Tony Lovato

Tony Lovato

Lovato in 2008
Background information
Birth name Anthony John Lovato
Born June 20, 1980
Origin Blue Island, Illinois
Genres Pop punk, punk rock, melodic hardcore, ska punk (Early)
Occupation(s) Singer, Guitarist
Instruments Vocals, Guitar
Years active 1995–present
Associated acts Confederate Storm, Mest, Kisses for Kings

Anthony John Lovato (born June 20, 1980, Blue Island, Illinois) is a singer and guitarist best known for his time fronting the pop-punk band Mest.

Musical career

Confederate Storm

Lovato started his music career at age 13, playing drums for white power band Confederate Storm, for which he later apologized.[1][2]

Mest

Lovato, his brother Steve Lovato, and their cousin Matt Lovato founded Mest in 1995. He wrote the majority of the lyrics for their self-released debut Mo' Money, Mo' 40z. Their major label debut, Wasting Time, came out in 2000 on Maverick Records, followed by their 2001 effort, Destination Unknown. Their self-titled third major label album was released in 2003, and their fourth and final, Photographs was released in 2005. In 2006 Mest announced on their Myspace page that they were disbanding.

In October 2008, Tony staged a reunion tour of Mest, with Steve Lovato taking bass guitar duties, Chris Wilson (formerly of Good Charlotte) taking over on drums, and Ryan Clayton covering lead guitar. None of the other former members of Mest took part in the reunion.

Tony stated tho Twitter that in 2012 MEST would be releasing a new record, which is yet to be titled. A new video was posted on YouTube in early March 2012 for their first single "Almost".

A Permanent Holiday / Kisses For Kings

In 2006 after Tony moved to L.A, he started his new project "A Permanent Holiday". They released a few songs on their Myspace page before they changed their name to 'Kisses For Kings' in April 2008.

Other appearances

Lovato appeared in Good Charlotte's music videos for Festival Song, The Anthem and Like It's Her Birthday. Lovato also made an appearance in Escape the Fate's music video Something, Hollywood Undead's music video Everywhere I Go and The Vibrators music video for One More.

Stabbing incident

In 2007, Tony Lovato was jailed on suspicion of murder in Los Angeles after police said he confessed to stabbing his then-current girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. He was held on $1 million bail after telling police that he was assaulted earlier in the day by Wayne Hughes, 25, in the underground parking lot of Archstone Apartments in the suburb of Studio City.

On Tuesday March 27, 2007, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office dropped the murder charges, ruling that Lovato had acted in self-defense.[3] He has since broken up with the girlfriend.

References

  1. "Mest". Punkmusic.about.com. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  2. Degoratis, Jim (April 5, 2002). "Cosmetic changes work wonders". Jimdero.com. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  3. "Former Mest singer to be released from jail; won't face murder charges". MTV. March 27, 2007. Retrieved May 30, 2014.