Ricky Rebel (singer)

Ricky Rebel (born December 2, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, musician, and recording artist. Ricky is a vocal advocate for LGBT rights.

Early Life
Ricky was born in Upland, California. He began training as a gymnast at the age of 7 years old, and ranked 15th in the state of California at the age of 11. Ricky began training in classical ballet and jazz dance styles around the age of 11. Ricky immediately entered dance competitions at the regional and national level. After some years of competitive dancing Ricky then began acting, and performed in musicals like Annie (1991), Oliver (1992), and Phantom (1994).

In Los Angeles, he began training with vocal coaches Eric Vetro, Seth Riggs, and Mara Buyugalova and choreographers like Marguerite Derricks. Debbie Allen then cast Ricky in the lead role of Pepito's Story, which debuted at the Kennedy Center.

1996–2002
In 1996, Ricky started working with the band No Authority as their lead vocalist. No Authority was discovered by an A&R representative from Sony Records, and subsequently was signed to Michael Jackson's label MJJ Music, a custom label at Sony.

In 1997, No Authority released their first album “Keep On”, produced by Rodney Jerkins The single "Girlfriend" appeared on the Trippin' original soundtrack. No Authority toured Europe twice during this time and opened for Aaron Carter on the Kids Go Music Festival. The group also traveled to Canada to perform on the YTV Psyko Blast concert. In 1999, Ricky was featured in the Pepsi "Joy of Cola" commercial starring Aretha Franklin.

After A&R representatives obtained a copy of No Authority's second album the group was later signed to Madonna's label Maverick Records. While signed to Maverick Records the group released their first single "What I Wanna Do" produced by Herbie Crichlow from their self titled album "No Authority." The next single "Can I Get Your Number (A Girl Like You)," charted at number 18 on the Billboard Charts and their third single "I'm Telling You This" was used in the movie Rugrats in Paris, which became a gold certified record. The group toured and performed with Britney Spears Destiny's Child, 98 Degrees, Jessica Simpson, and the All That! Music and More Festival, after appearing in an episode of the Nickelodeon show All That!.

2003–2010
During the period between leaving No Authority and the beginning of his new identity as Ricky Rebel, Ricky continued to perform on stage in shows like and Aida. Ricky became known as "Ricky Harlow" in 2004 when he assumed the role of lead vocalist for the band Harlow. While working with Harlow, Ricky produced an album with Jay Baumgardner. After performing around Southern California with Harlow the group disbanded in 2009 when Ricky encountered strong censorship from his manager/producer, and from the recording industry in general, about Ricky's desire to be an openly gay musician, and yearning to produce his own brand of dance pop music even since his days in No Authority.

In 2010, Ricky was cast in two of My Chemical Romance's official music videos "Na Na Na" and "Sing" where he played an androgynous rollerskating character named "Show Pony". He opened for My Chemical Romance for their cd release party at the House of Blues in Hollywood.

2010–Present
Since 2010 Ricky Rebel has been performing as a solo artist. Ricky made a guest appearance on VH1's Audrina in 2011.

In 2012 Ricky Rebel won the RAWards Musician of Year Award, where he debuted his first big single "Geisha Dance." Also in 2012 Ricky released his first album "Manipulator."

In 2014, Ricky collaborated with Claudio Cueni and released his second EP the Blue Album. Since 2014 Ricky has been a regular contributor to US Weekly's "Fashion Police" spread.

In 2015, He appeared on the Fox 5 San Diego to perform his new single "Star" from his album "The Blue Album." In late 2015 Ricky Rebel secured a sponsorship agreement with the cosmetics company "Mustaev USA", and subsequently produced the music video for his most recent single "Boys and Sometimes Girls" directed by Rock Jacobs.

As part of his commitment to advancing gay rights in the United States Ricky performed at the 2014, 2015 and 2016 "Out At The Fair" festivals at The San Diego County Fair. Ricky also performed at Gay Pride festivals in major cities like Phoenix, Long Beach, Orange County, Palm Springs, San Diego, and Las Vegas. Also, in 2015 Ricky Rebel performed at Matinee festivals in Las Vegas and San Diego.

He performed at the 2016 "Get Out! Awards" in New York City. Later in 2016 Ricky Rebel toured with boy-band O-Town. Since 2015 Ricky has been working with DJ's Hector Fonseca, Casey Alva, and Tommy Love to remix his songs "Star" and "Boys and Sometimes Girls."

In 2017, "Boys & Sometimes Girls" spent 9 weeks on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and peaked at #28. Ricky Rebel performed at the 2017 SXSW (South by Southwest) Festival in Austin, Texas. Ricky also performed at a charity event at the Cannes Film Festival.