When we think of the typical “rock star persona,” Ronnie Radke seems to fit the bill just right.
Radke was born in Las Vegas on Dec. 15, 1983. After playing around in different bands throughout high school, he dropped out, and formed Escape the Fate a few years later in 2004.
His tenure in the band didn’t last particularly long — he sang on their debut EP There’s No Sympathy for the Dead and the scene classic album Dying Is Your Latest Fashion — and was fired in 2008.
Two years prior, he had been involved in an altercation that resulted in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Cook. Radke himself did not shoot Cook, but later plead guilty to a charge of battery with substantial bodily harm, as per Las Vegas Weekly. After violating conditions of his probation, he was arrested and served two-and-a-half years in prison.
While he was inside, Radke formed Falling in Reverse. They released their debut album The Drug in Me Is You in early 2011, just a few months after the frontman was released.
Following his stint in prison, Radke had several other criminal charges, including assault charges for injuring two people with his microphone stand in 2012. “I apologize profusely for that. I went to jail for that, dude. I got treated like a criminal who intentionally tried to injure little kids, but that’s not my thing and you can bet that I’ll never do it again,” he told Rock Sound two years after the occurrence.
To say Radke has had his fair share of ups and downs is a bit of an understatement. Falling in Reverse now have four studio albums under their belt, and tragically endured the loss of guitarist Derek Jones in April of 2020. However, they still plan to continue as guitarist Christian Thompson confirmed on Instagram that he was back in the band in October.
Scroll through the collection of images below to see the one and only Ronnie Radke through the years.