Singer Forest Blakk had a tough upbringing but has sustained a successful career with the help of a supportive girlfriend.
Blakk is a versatile, resilient songwriter who can etch different extracts in tried-and-true terrains like love. Each of his piano and acoustic-driven songs is a treasure trove of honesty and vulnerability.
His songs have lyrics about loss, whether it's letting go of someone you still love (his debut single Love Me) or physically losing someone through death, the reincarnation of love (Where I First Found You).
Blakk's humanity and personal strength, considering what he's been through in his life, is reflected in his songs, which are as open-hearted and optimistic as he is.
Keep reading to find out five facts that you didn’t know about the singer.
Blakk Had a Rough Childhood
The Love Me singer was born in Montreal and spent his childhood with his mother. His mother gave birth to him at 17 and battled addiction. His stepfather was a notorious drug dealer, criminal, and a manipulative person. "They were not equipped to be parents at all," he said in an interview with The Feldman Agency.
Blakk went through some terrifying incidents as a child, including an assassination attempt on his father on the family's front stoop. He witnessed rooms filled with cash and his family was running around constantly.
He also spent time in Jamaica and Florida to avoid child services after his teachers in Canada discovered his father's physical violence.
Blakk's father went to jail when he was 13, and his mother became violent and abusive. He then left and lived on the streets for the next two years. His grandmother took him in when he was 15 years old.
Blakk, unfortunately, returned to the streets, wandering with gangs and reverting to old habits. At 17, he returned to his grandmother's house in Montreal and enrolled in high school, where he met two twin brothers who had formed a rock band.
However, he dropped out of school and spent the next four years "hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing stuff I wasn't proud of."
He Tried To Take His Own Life
Blakk struggled with anxiety and depression. For days at a time, he characterized himself as psychotic. He felt lonely and alone, as if he was invisible to the rest of the world.
The singer got dangerously close to taking his own life after a show one night. He and his team performed for 8,000 people and had a 13-minute encore during which people sang and cried. Throughout the broadcast, he was plotting the suicide.
The artist drew himself back from the cliff's edge. He sought professional treatment, began eating healthy, and lost 100 pounds — a drastic physical transformation that allowed him to reclaim his identity.
He Adopted the name “Forest Blakk” in Germany
The singer was born Jesse-James Cameron. Later, he visited the Black Forest in Germany with his friend Christoph Stiller, the touring keyboardist in his former band and now his production partner.
After returning home, he read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, a novel about a man's spiritual journey of self-discovery, and took the name "Forest Blakk." According to him, it hit him really hard and gave him his identity and realization of his true self.
"That's me. That's my name. That's who I will be from now on. I will live by those rules."
Blakk Is in a Relationship with Tiffany Michaela
The Find Me singer has been in a relationship with Michaela since January 2020. Blakk first said “I love you” to his girlfriend on top of the mountain in Canada.
According to Michaela, she shared her one of the last conversations' with her mom with Blakk, and ever since then, they felt connected. Throughout their journey together, others described them as kind people. Ever since the first meeting, she fell in love with him wholeheartedly for his pure heart.
Blakk’s girlfriend is also a singer and has sung many acoustic versions with him, including a popular song, 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars. Besides singing, Michaela is also a sketch artist.
Career Feats
The 25-year-old has given hits like If You Love Her, Love Me, Find Me, and many more. Apart from that, he has toured alongside noteworthy groups like Goo Goo Dolls and Lifehouse.
His song was also featured in the end credits of the movie Playing With Housefire that featured A-listers such as John Cena and Keegan-Michael Key. His thoughts on this achievement in the caption. Blakk describes it as his dream come true and is very grateful for the opportunity.
“Getting to hear my song in a movie is a literal dream come true for me. It takes a whole world of people behind the scenes to make it happen.”
Blakk’s tracks are also used in many other well-known projects like Grey’s Anatomy and Station-19. Also, the songs are used by Groups like the On Ice Perspectives by featuring their performance.
If you are feeling suicidal, thinking about hurting yourself, or are concerned that someone you know may be in danger of hurting himself or herself, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK(8255) or the Suicide Hotline: 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433).
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