Rick Genest (1985 - 2018)

Rick Genest was born August 7, 1985 in Châteauguay, Quebec. He was a son of Roch Genest and Catheryne Chappelle.

At the age of 15, Rick was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he was on the surgery waitlist for six months before undergoing the surgery with minimal complications.

Rick subsequently tattooed over most of his body, and held the Guinness World Record for the most tattoos of human bones. He previously held the Guinness World Record for most tattoos of insects until November 2018.

Tattooed as a living skeleton, Genest also worked in various sideshows and freak shows across Canada as an illustrated man. Not long after beginning his facial tattoos, Genest was first introduced to the public on November 13, 2006 in a blog post on Body Modification Ezine (BME)'s ModBlog, which was followed in March 2008 by his first interview, by which time his tattoos were largely completed.

He featured in June 2008 Bizarre magazine. In the 2009 television film Carny, Rick was seen as a Tattooed Man at the Carnival.

Rick worked with the sideshow, Alive on the Inside, at Carnivàle Lune Bleue in the summer of 2010.

On January 19, 2011, Genest was featured in the new Thierry Mugler Autumn/Winter men's collection, headlining it on the brand's website. It was Genest's involvement and Lady Gaga's urging which resulted in the menswear show. His involvement also influenced Formichetti on the collection itself. The show was accompanied by a video featuring Genest. He later featured alongside Lady Gaga in the fashion show for the women's 2011 Autumn/Winter line.

On February 27, 2011, Genest was featured in Lady Gaga's video for "Born This Way", with Lady Gaga wearing makeup to replicate Genest's tattoos. Genest was featured in the sixth volume of Vogue Hommes Japan in an editorial titled "Hard To Be Passive".

In late 2011, Genest was featured in a campaign entitled "Go Beyond the Cover", promoting Dermablend professional makeup products. The commercial success of this campaign led to a 2-year endorsement contract with L'Oreal for Genest, who became its first-ever male spokesperson. Genest also appeared in the music video of the Polish pop singer Honey. The video for her song "Sabotage" was released on January 19, 2012.

For the 2012 San Diego Comic Con, the Tonner Doll Company produced "Zombie Boy", a limited edition character figure in Genest's likeness. Included with each doll is a certificate of authenticity signed by Genest (as "Rico the Zombie"). The edition was limited to 500 dolls.

In September 2012, Genest became the face of the Jay-Z music fashion label Roc-A-Wear for its re-launch in Europe.

He was cast as the character "Foreman" in the 2013 film 47 Ronin. Genest was featured in the marketing for the film, appearing on posters and in trailers.

Rick collaborated with British solo artist KAV on the single "Dirty Rejects" released May 21, 2013. They spent the first part of 2013 recording an album project and a video titled "Monsters Versus the World" in Los Angeles.

By January 2015, Genest was working with Riggs, ex-Rob Zombie guitarist, on an upcoming album. Zombie Boy music featuring Riggs. On the horror news site Bloody Disgusting, a "Zombie Boy 666 Medley" video was released featuring samples of six songs to be on the upcoming album.

In June 2017, as part of the TEDx #DISRUPTyou, Genest released a video titled "Normal is an illusion", which recounted his experiences with a brain tumour, among other things.

Rick died on August 1, 2018, six days before his 33rd birthday. He was found dead after a fall from the fourth floor balcony at his apartment in the Plateau-Mont-Royal district of Montreal, Canada. His death was concluded as accidental; he was found to have high level of alcohol in his system with traces of cannabis.

An 11.5-foot (3.5 m) sculpture of Genest called "Self-Conscious Gene" was unveiled in 2019 as a new permanent fixture at the Science Museum, London, United Kingdom.

Sources

• Rick Genest on Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #191917864 for Rick Genest