Footman of the Metal Band Motionless in White

Chris Motionless | Biography 2021

Motionless in White have Billboard-charting Rock Albums such as 'Creatures,' 'Infamous,' 'The Graveyard Shift,' and 'Disguise'

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : July 12, 2022

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Chris Motionless is an American metal singer famous as the frontman of the metal band Motionless in White.

Who is Chris Motionless?

Chris’ Motionless’ Cerulli is the lead vocalist of the metalcore band Motionless in White. He formed the band in 2005 when he was in high school with drummer Angelo Parente, guitarist Mike Costanza, and bassist Frank Polumbo. The band members EVENTUALLY departed in the musical journey of the band, but Cerulli remained. He is the oldest member of the band now. The band currently consists of Chris’ Motionless’ Cerulli (lead vocals), Ryan Sitkowski (lead guitar), Ricky 'Horror’ Olson (rhythm guitar), Vinny Mauro (drums), and Justin Morrow (bass).

Cerulli with his band has released Billboard-charting rock albums that include Creatures, Infamous, The Graveyard Shift, and Disguise.

Early Age Bio: Real Name 

Chris’ Motionless’ Cerulli was born on 17 October 1986 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the United States. He was born Christopher Thomas Cerulli. He has two siblings, one brother and one sister. 

Parents Divorce

Cerulli did not have a pleasant childhood because of the troubles in his parent’s relationship. His parents eventually divorced. 

When Cerulli was 8-9 years old, his grandfather tried to teach him how to play the guitar, but he did not show interest at the time. Instead, he preferred playing video games, sports, and other outdoor activities. Later, he gradually developed a love for singing and playing guitar after the death of his grandfather. He was ten at the time. 

Subsequently, Cerulli would participate in a school talent show contest and later decide to pursue his entire career in music.

Mental Health Struggle

Cerulli has struggled with mental health several times in his life. Before releasing MIW’s fifth album Disguise in 2019, the MIW lead singer struggled with mental health and his identity for over a year. He usually doesn’t share his personal feelings with the public, so he used lyrics as a way to express his personal feelings. ‘Disguise’ is one of such songs in which he poured his feelings.

In an interview with Kerrang magazine in May 2019, he said, “I use lyrics as a way to express those things that I don’t share publicly, and the song is about how I feel like I’m constantly having to put on this mask, put on this disguise when I show myself. I don’t feel like it’s accepted to talk about the things I want to talk about emotionally or mentally to a certain degree, and that’s been a struggle for me, and what I’ve been dealing with.” 

He continued, “It sucks to feel like I’m losing myself in this alternate person I feel like I have to be, and that definitely hit me very hard last summer when I recognised that I had to figure myself out because something is absolutely wrong, something that is going to stop me from wanting to even be in a band if I don’t care for myself emotionally or mentally. Probably eight of the songs are centred around those feelings, and starting the record off with the title-track gives you an idea of what it’s going to be.”

Cerulli also sought help to cure his mental health upon the advice of his friends. He said, “During the process of making the record I was advised by many friends to try therapy, and in the past I’ve been moderately vocal in my inner circle about not agreeing with the method of therapy, but I’ve since changed my mind. I think it’s really helpful to talk to someone about what you’re feeling, and now I agree that most people in the world would probably be a lot better off if they felt that they could talk to someone about their feelings and what they’re experiencing.”

However, his mental health again declined in 2020. He shared his thoughts on the “serious decline” of his mental health in a tweet. On 22 June 2020, he tweeted, “My mental health is on a serious decline this year. Especially this month. I can’t believe how worthless I feel not being able to tour and having so much time to sit in my head and obsess over regrets and self hatred. I hope anyone else experiencing similar feelings are doing okay.”

Later after receiving an overwhelming amount of support and encouragement, he posted a long elaborative letter thanking those who supported and encouraged him. He stated, “with mental health being something that people are being rightfully more and more open about, I felt comfortable to express my feelings to people that I know are directly relating. To encourage further discussion about a topic that in its increasing notoriety ... still somehow unjustly seems taboo.”

He further wrote that no one should fear speaking out about feelings. He advised, “F**k the fear of speaking out about how you feel, f**k your toxic masculinity, and f**k the idea that someone’s status should determine if someone is ‘allowed’ to be in pain. You can have all the money and fame in the world, but that can’t buy you true love or a true connection with people around you. It can’t buy back relationships and friendships.”

