Richey Edwards was a Welsh musician who wrote lyrics and played rhythm guitar for the alt-rock band, Manic Street Preachers.
Edwards suffered severe bouts of depression in his adult life,
and was open about it in interviews: “If you’re hopelessly depressed
like I was, then dressing up is just the ultimate escape. When I was
young I just wanted to be noticed. Nothing could excite me except
attention so I’d dress up as much as I could. Outrage and boredom just
go hand in hand.”
He also self-harmed mainly through stubbing cigarettes on his
body and cutting himself. His problems with drugs and alcohol were well
documented.
In 1991, following questioning from an NME journalist
who doubted the band’s authenticity/values and Edwards’ seriousness
towards his music, Edwards responded by carving the words ‘4 Real’ into
his forearm with a razor blade. The injury required eighteen stitches.
Edwards disappeared on February 1, 1995, on the day when he
and fellow band mate James Dean Bradfield were due to fly to the US on a
promotional tour. Despite many alleged sightings, he was never found.
His status remained open as a missing person, until November 23,
2008, when he became officially ‘presumed dead’.
A writer for The Times newspaper said Edwards was, “. . .
a cause celebre among depressives, alcoholics, anorexics and
self-mutilators, because he was the first person in the public eye to
talk openly about these subjects, not with swaggering bravado and a
subtext of ‘look how tortured and cool I am’, but with humility, sense
and - often - bleak humor.”
