| Teddy Geiger | |
| Birth Name: | John Theodore Geiger II |
| Alias: | Teddy <3 |
| Birth Place: | Rochester, New York, U.S.[1] |
| Instrument: | Vocals, keyboards, guitar |
| Years Active: | 2005–present |
Teddy Geiger[2] [3] (born September 16, 1988[4]) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer who first gained fame as a teen idol with the song "For You I Will (Confidence)" in 2006.[5] Geiger acted in the television series Love Monkey (2006) and the film The Rocker (2008).
Geiger co-wrote a series of hit songs for Shawn Mendes, starting with the single "Stitches" in 2015, now certified 8× Platinum,[6] and including the 7× Platinum "Treat You Better" in 2016.[7] After transitioning in 2017–2018, Geiger released her third solo album, and continues to compose songs for other artists.
Geiger was born on September 16, 1988, to John Geiger and Lorilyn Geiger (née Rizzo).[8] [9] [10] She has two younger siblings, brother A. J. and sister Rachel. Geiger attended McQuaid Jesuit High School,[11] and learned how to play piano and guitar. As a child, Geiger composed songs in the basement of the family home;[12] [8] writing on the guitar from the age of eight to entertain schoolmates.
In July 2004 at the age of 15, Geiger tried out in a singing competition in Los Angeles for a planned VH1 television series reboot of The Partridge Family, the process of which was filmed and aired as its own program: In Search of the Partridge Family. During weeks of rehearsal, Geiger met the unknown teenager Emma Stone who won a spot as Laurie Partridge while Geiger was passed over for the role of Keith which had been played in the 1970s by David Cassidy. The show, The New Partridge Family, never aired, but the experience gave Geiger's career a significant boost: veteran producer Billy Mann saw the potential in Geiger and signed on as artist manager.[8] [13]
Also in 2004, Geiger formed the band Faction which played around New York state. The band won a competition in early 2005,[8] and Geiger gave away the $1000 prize as relief for the survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Mann encouraged Geiger to sign a six-album recording contract with Columbia Records in February 2005, which broke up Faction as a band.[14] [15] As a solo artist, Geiger released the EP Step Ladder in June 2005.[15] Geiger opened for Hilary Duff's Still Most Wanted Tour from July to September 2005, playing 35 dates across the US in front of thousands.[16] Geiger continued touring as a solo artist, with a voice described as "raspy" like James Taylor,[15] or "breathy" like John Mayer.[14]
Geiger appeared as a recurring character in the short-lived television series Love Monkey, which also featured some of her music. The show debuted in January 2006, but was soon canceled. Geiger's song "For You I Will (Confidence)" was used as Love Monkey theme music for four episodes, and it was released as the first single of Geiger's upcoming album. A music video was shot for the song, depicting Geiger as a street busker trying to attract a popular girl (played by reality TV actress Kristin Cavallari.)[17] The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 90 in February, rising to a peak of 29 in May, staying on the chart for 20 weeks.[18] It was certified Gold in March 2006 by the RIAA, and nominated for Best Love Song at the 2006 Teen Choice Awards in August.[14]
Geiger's first full-length album, Underage Thinking, was released on March 31, 2006, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The first single, "For You I Will (Confidence)", preceded the album, and the second single, "These Walls," was released in September. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that the album contained "unabashedly mainstream music, not cool in the slightest", but certainly the equal of "the best adult pop". Erlewine suggested that Geiger would have enjoyed greater uplift in album sales if Love Monkey had not been canceled shortly before the album was released.[19]
Geiger was marketed as a teen idol, aimed at teenage girls who made up the largest demographic of fans. Geiger's most loyal fans called themselves "Tedheads" or "Ted-Heads".[20] Geiger was photographed for a Got Milk? advertisement which was published in Rolling Stone magazine, with Gieger wearing a "milk mustache" alongside "number 1 fan" Rebecca Eden who won a 2005 photo competition for the privilege.[21] In 2006, Geiger appeared in ads for Secret deodorant, with Procter & Gamble expressing hope that this would expand sales to teen girls.[22] At the age of 18, Geiger was featured on the November 2006 cover of Seventeen magazine; Adweek remarked that it was unusual for a "boy" to appear on the cover after years of women being featured.[23] The Morning Call commented that Geiger's cover feature confirmed that this was Seventeen deciding who was the "hottest guy" in the US, following past appearances by teen idols Leonardo DiCaprio in 1998 and Justin Timberlake in 2002.[24]
In mid-2007, Geiger participated in the filming of The Rocker, portraying the role of a young musician writing songs in a band. Emma Stone was also in this production; the two struck up a romance which lasted for two years.[25] The film was a box-office bomb, but Geiger's music was featured in the film along with a cover of the Poison song "Nothin' But a Good Time" with Geiger singing lead.[26]
Geiger launched a solo tour in June–July 2008 called TG334U North American Concert Tour, with Hilary McRae as the opening act. The tour hit 33 concert venues.[27] The "TG334U" moniker was an initialism standing for Teddy Geiger [performing] 33 [songs] for you. Geiger fans were asked to vote for their favorite songs which would be assembled to create the next solo album.[28] The album project was not realized.