He also revealed that he had been in therapy most of that year. According to him, the therapy improved his quality of living. But he says that therapy cannot supplement the feeling of doing what one loves to do. “It certainly cannot rectify regrets that are irreversible. All my progress has lead me to a point of a line in the sand in which I simply cannot cross. What once was another side of that line full of moments of incredible purpose and happiness that could have extended far beyond the life span of my career ... is now a self-inflicted abyss with simply no solid ground for me to step foot on (holy dramatic! Sorry. Yo should I use these as lyrics? *extreme eye roll*),” he added.

Career

Cerulli’s troubled childhood led him to find comfort in music while growing up. He developed his passion for music in his teens and eventually got into metal music. 

“Metallica: Enter Sandman was the first Metallica song I ever heard. I credit them with being a band that came along at a turning point in my life. Once I heard them, I started getting into metal music, which then led to punk music and all the great things in that realm. Not only that, it made me want to play guitar and drums. I was an anxious teenage kid, and I thought, ‘I need to do this’,” he said. 

Later, Cerulli began is music career in 2002 after he founded his first band New Car Smell.

Motionless in White (MIW)

In three years, Cerulli formed another metal band, Motionless in White, in 2005, along with drummer Angelo Parente, guitarist Mike Costanza, and bassist Frank Polumbo. Josh Balz joined the band as a keyboard player in 2007, making it a quintet. 

However, the band name was not Motionless in White from the start. Cerulli and his bandmates named it so after getting inspired by the metalcore band Eighteen Visions’ 2002 song ‘Motionless and White.’ 

After high school, Cerulli worked at a tattoo shop. But when his band began doing well, he left the shop. In an interview with Rock Sound magazine in February 2013, he said, “I worked at a tattoo shop, I was apprenticing to be a piercer but the band started picking up a lot more around about the same time, so I had to leave the shop and do the band full time.”

Albums and Songs

The band used to perform at nightclubs. Producer Zach Neil observed their performance one evening, and it landed them to sign with the record label Masquerade Recordings. Shortly after that, the band launched their debut Extended Play record (EP), The Whorror, in July 2007. 

The following year, Polumbo and Costanza left the band, and Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky Olson filled their gap. With the new band members, the band released their second EP, When Love Met Destruction’with Tragic Hero recordings in February 2009. 

The success of their EP’s first single, ‘Ghost In The Mirror,’ motivated the band to record its first studio album, Creatures, in October 2010 through Fearless Records. The album featured four singles’ Abigail,’ ‘Immaculate Misconception,’ ‘Creatures’ and ‘Puppets (The First Snow).’ It charted at number six on the Billboard Heatseeker Albums. 

The band released their second studio album Infamous’in November 2012. The album debuted at number nine on the Independent Album Chart and number five on the Hard Rock Albums.

In September 2014, the band released their third studio album Reincarnate, the most successful of the three. The album featured five singles, ‘Reincarnate,’ ‘Puppets 3,’ ‘Dead as F**k,’ ‘Break the Cycle,’ and ‘Unstoppable.’ The album sold 31,000 copies in its first week and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart. 

In June 2016, the band released the single ‘570’ on the same day they signed to Roadrunner Records. In 2017, keyboardist Balz departed from the band, and Marie Christine-Allard replaced his position. With the new member, the band released their fourth studio album, Graveyard Shift, in May 2017.

The album featured the singles that include ‘Rats’ and ‘Loud (F**k It).’ It also featured Jonathan Davis from the popular nu-metal band Korn. The album topped on the Hard Rock Albums and charted on number five for the ‘Top Rock Albums.’ In June 2019, the band released their fifth studio album, Disguise, which charted at number two on Hard Rock Albums and number four for ‘Top Rock Albums.”

Since Covid

Utilizing the free time during the coronavirus pandemic, the band released a four-track EP, Another Life/Eternally Yours: Motion Picture Collection, in August 2020. They followed it with their cover of The Killers’ ‘Somebody Told Me’ on 9 September 2020. “During quarantine, we wanted to continue to see what new projects we could push ourselves to create,” Cerulli explained. “We’ve always wanted to take a shot at covering an iconic alternative song, and Somebody Told Me has always been one of those tracks that oozes pure energy and has crazy good hooks that we felt we could transform into a great rock version.” 

Later, the band issued a statement regarding their further collaborations.

“With all of the down time of not touring, we wanted to take the opportunity to try something we’ve never done before. We give you, ‘Eternally Yours: Motion Picture Collection’ (Feat Crystal Joilena) & ‘Another Life: Motion Picture Collection’ (Feat Kerli). Thank you to Crystal and Kerli for your amazing vocals that helped transform these versions into something truly special. Thank you to Justin Deblieck for your ever-brilliant talents that shine so bright throughout these tracks, and thank you to Steve Sopchack for your keen ear and dedication to mixing this project. We hope you all enjoy and are still staying safe out there.”

