tattoos, of which 139 were in the form of human bones. The number of these images earned him another world record.
"Zombie Boy" was born and raised in the disadvantaged area of La Salle in Montreal, in the Canadian province of Quebec. He spent part of his life on the street: at the age of 16 he got his first tattoo, and at 17 he had already run away from home. His love of dark subjects was the result of a diagnosis he was given at the age of 15 with an inoperable brain tumor.
Perhaps because the doctors couldn't cure him, he decided to paint a new skull on top of his own.
By the end of the transformation young man from Canada to a "living zombie", 90% of his body was covered with tattoos. According to the Guinness Book of Records, most of his tattoos were done by Canadian artist Frank Lewis. After Genest became famous on the Internet, designers in Paris and Berlin noticed his unusual appearance, from that moment his modeling career began.
In an interview with numerous portals, he explained that the integrity of the composition was the merit of his tattoo artist, and he wanted to depict on himself different types of death.
Like all celebrities, literally "made themselves", Rick Genest was a hostage to his image. He spoke about this on the air of Radio Canada in 2016, radio host Penelope McQuaid shared his words. British artist Mark Quinn has even planned to create a 3.5m bronze sculpture for the London Science Museum next year. In March 2018, Quinn spoke about his decision: “I find him [Genesta — Gazeta.Ru] amazing.
He is an artist. He himself is a work of art."
Zombie Boy rose to prominence in 2011 with Lady Gaga's iconic music video for the single Born This Way. At one of the shows, Gaga's stylist saw him, and after a couple of months, her representatives happily invited Genest to shoot. The YouTube video has already been viewed by more than 231 million people.
In addition to fashion shows and filming in videos, in 2012 Zombie Boy became the face of a major cosmetics company. In the commercial, his entire body and face were covered with foundation, thus showing the dense coverage and durability of the product. At the very beginning of the advertisement, Genest, almost unrecognizable without his tattoos, sat on a chair, and the inscription appeared on the screen: “How do you rate the book?”. After that, he personally erased tone cream from the face. The video has collected more than five million views on the Internet alone.
Zombie Boy is a strange character with an incomprehensible history and principles in life. He got into the Guinness Book of Records as the person on whose body the largest number of insects is tattooed. In addition, the guy's body is dotted with tattoos that are fully consistent with the human skeleton. What led the guy to such a shocking image and how does the world community react to the zombie boy? Let's figure it out.
Childhood years of a zombie fight
Rick Genest, the zombie boy's name from birth, was born as a sweet little boy in Chateaugues, Quebec in 1985. He was the eldest child in a family of hard workers. He lived for himself, like all other children, no different from his peers. In something discrediting the honor of the family, then little Rick zombie boy Genest, was not noticed. The turning point in his life happened at school age.
The reason for the change in appearance
Rick Genest, while still in school, underwent major surgery to remove a tumor in his brain. Parents no longer hoped to see the child alive, as the situation remained critical for a long time. It was at that moment between life and death that Rick Genest reconsidered his attitude towards the latter. He became, in his words, "depending on death." Apparently, the doctors removed not only the tumor, but also part of the gray matter, because instead of being grateful to God for the miraculous healing and enjoying every day lived, the zombie fight began to play and joke with death. He regularly runs to tattoo parlors to turn into a zombie.
Zombie fight tattoos
- "Pen trials for zombie boy". Skull with crossbones. The picture of the skull was the first in the list of his tattoos. She flaunts on her shoulder. Rick zombie boy Genest made it at the age of 16 when he collected his first $4,000. Before that, the guy was afraid of the anger of his parents. After he posted a lot of photos of the cemetery online, he was, oddly enough, noticed by Nicole Formichetti, creative director of the fashion brand Mugler. It was then that the zombie battle got more fun.
- Head. On the head and face of Rick, you can safely study the anatomy of the structure of the skull. The nose is completely painted over in black to give the effect of its absence. Black holes gape in front of the eyes and eyelids. The tattooed brain is divided by the same furrow to give the effect of an open cranium. By the way, apparently, Rick Genest, as planned, should be great to whine, because maggots and beetles with fleshy larvae nest in the painted brain. The mouth of a young man looks most intimidating. After all, bare jaws are knocked out to the very ears. Blood vessels are intertwined with the jaw bones, in the ears - maggots and cobwebs.
- Neck. Stuffed cervical vertebrae are wrapped in a mesh of blood vessels. Beetles and spiders roam peacefully among them. Connective tissues are torn, and the impression of rotting meat is created. From the neck to the ear, some kind of cuttlefish or centipede runs dashingly. Apparently, she had very important things in his ear.