In 2009, Columbia released Geiger from her contract and she left the music industry to return home to Rochester for a hiatus. She continued writing songs for other artists.
Geiger's second album, The Last Fears, was released in 2013 through iTunes and Spotify.[29] The album involved many peers and collaborators including John Ryan, A Great Big World, Holly Miranda, Theo Katzman, as well as Levon Helm's producer and musical director Larry Campbell.
Geiger began a series of songwriting collaborations for Shawn Mendes, co-writing "Stitches" with Danny Parker in 2014. Mendes joined Geiger and Scott Harris to write "Treat You Better" in 2016. These were followed by "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" in 2017, and the 2018 hits "Lost in Japan", "In My Blood", "Youth" and "Where Were You in the Morning?"
After transitioning in 2017–2018, Geiger released her third album, LillyAnna under the name Teddy <3 or teddy❤️, in 2018. The album received notice from New York Times,[30] Paper,[31] Billboard,[32] and Rolling Stone.[33]
Geiger came out as a trans woman in October 2017, and has said that she "knew she was female at 5 years old."[34] [35] She has also said that she intends to keep the name Teddy and use female pronouns.
She was engaged to Canadian actress Emily Hampshire, but they ended their engagement in June 2019 after seven months.[36] [37] [38]
Geiger stated in a 2021 interview that she is bisexual.[39]
| Details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [40] | AUS | CAN | |||
| Underage Thinking |
| 8 | 27 | 59 | |
| The Last Fears |
| — | — | — | |
| Lillyanna[41] |
| — | — | — | |
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [42] | US Adult Pop [43] | US Pop [44] | AUS [45] | |||||||
| "For You I Will (Confidence)" | 2005 | 29 | 10 | 18 | 12 | Underage Thinking | ||||
| "These Walls" | 2006 | — | 32 | 34 | 50 | |||||
| "Better Now" (Live from Harro East Ballroom) | 2007 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "I Was in a Cult" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | LillyAnna | ||||
| "Lilyanna" | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Body and Soul" | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Sharkbait" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | Sharkbait | ||||
| "Love Somebody" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | Spotify Singles | ||||
| "Brass in Pocket" | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Numb" (Teddy <3 Version) | — | — | — | — | Numb | |||||
| "Scream Drive Faster" (Teddy Geiger Remix) | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||
| Year | Album | |
|---|---|---|
| "You'll Be in My Heart" | 2006 | Disneymania 4 |
| "Tomorrow Never Comes" | 2008 | |
| "Bitter" | ||
| "Living for the First Time" | ||
| "Down" | ||
| "Great Escape" | ||
| "Coming Through In Stereo" | ||
| "Nothin' But a Good Time" | ||
| "Too Far" | ||
| "I'm So Bitter" | ||
| "Afraid (My Brother's Cries)" | 2009 | SingSOS: Songs of the Spectrum |
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Songwriter | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "You're Not Thinking" | 2011 | Drake Bell | A Reminder EP | ||
| "Love and Run" | 2013 | Tiesto | |||
| "Little Black Dress" | 2013 | One Direction | Midnight Memories | ||
| "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" | 2014 | One Direction | Four | ||
| "Stitches" | 2015 | Shawn Mendes | Handwritten | ||
| "Real Thing" | 2015 | LunchMoney Lewis | Bills EP | ||
| "Emergency" | 2015 | Icona Pop | Emergency EP | ||
| "First Time" | 2015 | Icona Pop | Emergency EP | ||
| "Clap Snap" | 2015 | Icona Pop | Emergency EP | ||
| "I Feel Good" | 2015 | Thomas Rhett | Tangled Up | ||
| "Wonderful Life (Mi Oh My)" | 2015 | Matoma | Hakuna Matoma | ||
| "Work It Out" | 2016 | Netsky | III | ||
| "Save Yourself" | 2016 | Birdy | Beautiful Lies | ||
| "New Girl" | 2016 | Reggie 'n' Bollie | Uncommon Favours | ||
| "Treat You Better" | 2016 | Shawn Mendes | Illuminate | ||
| "Summer Nights" | 2016 | Tiësto | |||
| "Girls Talk Boys" | 2016 | 5 Seconds of Summer | Ghostbusters: OST | ||
| "Sober" | 2016 | DJ Snake | Encore | ||
