Anthony Riley, ‘Voice’ Contestant, Dead at 28 of Apparent Suicide
Anthony Riley, a frontrunner on the most recent season of NBC’s “The Voice,” has died at the age of 28 after an apparent suicide.
Riley inspired the fastest four-chair turnaround in the reality singing competition’s history.
News of his death broke on Friday evening via the fan site Rickey.org, after several of Riley’s friends expressed their grief on social media.
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A comment from a man identifying himself as Riley’s best friend, Robby Parsons, confirmed the news to Yahoo Music.
“Anthony passed away Tuesday. He wasn’t found until [Friday],” Parsons told Yahoo. “His sister called me at 7:30 yesterday to tell me, ‘I called the friend he’d been living with, Bobby Iovine, and Bobby was in tears. And he said, ‘Robby, it’s true.'”
Parsons added: “Anthony was a gentle soul. Just a loving, caring, gentle person, is what he was.” Parsons later corroborated reports that Riley took his own life.
In a statement to TheWrap, NBC said: “We are sad over the passing of Anthony Riley. We offer our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this very difficult time.”
Riley abruptly left Season 8 of “The Voice” citing “personal reasons.”
It was later revealed that he’d actually dropped out of “The Voice” in January to enter a two-week rehab program for substance abuse.
The Philadelphia street performer revealed to Philly.com that he told “Voice” producers, about his ongoing addiction problems shortly after his successful Battle Round was taped in January. Producers then flew Riley back home, where he entered a rehab facility.
“At the time, [“The Voice”] wasn’t working for me and I felt like I needed to go, instead of taking on more responsibility than I could handle,” Riley told Philly.com at the time.
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