- Breast. On the chest, the main place is occupied by the biohazard sign. Rick Genest's tattoos completely convey the subcutaneous contents of the human body. Ribs, spine, fetid decaying intestines, all present with light hand tattoo artist on the guy's body. When asked if he would like to leave his body after death to the museum, the zombie boy said that he had not thought about it, and that, most likely, his tissues would simply be devoured by worms in a coffin. Zombie battle tattoos, in his own words, will not stop voracious reptiles.
- Arms. Among the tattooed cobwebs, bones and muscles, live his favorite bugs and insect larvae. On the right hand there are paintings of the cemetery and crosses. Rick Genest has a very simple and easy attitude towards death. Zombie Boy is convinced that he will die young and not live to be 75 years old. Perhaps for this reason, the zombie fight impaled death with a scythe on the same right hand. And on the left, the inscription "zombie" is pierced.
- Back. On the back, the spine, ribs and scapular bones are pierced. These are not vanilla butterflies and flowers. Rick Genest's tattoos go from the back to the head in the form of bare vertebrae. Naturally, everything is covered in cobwebs and putrid remains of meat. Spider beetles, included in the Guinness Book of Records, run along them, as if burping and eating all the undigested remains of his body.
- Taz. Among the pelvic bones on Rick's buttocks, pricked ... a pie. It looks among the whole gloomy picture, like "a saddle on a cow." The tattoo is out of the picture. Rick zombie boy Genest himself is happy to pull down his pants, showing this last picture on the sirloin. Perhaps his maggots were drawn to sweets. Or he himself associates his own ass with a sweet dessert. The reason for the appearance of a pie on the pope of a zombie boy is not clear.
- Legs. To the fingertips, tattoos of a rotting body cover the legs with which zombie boy walks around the tattoo parlors. Rick Genest himself turns only to prestigious salons, as he takes care of the sterility of the premises and tools.
- Future plans. Zombie fight photos boggle the imagination of the most zealous horror movie buff. But Zombie Boy himself is more worried that his maggots in his ears do not look entirely authentic. He says that he is still full of plans to improve his appearance. According to Rick, after each new tattoo, the parents send a famous three-letter zombie and kick him out of the house.
social activities zombie boy
Rick Genest before tattoos was an uninteresting American teenager. Now, photos of zombie battles flaunt on the glossy pages of fashion magazines. For a zombie boy, it doesn’t matter that he looks so that people with weak nerves have gagging. For his 26 years, Rick Genest has already starred in Lady Gaga's video, works as a model, maintains a personal blog and acts as a prototype for creating children's dolls.
Zombie Boy had a background in DJing and acting, although people look at him rather than listen to his music and evaluate acting.
Personal life of Zombie Boy
Rick Genest often abuses alcohol, smokes and leads a nocturnal lifestyle. From the fate of a quiet wino, zombie boy was saved only by fame in the world because of tattoos.
They began to say that Rick Genest, known as Zombie Boy, got married. A photo of Rick Genest recently appeared on the network, in which the guy and his wife pose for a photo shoot. Became the chosen one for zombies, you will be surprised now ... . Bisexual model from Croatia. Whether a young couple is really connected by love and marriage, or is this another PR move by an expressive man, time will tell.
Rick Genest is the type of person who thinks that if you have to try everything in life, then "everything" is necessarily the worst. For all the transformations into a walking rotting corpse, Zombie Boy spent $1,700,000. With his disgusting appearance, painted bugs and a rotten skeleton, Zombie Boy causes disgust and misunderstanding from the outside. Is it worth it to disfigure yourself and boast about the search for death? Decide for everyone for themselves.
Video: Rick Genest - the best foundation commercial
Model Rick Genest, or Zombie Boy, was found dead in the garden of his Montreal home on August 1st. In all news sources, information appeared with a version of the suicide of the model. However, soon the relatives and the manager of Genest denied this information, giving their arguments.
Zombie Boy's manager disputed the underlying cause of model's death
The body of the famous tattoo model Rick Genest, better known by the nickname Zombie Boy, was discovered on August 1 in the courtyard of the model's house in Montreal (Canada), the Mont-Royal Plateau area. At that moment, his girlfriend was also at home with Rick, who said that the guy went out to the balcony to smoke and did not return for a long time. When she herself went out onto the balcony, it was already too late - the guy fell over the railing.
In view of the situation, the first cause of death was suicide. Especially given the numerous tattoos with the meaning of death on Jenset's body.
The manager of the model, Karim Ledak, promoting the opinion of Rick's relatives, hastened to refute this information:
“The balcony from which he fell is located on the third floor, very dangerous,” Ledak said. Zombie Boy has already fallen off the railing of this balcony once, going out for a smoke: "This balcony has a very low railing - it's a fire balcony - and he was sitting on the railing, leaning back, and then fell from it to the floor."
According to Genest's family, this is an accident, not a suicide.
Zombie Boy did not live 6 days before his 33rd birthday.
