Gregory Preston Olivier
| Gregory Preston Olivier | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Grigorios Krestenitis Chondroyannos Athanasiadis |
| Also known as | Gregory Preston Athanasiadis |
| Genres |
Alternative Indie pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments |
Vocals (tenor) Guitar |
| Years active | 2006 to present |
| Labels | Blacklight Records (with Curriculum) |
| Associated acts |
Curriculum (group member) Kleo Blonde Ambition |
Grigorios Krestenitis Chondroyannos "Gregory Preston" Olivier (né Athanasiadis; [Greek: Γρηγόριος Κρεστενίτης Χονδρογιάννης Αθανασιάδης]) (born 8 April 1991) is an American singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor. He is the co-founder and the de facto lead singer of the alternative/indie pop band Curriculum. Olivier sings lead on nearly all of the band's material though, in recent times, the rest of the band members have begun doing more of the vocals as well. Olivier also plays guitar and co-writes the band's song with the rest of the band.
In 2014, Olivier began a career in acting and starred in the Netflix series Professor Langely where he portrayed the lead character Professor Lincoln Brentwood. The show received positive reviews from critics, who expressed their surprise at Gregory Preston's acting skills despite his lack of experience.
Aside from the popularity of his band and the success of Professor Langely, Olivier grew to mainstream prominence due to his relationship with popular singer Kleo and his marriage to Virginia Olivier, who is well-known in the United States for being a crisis management consultant and businesswoman. After more than a year of marriage, Olivier revealed that he and his wife were divorcing after she left him for his father. In June 2016, Olivier announced that he was to be remarried to Virginia and that the newly reconciled couple were expecting their first child.
Olivier likes to be addressed as Gregory Preston (and not just Gregory) since they both are his first name, despite being un-hyphenated.
Early life[edit | edit source]
Gregory Preston Olivier was born as Grigorios Krestenitis Chondroyannos Athanasiadis in New York City, New York, United States on 8 April 1991 to a wealthy family since both of his parents are both heirs to vast fortunes. Gregory Preston is of Greek descent on his father's side and German descent on his mother's side; both of his parents are of Armenian and Jewish descent.
Olivier graduated from a prestigious high school in 2009 as the valedictorian of his class. In 2013, Olivier graduated from Columbia University with summa cum laude honors where he received a degree in English.
Family[edit | edit source]
His father, Silas Michail Athanasiadis, who was born in New York City but raised in Thessaloniki, Greece, is an esteemed and well-known English professor at Columbia University though he also a shipping magnate handling most of his family's highly profitable shipping business in Europe. His mother, Marie Theodora Athanasiadis (née Panossian), is an German-American businesswoman who owns various multi-million dollar businesses and has made various successful investments. Gregory Preston's parents married in 1988. Gregory Preston also has two older siblings, a brother and sister, who are both close to ten years older than him.
Olivier has stated that while growing up he has always had a difficult relationship with his father and brother, stating that they were emotionally and verbally abusive. Olivier also revealed that his brother was occasionally physically abusive. Olivier's father and brother often partied and did cocaine together, prompting Olivier to attempt to join them in order to feel accepted by them. Olivier severed ties with his father and brother after realizing that they had narcissistic personality disorder.
Olivier, meanwhile, has had always had a good relationship with his mother and sister. Olivier's mother taught him the importance of proper etiquette and introduced him to a variety of music when he was growing up; she also taught him proper vocal techniques when she found out he could sing. Olivier learned the importance of proper English grammar from his father, despite their difficult relationship and Olivier's father noticeable Greek accent. Olivier learned how to speak and sing in Greek, Hebrew, and Armenian.
Relatives[edit | edit source]
Gregory Preston is the paternal nephew of country superstar singers Lucas Alistair (born Loukas Alexandros Athanasiadis), Johnny Gus Fredricks (born Konstantinos Ioannis Athanasiadis), Shaun Hank (born Stamatios Yannis Athanasiadis) and famed Broadway actor, producer, and director Aristoteles Charalampos "Avery Chester" Athanasiadis. Gregory Preston is also the cousin (via marriage) of singer and actor Travis Horn. His bandmate, Wyatt van Cleef, is also related to Horn; van Cleef and Olivier are not biologically related.
Early relationship and friendship with Curriculum bandmates[edit | edit source]
Olivier has always known his future Curriculum bandmates Phillip Mandelbaum, Wyatt van Cleef, and Dana Breckenridge since they were all infants, despite earlier claims that Olivier had not met van Cleef or Breckenridge until they were all in their early teens. Mandelbaum had always lived next door to Olivier in the same affluent New York City neighborhood. The families of Olivier and his future bandmates had been friends with each other for generations and had hoped that the four boys would be friends. Despite knowing each other since they were babies, Olivier and his future bandmates did not become friends until they were teenagers.
