Bob Forrest

Robert O'Neil Forrest (born February 15, 1961) is an American musician who is best known for his work with the Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. Forrest, a recovering drug addict, has worked for years as a recovery advocate and promoter of addiction awareness. He featured as a counselor on the television series Celebrity Rehab and Sober House. Early life Forrest was born on February 15, 1961. He grew up in Palm Desert, California. :5 As a child, Forrest was a top-rated amateur golfer.

At the age of 13, Forrest learned that the older sister he grew up with was his birth mother, and he was actually raised by his grandparents. When he was 15, his father figure died and the family was forced to relocate from an affluent neighborhood to a trailer park. Forrest turned to alcohol to cope. Over the next six years, Forrest would spend 23 more stints in formal rehab facilities. He described his tormented mental state during the arrest, considering suicide by cop following an extended car chase. He spent 5 weeks in jail, and later credited the experience as starting his journey towards sobriety.

Thelonious Monster reunited with Forrest at the helm, releasing California Clam Chowder in 2004. The band would continue to play shows intermittently. In 2006, Forrest released his first solo album, Modern Folk and Blues Wednesday. In 2008, Forrest began releasing a series of live digital EPs on his official website. It is a folk album with new material and stripped-down versions of existing Thelonious Monster and Bicycle Thief songs, and features Zander Schloss on unplugged acoustic guitar. It was released on Six Degrees Records. In 2018, he released the live album Bob Forrest + Friends Live 2016 on Greenway Records. Forrest became a regular Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor with the Musicians Assistance Program, and he formed a working relationship with Dr. Drew Pinsky. The two had met previously in 1988, when Forrest was under the influence on set of Pinsky's show Loveline. Pinsky was impressed with how well Forrest cleaned up, and he offered him a job at Las Encinas Hospital. He appeared on all six seasons. He also featured on the 2009 spin-off Sober House. Established in 2010, the facility serves as a luxury inpatient rehabilitation center.

Forrest, alongside Chuck Davis, hosts Bob Forrest's Don't Die Podcast. The podcast was created with the goal of increasing awareness to addiction. Mike Martt co-hosted the program until his death in 2023.

Other endeavors In 2010, Forrest began hosting a weekly radio show, All Up In The Interweb, which aired on Internet radio station indie1031.com.

On October 1, 2013, Forrest released Running with Monsters: A Memoir, which chronicles his life in the Los Angeles music scene.

Personal life and legacy Forrest was good friends with River Phoenix and was one of the last people to see the actor alive the night he died of a drug overdose in 1993. Twenty years after Phoenix's death, Forrest opened up about the actor's final days and hours. Forrest said Phoenix was staying with John Frusciante and that the two went on heavy drug binges that Forrest also was involved in. Forrest was with Phoenix at The Viper Room the night of his death. Forrest said Phoenix informed him he was overdosing and that Forrest told him he wasn't, and that Phoenix told him he was feeling better. But moments later, Phoenix collapsed outside the club and went into convulsions. He was pronounced dead shortly later at the hospital. "I still have guilt that I dismissed his worries so casually," Forrest said. He said at the time that even though he showed empathy and concern, he too was a junkie, which is why he didn't discuss this; he was fearful of drawing legal attention towards himself and others for their drug issues and involvement.

Forrest is the subject of Bob and the Monster, a documentary about his music career and battles with drug addiction. The documentary was released in March 2011 and was showcased on the film festival circuit.