Bob Forrest

Bob Forrest is perhaps best known as the straight talking, straight shooting counselor on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew. Bob had a long journey in his struggle with addiction, visiting rehab facilities 24 times before finding sobriety in 1996. He has spent the last 17 years being of service, becoming one of the foremost chemical dependency counselors working in the southern California region. For 5 years Bob was the clinical director and on the board for Musicians Assistance Program/MusiCares, and he spent 8 years counseling at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena. In 2010, Bob left the established treatment world to start his own program. Two years later, Bob’s treatment philosophy and counseling services are brought to a client base that extends throughout the US as well as internationally. Bob can also be seen regularly on the CNN & HLN networks offering commentary as an addiction specialist.

Prior to his life in recovery, Bob Forrest was best known as a musician, fronting the critically acclaimed Los Angeles bands: Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. Bob was heavily acclaimed for his gifts as a songwriter, and frontman.

Thelonious Monster was a key player in the hip Los Angeles music scene of the ’80s, playing innumerable shows alongside The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Fishbone, & Guns ‘N Roses, among many others. Despite it’s ever evolving lineup, the band released 5 lauded albums and notoriously performed at Holland’s Pink Pop Festival in 1993.

Bob’s second band, The Bicycle Thief, came together after Bob met a teenaged Josh Klinghoffer, a guitar prodigy who went on to tour with Sparks, The Butthole Surfers, PJ Harvey, and Gnarls Barkley among others. Josh is now the guitarist in The Red Hot Chili Peppers, fronts his own band, Dot Hacker, and was voted into the Rock N Roll Hall of fame as its youngest member. The Bicycle Thief recorded one album and released it twice, in different configurations. The Bicycle Thief played many shows at the notorious Viper Room, had a slot at the inaugural Coachella Festival and toured the US playing with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Midget Handjob and They Might Be Giants. Bob and Josh have both hinted that another album may come in the near future.

Bob released his first solo album in 2006. It featured appearances by a number of his noteworthy friends, Flea, John Frusciante, Zander Schloss, and Josh Klinghoffer. It is also notable for having Bob’s first duet with his eldest son, Elijah. A year later Bob contributed a song to the experimental Bob Dylan tribute film, I’m Not There. The last few years have seen several archival releases being offered for sale on his website. In 2013 Bob released his first new single, Words Don’t Mean A Thing, a collaboration with his radio producer and longtime archivist, Nate Pottker. The single was a charitable endeavor benefitting The David Lynch Foundation , released through its record label Transcendental Music.

From 2010 to 2012 Bob Forrest hosted with pals “Producer Dave” Coelho & “Nate The Man” Pottker, “All Up In The Interweb”, a music and opinion show on http://www.indie1031.com. In 2013 Bob returned to radio with his new show, “Bob’s House”. The show is part of “Transcend Radio”, an offshoot of Transcendental Music & The David Lynch Foundation.

A documentary about Bob, “Bob And The Monster” premiered at SXSW in 2011, and won numerous awards on the festival circuit. The film will saw DVD, BluRay & soundtrack release in 2013.

With his first book “Running With Monsters”, Bob tells his story in full. A rock memoir to rival any, the book was released by Crown Books in 2013.

Recently, Bob has returned to hosting with his podcast “This Is Water” looking at life as a single father, and making your way through the world in the year 2015.