On the 10th anniversary of the debut album, in 2020Motionless in White unleashed their powerful debut live performance of ‘Creature X: To The Grave.’ On 14 May 2021, the band concluded their “2020 Quarantine Experiments” with the synth-wave edition of their Graveyard Shift single’ Voices.’ 

Tour 

Cerulli and his band members of Motionless in White embarked on numerous national and international tours. They began the warped tour in 2005 in support of their first EP, ‘The Whorrors.’ They started their Vans Warped Tour in 2006, which they concluded in Scranton in 2018 after 13 years of massive touring. In addition to the Vans Warped Tour, they also participated in numerous album promotional tours and tours with other bands. They also performed in various festivals, including the Bamboozle Festival in 2009, Soundwave Festival in 2012, Mayhem Festival, Rocklahoma Festival, and Download Festival in 2013.

In 2010, they commenced on A Winter To Remember Tour, The Thrash and Burn Tour, Entertainment or Death Tour, and Average Guys With Exceptional Hair Tour. The band also went for The Dead Masquerade Tour, Ignite The World Tour, Explosions II Tour, All-Star Tour, and Fearless Friends Tour in 2011.

The band made a live music video for ‘Puppet (The First Snow),’ during the Vans Warped Tour in 2012. The same year, the band went for The Infamous Tour. In 2013, they went on MIW Summer Tour: Extra Dates in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

In March 2014, the band traveled for a short headlong tour with the bands Like Moths to Flames, The Plot in You, and The Defiled.

In 2017, they again embarked on the Half God Half Devil Tour with In This Moment, touring across the United States and multiple venues around Europe.

The same year, they embarked on The Graveyard Shift Tour. They again embarked on the Disguise Tour in 2019 and the Diseased & Disguised Tour in 2020.

In May 2021, the MIW band revealed their upcoming tour on Twitter. They tweeted that they will be kicking off the summer of 2021 with a Deadstream sequel! They informed on their post that they would be performing from Pennhurst Asylum in the band’s native Pennsylvania on 9 June. The band had done their first Deadstream just before Halloween 2020 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band’s debut album Creatures.

Is Chris Motionless Married?

Chris is currently single since his breakup with the makeup artist and Instagrammer Gaiapatra. In April 2016, he posted a picture with Gaiapatra on his Instagram and hinted at his romantic connection with her. She also appeared in the video clip for Motionless In White’s ‘Eternally Yours’ in 2017. But, he eventually broke up with her.

“I found myself in the fog of not being able to make a decision for my future outside of my career, and that brought up a lot of issues that prevented two people from working towards a future together,” he said. “It ultimately resulted in me pushing the relationship away. It’s not something I feel positive about. It’s a really negative thing that I’ve done to push that away, just because I couldn’t sort myself out. That’s another reason that I wanted to get better and seek out some form of recovery,” he added.

Previously, Motionless dated his childhood friend Sabrina Malfoy in 2013, but their relationship did not survive for long.

Daughter

Chris has a daughter Riley Cerulli, who was born when Cerulli was 20 years old.

Tattoos and Makeup

In addition to his popularity as the lead vocalist of the metalcore band MIW, Chris is also famous for his fully tattooed body. He has hundreds of tattoos all over his body, and many of his tattoos represent a big part of his life, i.e., music. He got his first two tattoos of stars on his 18th birthday, and after that, he kept on getting tattoos. 

“I grew up seeing people with tattoos. I was naturally intrigued by them, I can’t really answer why somebody likes seafood or somebody like colors, I know I like tattoos, I like how they are done and colored, I know that sounds cliche. I have a large tattoo which represents a big part of my life which is music,” he said. 

According to him, he has 20 to 40 tattoos of stars. He has a spider web tattoo on the elbow of his left arm, guitar tattoo on his right leg, shark tattoo on his left arm, scary pumpkin tattoo on his neck, diamond tattoo on the backside of his left ear, Halloween-themed big tattoo artwork on his chest, and many more. He also has tattoos written as “Halloween,” “LOST BOYS,” “‘KISS KISS,” “BONA DRAG,” and “I was crying Saturday night,” among others.

In addition, Chris is also known for his gothic makeup. “I think I come off a lot scarier than I actually am and I don’t mind that people are afraid of me, I like it a lot, all the better for me. I don’t like people so the more people that are afraid of me that don’t want to talk to me the better,” he said during an interview with Rock Sound magazine in February 2013.

He also has said that he uses powder to withstand the heat of performing onstage. “I just use powder and settings spray, stuff like that, to try to beat the heat,” he said. “But at least when we’re onstage, there’s absolutely nothing that I’ve ever seen that has worked.”