One of the first news about the death of the model was published by American singer Lady Gaga: “The suicide of Rick Genest’s friend, Zombie Boy, is beyond devastation. We need to work harder to change the culture, bring mental health to the forefront, and erase the stigma we can't talk about. If you are suffering, call a friend or family today. We must save each other."
After refuting the version of suicide, Lady Gaga deleted the previous post and offered her condolences and apologies for premature words to a friend's family. The new post read: "Out of respect for Rick's family, I apologize for speaking out too soon as there are no witnesses or evidence to support the cause of his death. I didn't mean to draw unfair conclusions in any way. I sympathize with his family and friends."
During his lifetime, Zombie Boy flirted with death, many believe in the version of suicide
Fans of Zombie Boy after the death of the model began to discuss his last post on Instagram on August 2.
"Oh Damballah.
We howl at the stars hanging from above
Our souls sink into a stone well
Like a fire laid between two destinies,
From the most boring stories.
Every breath cuts through the ice like flesh is suspended
Before the old narrow gates of death
Where is the bold and brazen last ritual
Fulfills our desire for madness.
Deep underground
We kissed our prayers
So harsh and cold
On metal shells.
Freed by moonlight"
Many consider symbolic tattoos, meaning death, and the imminent death of the model.
The first tattoo, as Genest himself noted, he did when he was under 15 years old, in secret from his parents. Officially, the first tattoo (a skull with crossbones) appeared at the age of 16. By the age of 19, the guy's body was 90% covered with tattoos. Such a craving for tattoos and death in Zombie Boy appeared after he underwent a serious operation to remove a tumor in the brain as a teenager.
Zombie Boy was twice included in the Guinness Book of Records: as the owner of the largest number of tattoos with the image of insects (176), and drawings in the form of bones (139).
Celebrity and fame came to Rick Genest just after getting a full body tattoo.
Zombie Boy was a model for Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, ran his own blog, starred in Lady Gaga's video "Born This Way" and several films (the most famous is "47 Ronin"), and also repeatedly became the star of various television shows.
Canadian Rick Genest, or Zombie Boy, known for his many tattoos and the video clip of the American singer Lady Gaga, committed suicide, Radio Canada reported Friday, citing police.
Genest was reportedly found dead on Wednesday in Montreal. He was 32 years old. According to authorities, the man was experiencing psychological problems.
Rick Genest gained popularity in 2011 after starring in Lady Gaga's video for the song "Born This Way", after which he participated in many fashion shows. Upon learning of the incident, Lady Gaga wrote on Twitter that she was "more than devastated" by this news.
"We must do more to change the culture, bring mental health to the fore and eliminate the stigma that we can't talk about it. If you're suffering, call a friend or family today. We must save each other," Lady Gaga wrote. .
Rick Genest entered the Guinness Book of Records as the person with the most insect and bone tattoos. At least 90% of his body was covered in ink drawings.
Genest got his first tattoo after undergoing brain tumor surgery at 15. According to a Canadian radio station, his nickname originated at that time.
Associate Professor of the Kazan Institute of Psychology and Education federal university, candidate of psychological sciences, psychotherapist Ramil Garifullin, on the air of Sputnik radio, expressed an opinion on what was the reason for the decision of Rick Genest to cover almost his entire body with tattoos.
"Here it is correct to say not that tattoos lead to some psychological states. On the contrary, initially there is already a certain psychological state - depression, emptiness, some loss of meanings, values. In a word - suffering. And in this case, people they are looking for various mechanisms in order to somehow "attach" to life, to organize life affirmation. At the same time, a tattoo is not just a drawing, it is, first of all, the process of applying it, in which there is overcoming, testing. And after that, a person for some time it acquires a certain uplift, and the problems of depression, emptiness that he used to have seem to disappear," said Ramil Garifullin.
He believes that Rick Genest's main problem was that he was addicted, that is, he was attached to certain values, without which he could no longer live.
“It must be admitted that this personality, most likely, was additive, that is, it was easily attached to various values, without which it would have experienced depression. Such values can be not only drugs, alcohol, such values can be, among other things, Therefore, addiction, as an addiction, is often the basis for the fact that a person paints himself, and not because he just wants to set a record, but because he has a limited body area, and attacks of the need to receive a dose of experience in the process of drawing happen all more and more often, therefore, of course, he (Rick Genest - ed.) was all painted over. That is, tattoos, their application are often the product of this addiction, "said the psychotherapist.
In his opinion, the theme of tattoos in this case is secondary.
