Bert McCracken

Bert McCracken performing at Vans Warped Tour 25th Anniversary in California, photographed by Theo Wargo for Getty Images (source)

### Genre(s)

Alternative, emo, post-hardcore, punk rock, alternative rock

### Family

Cleopatra Rose McCracken (daughter)
Minerva Bloom McCracken (daughter)
Katie McCracken (sister)
Melanie McCracken (sister), Rachel McCracken (sister)

### Facebook

TheUsed

**Robert "Bert" Edward McCracken** (born 25 February 1982), known as Bert McCracken, is an American singer who is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the American rock band The Used. He and YUNGBLUD were featured on *"body bag"* by Machine Gun Kelly in 2020.

## Early life

McCracken was born in Provo, Utah, and grew up in Orem, Utah. He was raised in a Mormon family with three sisters (Katie, Melanie, Rachel) and one younger brother (Joseph Taylor). McCracken has stated that he read quite voraciously growing up, due to the influence of his mother, who was a school teacher. At age 12, he started playing the trumpet in a local band called "I'm With Stupid". He attended Timpanogos High School for a brief time, before dropping out at 16.

Eldest son of the household, Bert enjoyed a happy home life as a child, but as he grew into a teenager his and his parents' views conflicted. He rebelled against his parents and against their Mormon religion. He dropped out of high school; soon after, he left his home at the age of 16. For some time he was homeless until he found enough money for an apartment, moving in with then-girlfriend Kate.*[source needed!]*

## Career

In January 2001, when the band called Dumb Luck (which later became The Used, then consisting of Quinn, Jeph and Branden) were looking for a singer, Quinn remembered Bert and he was invited to try out. After being given music that the band had written without words, Bert wrote the lyrics to what would become "Maybe Memories" and returned the next day with a newly recorded version of the song. The band welcomed him immediately, and renamed themselves "Used". They were eventually discovered by John Feldmann and signed to Reprise Records; they became "The Used" when it was discovered that a Boston band had already trademarked the name "Used". On 25 June 2002 they released their self-titled debut album.

In 2004, McCracken provided additional vocals for *"You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison"* by My Chemical Romance for their album, *Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge*. In 2006, McCracken had guest vocals for *"At Least I'm Good at Something"* by the emo-rock band, The Distance. In 2008, McCracken featured on *"Handjobs for Jesus"* by Goldfinger. In 2020, McCracken featured on *"Over My Head"* by Girlfriends and *body bag" by Machine Gun Kelly. In 2021, McCracken featured on* "Think About Me" *by Jxdn.*

From 2004 to 2013, McCracken was in multiple films, mainly documentary. McCracken was a production assistant and featured in *Punk Rock Holocaust* (2008), appeared in *My Chemical Romance: Life On The Murder Scene* (2006), *Punk's Not Dead* (2007), and *Black Veil Brides in the Studio: The Making of Wretched & Divine* (2013). He has written songs that have appeared on film soundtracks such as *"Sound Effects and Overdramatics"* for *Saw II*, *"Listening"* for *Punks Not Dead*, *"Pretty Handsome Awkward"* for *Transformers*, *"body bag"* for *Downfalls High*, which also featured in the video game "WWE 2K22", and *"All That I Got"* for the video game "Saints Row 2".

## Personal life

McCracken appeared on the MTV show The Osbournes while he was dating Kelly Osbourne, to her mother's dismay and disapproval.

In 2004, McCracken's then-pregnant ex-girlfriend Kate died of a drug overdose, as the recording of The Used's second album In Love and Death was coming to a close.

In July 2008, McCracken married his Australian fiancée, Allison, at a private ceremony in Los Angeles. In July 2013, he announced that he and his wife had relocated from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, where their first daughter, Cleopatra Rose McCracken, was born in January 2014. Their second child, Minerva "Minnie" Bloom McCracken, was born on 23 March 2018.

McCracken has struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism in the past, the former referenced in the song "Bulimic" on The Used's self-titled album. However, he has since overcome his addictions, being sober since 2012.

Bert McCracken has voiced his support for Palestine and left-wing politics alongside being critical of aspects of contemporary American culture and society, such as the influence of larger corporations on the music industry; which partly prompted his move to Australia in 2013. His political views were also influential in the lyrical content of The Used's 2014 album Imaginary Enemy.

About a year prior to the recording of The Used's 2017 album The Canyon, McCracken's friend Tregen died via suicide which heavily influenced the album's lyrical content.

## Trivia

* He was raised in a Mormon family with three sisters (Katie, Melanie, Rachel) and one younger brother (Joseph Taylor).
* He has struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism in the past, the former referenced in the song *"Bulimic"* on The Used's self-titled album. However, he has since overcome his addictions, being sober since 2012.
* His political views were influential in the lyrical content of The Used's 2014 album *Imaginary Enemy*.

## Gallery

Bert McCracken (left) and YUNGBLUD perform during a tribute to NOFX at the Vans Warped Tour 25th Anniversary on 21 July 2019 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)Bert McCracken (left) and YUNGBLUD perform during a tribute to NOFX at the Vans Warped Tour 25th Anniversary on 21 July 2019 in Mountain View, California.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Loudwire — "The Used's Bert McCracken on Time, Philosophy + More". Published 12 March 2014. Written by Graham Hartmann. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Archived
2. ↑ MTV News — "Now That The Used Are No Longer Using, Life Is 'Unreal'". Published 17 July 2002. Written by Jon Wiederhorn. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Archived
3. ↑ FasterLouder — "The Used's Bert McCracken: "I'm brave, courageous, courteous, careful, loyal, thrifty and kind"". Published 24 April 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
 *! Page no longer available !*
4. ↑ Alternative Press — "Gerard Way, Bert McCracken isolated vocals will take you back to 2004". Published 9 March 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
5. ↑ discogs — "The Distance – The Rise, The Fall And Everything In Between (2006, CD)".
6. ↑ IMDb — "Bert McCracken - IMDb". Retrieved 10 April 2023.
7. ↑ The You Rock Foundation (@TheYouRockFoundation) on YouTube — "The You Rock Foundation: Bert McCracken of The Used" Posted 1 September 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Archived
8. ↑ Cool Try — "Interview - Bert McCracken (The Used) - Cool Try". Written by Sean Holio. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Archived