William Beckett

Hailing from the suburbs outside Chicago, William Beckett first rose to prominence fronting the emo-pop outfit The Academy Is.... Before that project, he performed with the acoustic group Remember Maine and issued its album The Last Place You Look at the age of 17. The Academy Is... came together in 2003 when Beckett and guitarist Mike Carden launched the band, which went on to deliver three albums and four EPs while appearing on the Warped Tour in 2006, the Honda Civic Tour in 2007, and a 2010 run supporting Kiss, all prior to the October 2011 split. Throughout those years Beckett contributed guest vocals to Fall Out Boy tracks “Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year” and “What a Catch, Donnie,” to Cute Is What We Aim For’s “There’s a Class for This,” to Gym Class Heroes’ “7 Weeks,” and to Cobra Starship’s “Snakes on a Plane [Bring It],” while also co-writing Hey Monday’s “Homecoming” and Demi Lovato’s “For the Love of a Daughter.” Reportedly after parting ways with Atlantic, he resurfaced in 2012 as a solo act on YIKE Records, unveiling the single “Compromising Me” in March to precede Walk the Talk, the opening release in a projected trilogy of EPs that year. A solo headlining tour began in May, followed within two months by the single “Great Night” and the second EP, Winds Will Change; the third EP was scheduled to arrive in October.