Zombie boy – a “peculiar” man with a “strange” ending

Rick Genest, known as Zombie Boy, became widely known when he collaborated with Lady Gaga. I have to admit that I found out about his death from the artist’s post on twitter and I was very suprised. That’s because the story of Rick Genest is remarkable, and one would say he was at the peak of his career, having previously defeated death. But let’s get things from the beginning.

Rick Genest was diagnosed with a brain tumor and after six months in the waiting list, he was operated successfully. Since then, Rick Genest has decided to take his life in his own hands and live as he wanted to.

He began to make tattoos throughout his body as a skeleton which covered up to his face. He made that choice as he liked to take part in freak shows. He was the one that named himself “Zombie Boy”. Some small roles came up and he also worked as a model, taking part in Thierry Mugler’s campaign.

Also very important was his collaboration with cosmetic company Dermablend where he promoted they products for tattoo cover. His career took off when he collaborated with Lady Gaga.

On August 1st, 2018, Zombie Boy was found dead after falling from a balcony. The police did not find any traces of drugs in his blood and the cause of death was, according to them, a suicide. His family claims that it was an accident as the balcony was dangerous due to the low height of the railing.

Whatever it was, suicide or accident, the end of Rick Genest was tragic. In the first case, because a man who apparently had everything, ended his own life, while in the second, a man who still had plenty to enjoy in his life, lost it very early.