| Riker Lynch | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 8, 1991 Littleton, Colorado |
| Occupation | Singer, actor, dancer, bassist, songwriter |
Riker Anthony Lynch (born November 8, 1991)[1] is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, dancer, and is the singer and bassist of the band R5 with his brothers Ross Lynch and Rocky Lynch, sister Rydel Lynch, and best friend Ellington Ratliff.
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Riker was born in Littleton, Colorado. He is the eldest of five children born to Mark and Stormie Lynch. At the age of three, Riker started learning to sing and act at Colorado Productions and later began taking dance lessons. He was in singing groups that performed all around Denver, and in the summer he would act in kid versions of plays such as Peter Pan, Aladdin, Annie Get Your Gun, A Chorus Line, and Grease. Riker and his siblings would constantly put on concerts in their basement for the rest of the family singing and dancing to Michael Jackson, Elvis, Backstreet Boys, and *NSYNC. Riker and his sister Rydel took piano lessons and competed as partners in dance competitions.
In 2007, Riker moved with his family to California to pursue a career as a young entertainer.
After moving to Los Angeles, one of Riker's brothers, Rocky Lynch, began showing interest in playing the guitar; he taught himself how to play and got into bands like Fall Out Boy and Green Day. Rocky later taught their younger brother Ross to play guitar and taught Riker to play the bass. Rydel, already knowing how to play a little piano, took up the instrument again, and in October 2009 the family met Ellington Ratliff at a dance studio. Learning that Ratliff could play drums they added the final member and using Ratliff's last name they completed R5.
He is also the cousin of dancing/music-singing/acting stars Derek Hough and Julianne Hough.[2]
Riker is the bassist and one of the lead vocalists in the band R5 with his family members and best friend. R5 plays all throughout Southern California at such venues as the Orange County Fair, the San Diego Fair, San Diego Indie Fest, The Knitting Factory, and Six Flags Magic Mountain.
R5 released an EP titled "Ready Set Rock" on March 9, 2010 consisting of songs written primarily by Riker and his brother Rocky along with their sister Rydel, band coach E-Vega, and vocal coach / songwriter, Mauli B. The EP was also produced by E-Vega.
Riker is best known for his role as Jeff, one of the Dalton Academy Warblers on Fox's hit show Glee. He was a recurring character for the second season, appearing in six episodes, and returned in the third season with the fifth episode, "The First Time". He also appeared as a Warbler in the 2011 edition of the Glee Live! In Concert! tour, which performed from May 21, 2011 through July 3, 2011: four weeks in the U.S. and Canada, followed by twelve days in England and Ireland. A movie was filmed of the tour concert, which includes scenes with Riker performing as Jeff: Glee: The 3D Concert Movie was released on August 12, 2011.[3] The movie was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 20, 2011 under the title Glee: The Concert Movie.[4]
| Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday School Musical (2008) | Crossroads choir member | |
| Passport to Explore | Himself (host) | |
| The Fresh Beat Band | Principal Dancer | |
| So You Think You Can Dance | Himself | 1 episode (June 25, 2009) |
| Suicide Dolls (2010) | Hip kid | |
| Zeke and Luther | Principal Dancer | 1 episode (2010) - "Goin' Zoomin'" |
| Glee | Jeff | 7 episodes (2010–present) - "Special Education", "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", "Silly Love Songs", "Sexy", "Original Song", "Born This Way" and "The First Time" |
| Glee: The 3D Concert Movie | Jeff | Released August 12, 2011 |
| The Muppets (2011) | Town people dancer | Released November 23, 2011 |
| City of Jerks (2012) | Sketch Ball | Post-production |