"They (people like Rick Genest - ed.) organize for themselves a kind of borderline situation between life and death, a kind of extreme. And on the basis of this overcoming, they feel certain values, there is an adrenaline rush and a binding to life for a while. Therefore, I repeat ", this man suffered from a depressive syndrome. And with the help of his addictions, addictions, he caused a surge of adrenaline in himself, like a drug addict. The origins are in his depression. The content of his tattoos, associated with the theme of death, is all secondary. Primarily, this is a process when he himself involves himself in self-torture, some kind of overcoming. At the same time, the dosage of these processes grew, and, consequently, depression also grew. In addition, it is possible that in this way he replaced the use of drugs, replacing them with extreme sports, "concluded Ramil Garifullin.
Radio Sputnik has great publics
The death of the world-famous model Rick Genest became known on August 3, he called himself "Zombie Boy" and all thanks to tattoos, because of which his body looked like a skeleton.
Despite his unusual appearance, he became famous after starring in the video of the famous singer Lady Gaga, who was his girlfriend. Then everyone just shocked him appearance, because there was practically no free space on his body, and those tattoos that were made were somehow connected with death.
Those who knew him said that the guy had certain mental problems and suicide, and it is this version that is being put forward now, only a consequence of his thoughtless tattoos.
The Canadian model was only 32 years old and was twice listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the owner of the largest number of insect tattoos (there are 176 of them) and bone designs (139 pieces).
He participated in fashion shows, starred for magazines, regularly appeared in various television shows.
He was found in his home in Montreal, and he was only a week short of his birthday.
On August 2, an entry appeared on his Instagram page, which depicted a ring of light in the darkness, and also wrote a poem about Dambala, which refers to a mystical entity from the voodoo religion.
Lady Gaga, announcing the death of Zombie Boy, urged subscribers not to run their mental health and treat it carefully.
Modeling agency Dulcedo Management said Genest was not taking drugs and was sober at the time of his death.
Gaga herself was one of the first to react to the sad news and expressed her condolences on Twitter:
The suicide of my friend Rick Genest is just awful. We should work harder to change the culture and pay more attention to mental health, we need to get rid of prejudices that we cannot talk about. If you are suffering, call a family or friend today. We must take care of each other,” she wrote.
Canadian model Rick Genest (Zombie Boy) published a poem of his own composition on social networks before his death. As Life notes, the verse is dedicated to Damballah, a mystical entity from the voodoo religion.
The entry appeared on Genest's page on August 2. Most likely, he put the publication on the auto-timer before committing suicide.
In the poem, Genest calls out to Damballah and asks her to "hear the longing for madness deep within" and "fierce prayers".
«<…>Each breath cuts the ice, as the flesh is weighed before death by the old narrow gate, where the bold and insolent last ritual is, ”Life translates the poem. Rambler reports.
The suicide of Zombie Boy (real name Rick Genest) made American singer Lady Gaga think about the barriers in society.
The young man starred in her video for the song Born This Way.
The artist urged to talk about mental problems.
“The suicide of my friend Rick Genest is more than devastating. If you are suffering, call a friend or relatives,” said the singer.
She noted that in society it is necessary to change such barriers and talk about their problems, save each other.
Rick Genest, the zombie boy's name from birth, was born as a sweet little boy in Chateaugues, Quebec in 1985. He was the eldest child in a family of hard workers. He lived for himself, like all other children, no different from his peers. In something discrediting the honor of the family, the then little Rick zombie boy Genest was not noticed. The turning point in his life happened at school age.
Rick Genest, while still in school, underwent major surgery to remove a tumor in his brain. Parents no longer hoped to see the child alive, as the situation remained critical for a long time. It was at that moment between life and death that Rick Genest reconsidered his attitude towards the latter. He became, in his words, "depending on death." Apparently, the doctors removed not only the tumor, but also part of the gray matter, because instead of being grateful to God for the miraculous healing and enjoying every day lived, the zombie fight began to play and joke with death. He regularly ran to tattoo parlors to turn into a zombie.
Rick Genest before tattoos was an uninteresting American teenager, writes the Ros-Registr website. Now, photos of the zombie battle are on the glossy pages of fashion magazines. For a zombie boy, it doesn’t matter that he looks so that people with weak nerves have gagging. For his 32 years, Rick Genest has already starred in Lady Gaga's video, works as a model, maintains a personal blog and acts as a prototype for creating children's dolls.
Zombie Boy had a background in DJing and acting, although people look at him rather than listen to his music and evaluate acting.
Rick Genest often abused alcohol, smoked and led a nocturnal lifestyle. From the fate of a quiet wino, zombie boy was saved only by fame in the world because of tattoos.
They began to say that Rick Genest, known as Zombie Boy, got married. A photo of Rick Genest recently appeared on the network, in which the guy and his wife pose for a photo shoot. Became the chosen one for zombies, you will be surprised now ... Andrej Pejic, a bisexual model from Croatia. Whether the young couple was really bound by love and marriage, or is this another PR move by an expressive man, time will tell.
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