| "Mercy' | 2016 | Shawn Mendes | Illuminate | ||
| "No Promises" | 2016 | Shawn Mendes | Illuminate | ||
| "Patience" | 2016 | Shawn Mendes | Illuminate | ||
| "Digital Life" | 2016 | Empire of the Sun | Two Vines | ||
| "Express Myself" | 2016 | Ricky Reed | |||
| "Be the 1" | 2017 | Ricky Reed | |||
| "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" | 2017 | Shawn Mendes | Illuminate | ||
| "Pray" | 2017 | John Ryan | Fifty Shades Darker: OST | ||
| "I Don't Wanna Dance" | 2017 | Coin | How Will You Know If You Never Try | ||
| "Bartender" | 2017 | James Blunt | The Afterlove | ||
| "Over" | 2017 | James Blunt | The Afterlove | ||
| "O.D.D." | 2017 | Hey Violet | From the Outside | ||
| "All We Ever Wanted" | 2017 | Hey Violet | From the Outside | ||
| "Do You Think of Me" | 2017 | NVDES | La Nvdite Vol. I EP | ||
| "Capital Letters" | 2017 | Grace Mitchell | 21st & Motley EP | ||
| "Who I Am" | 2017 | Maroon 5 | Red Pill Blues | ||
| "Dance" | 2018 | DNCE | |||
| "Lost in Japan" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "In My Blood" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "Fitness" | 2018 | Lizzo | |||
| "Machine" | 2018 | Anne-Marie | Speak Your Mind | ||
| "Youth" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be)" | 2018 | Leon Bridges | Good Thing | ||
| "Spaceship" | 2018 | Galantis | |||
| "Where Were You in the Morning?" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes[47] | ||
| "Nervous" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "Fallin' All in You" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "Why" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "Because I Had You" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "Queen" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "Mutual" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "When You're Ready" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "Perfectly Wrong" | 2018 | Shawn Mendes | Shawn Mendes | ||
| "Unless It's With You" | 2018 | Christina Aguilera | Liberation | ||
| "Woke Up in Japan" | 2018 | 5 Seconds of Summer | Youngblood | ||
| "Jump on It" | 2018 | Sean Paul | Mad Love: The Prequel EP | ||
| "Low Key" | 2019 | Ally Brooke | |||
| "We Lied To Each Other" | 2019 | Olivia O'Brien | Was It Even Real? | ||
| "Call Me" | 2019 | Olivia O'Brien | Was It Even Real? | ||
| "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" | 2019 | Caroline Polachek | Pang | ||
| "Black and White" | 2020 | Niall Horan | Heartbreak Weather | ||
| "Dear Patience" | 2020 | Niall Horan | Heartbreak Weather | ||
| "Cross Your Mind" | 2020 | Niall Horan | Heartbreak Weather | ||
| "San Francisco" | 2020 | Niall Horan | Heartbreak Weather | ||
| "Whatever It Is" | 2020 | Loyal Lobos | Everlasting | ||
| "Criminals" | 2020 | Loyal Lobos | Everlasting | ||
| "Bad To Myself" | 2020 | Greyson Chance | Bad To Myself | ||
| "Sleep at Night" | 2020 | The Chicks | Gaslighter | ||
| "Focused" | 2020 | John Legend | Bigger Love | ||
| "Overloved" | 2021 | Greyson Chance | Overloved | ||
| "Scream Drive Faster Teddy Geiger Remix" | 2021 | Laurel | Scream Drive Faster (Teddy Geiger Remix) | ||
| "Teenage Boys" | 2021 | Julianna Joy | Garden of Eden | ||
| "Hold on to Me" | 2021 | JP Saxe | Dangerous Levels of Introspection | ||
| "Blondes" | 2021 | Blu DeTiger | Blondes | ||
| "Colors" | 2021 | Dillon Francis, Liza Owen | Happy Machine | ||
| "Numb Teddy <3 Version" | 2021 | Sylvan Esso | Numb | ||
| "Holy Feeling" | 2021 | Greyson Chance | Trophies | ||
| "Old Her" | 2022 | YDE | Old Her | ||
| "Normal to Feel" | 2022 | YDE | Normal to Feel | ||
| "Rainbow" | 2022 | Meghan Trainor | Takin' It Back | ||
| "Where Do All The Diamonds Go?" | 2023 | Cyn | |||
| "Feel Something" | 2023 | P!nk | Trustfall | ||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | VH1's In Search of the Partridge Family | Keith Partridge | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Love Monkey | Wayne Jensen | 4 episodes (Pilot, "Nice Package", "Coming Out", "Confidence") | |
| 2008 | The Rocker | Curtis | Film | |
| 2012 | Royal Pains | Lucky | 2 episodes ("Off-Season Greetings", Parts 1 and 2) |