Frankie Rex, singer, guitarist, and songwriter for The FMs, has passed away
Dear FMs Community,
It is with the most infinite sadness that we share the news of Frankie Rex, our singer, guitarist, and songwriter for The FMs passing away this week from an apparent fentanyl poisoning at their partner’s home in Ithaca. They were 37 years old.
Though The FMs officially formed in 2017, Frankie and Matte had been friends since their high school years growing up in NYC - a time in both of their lives that was rife with moments of self reflection/analysis, ostracization, depression and drug experimentation. They formed the stoner punk band The Violent Orange with guitarist Greg Longo during this time drawing crowds in the post 9/11 downtown scene at venues such as CBGB and the Knitting Factory.
As Frankie’s identity of being a trans man blossomed, they fronted the queer-punk power trio BOYS between 2013-2015 with drummer Allie Falco and Angelica Rodriguez. BOYS hammered out dirty riffs evoking The Misfits, Soundgarden or Deftones with Rex’s soaring vocals on top like a trans masc. version of Maynard James Keenan. Throwing in flavors of Velvet Underground and Elliot Smith, BOYS headlined underground raucous alcohol-fueled shows to a dedicated Brooklyn fan base of mostly stylish lesbian and queer rock fans.
Rex’s presence in the Brooklyn rock scene was further cemented with the forming of The FMs. The FMs performed live with Lucas Leto (drums) & Michael Butterly (synths, samples) in diverse locations such as large EDM festivals, with members of The Village People and Devo, and our secret series of performances titled “Subvert” held on a large secret ferry boat in Brooklyn with fire performers and kink dungeons to hundreds of in-the-know fans.
Sadly, the apex of Rex’s musical career may have occurred in his last year of life as The FMs as a band started gaining national attention with singles such as “Song X,” “Bad Girl,” “Record Store,” “T/riangle,” and “My Sex.” “Song X” in particular, where Rex wrote the melodies and lyrics and sings the lead part, remains our most popular song, becoming an anthem in support of the freedom to be gender fluid from the often not heard from perspective of a trans man. Rex’s lyrics were direct and fearless: “Gender roles are outdated yet it holds/ A pendulum over our throats/ Cutting our vocal chords/ As we shout.”
As a band, we got to work with legendary artist Matt Mahurin who directed classic videos for Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Metallica, Tom Waits, Marilyn Manson and U2 for the “Song X” music video. We connected with Mahurin artistically and he went on to produce videos for “Record Store,” “T/triangle,” and our cover of Ultravox’s “My Sex”.
Needless to say this is also sadly an announcement of the end of our FMs story; a beautiful dream we had to wake up from much too soon.
However, we likely have almost two albums worth of finished and unreleased material where Frankie’s beautiful vocals shine. We feel it is now our duty to share these artistic contributions with the world and find beautiful ways to honor Frankie’s memory. They were as powerful and soulful a singer as greats such as Layne Staley, Ian Curtis, or Chris Cornell; they just had never received the same recognition and we still hope someday that will change. We feel incredibly honored to have worked these years with such a talent.
Frankie was the victim of an epidemic in our generation of fentanyl-laced drugs posing as something else, something that is killing many of our peers right now.
There are no public services being held for Frankie, however, it is the intention of our musical community to host an epic memorial concert this summer for them where we can raise money for memorials for them and causes Frankie would’ve cared about such as music and causes that support the trans-masc community.