Career[edit | edit source]
Music career with Curriculum[edit | edit source]
Main article: Curriculum
Olivier and his future bandmates Mandelbaum, van Cleef, and Breckenridge finally became friends when they were teenagers, despite knowing each other since they infants. The four boys finally became friends after bonding over their problems with their families and their shared love of geography, culture, and music.
After realizing they could play instruments and with Olivier being recognized as the vocally strongest of the group, all four boys decided to form a band. The now formed band decided to name themselves "Curriculum", which is named after the band's fondness and appreciation for academia and education.
Curriculum formed in 2006 when all four members were in high school. The band would only have jam sessions and never played live in front an audience. As all four members were accepted into Columbia University in New York City, they began taking their music seriously. The band independently released two EPs digitally and began receiving airplay on the university radio. Despite them rising to minor prominence at Columbia University for their music, the identity of the members of Curriculum were never revealed as the band kept pictures of themselves off the covers of their EPs and never did any live performances.
After the band rose to further prominence after a YouTube video of them singing "All I Need (All I Don't)" went viral (which the show the guys singing while throwing paint against a white backdrop with their faces distorted), the band released their first single "So Mainstream" in mid to late 2012. The single reached the top three in the UK and US and the top ten in other countries as well. In February 2012, Curriculum released their debut album Syllabus, which peaked at #1 in the UK and was later certified Diamond by the Urapopstar Recording Association Phonographic Society (URAPS). With "So Mainstream" being the lead single, three other singles were lifted from the album, all of which were commercially successful.
After various delays which is said to have lasted more than a year, the band finally released their second album Sophomore in January 2014. The album spawned four singles including the band's biggest hit "Like A Narcissist", which has sold close to one million copies in the UK, and "Masculine", which became the band's first number one hit in the UK. The album has sold more than 1.5 million copies in the UK and has been certified Diamond by URAPS. In mid to late 2014, the band released their EP Flunking Out and later re-released as Remedial; the EP later sold over one million copies.
The band has stated that they will released either one more EP and/or album before they disband for good.
Olivier has stated that he would never want to go solo (in terms of a music career) and would always want to be in a band or group. Yet in June 2016, just as he announced his reconcilation with his former wife Virginia Olivier, rumors began surfacing that Gregory Preston might be going solo after all.
Acting career[edit | edit source]
Olivier was cast as the lead role for the Netflix series Professor Langely, a dramatic/thriller adaptation of the 1983 comedy film Doctor Detroit. Taking place in Washington, DC, Professor Langely follows the story of a young professor named Lincoln Brentwood, who is an esteemed English Literature professor at a prestigious university. Leading a good and clean-cut life by day, he is secretly the protective guardian and pimp to a bunch of prostitutes who had their old pimp killed by a ruthless villainess whom he owed money to. Olivier credited his uncle, famed Broadway, film, and music video director and producer Avery Chester Athanasiadis, for getting him ready for the role. Athanasiadis primarily directed and produced the show.
Professor Langely was only shown on Netflix and premiered in 2014. The show's first season received positive reviews from critics, who were especially surprised by Olivier's performance and acting skills despite having no prior experience. The show's second and final season premiered in 2015 and received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Professor Langely voluntarily ended after its second season.
Voice[edit | edit source]
Olivier has a voice type and vocal range of a tenor and is considered to have a very wide vocal range. He is known to hit very low notes while also reaching very high notes in his falsetto ranges. Recent YouTube video has surfaced proving that he can also reach the whistle register, which is usually done by female singers. Olivier is said to have a vocal range of multiple octaves. His voice has been widely praised by critics for its flexibility and its wide range.
Compared to his singing voice, his speaking voice is known be "medium-low though its leaning to low more than medium".
Image[edit | edit source]
Olivier has been described by many as being "prim and proper". He is known for being a big proponent for proper English grammar and practices when speaking though he might do the same when singing lyrics to certain songs that he is singing with the band.
Personal life[edit | edit source]
In summer 2012, Olivier began dating popular singer Kleo. The two met when Kleo was collaborating with Curriculum on the single version of their song "Teamwork". After his relationship began, Olivier briefly but unofficially changed his name to Greg Pledger for a time; Pledger is the last name of Kleo. It was rumored that Kleo and Olivier were engaged on New Year's Eve 2012 though that proved to be false, though the rumors did attract plenty of attention on Twitter.
In early 2013, after less than a year of dating, Olivier and Kleo had mutually and amicably split up, following Olivier's stint in rehab due to cocaine and pill addiction. The couple split basically because Olivier was afraid that he might be an embarrassment to Kleo and a threat to her image over him going to rehab.
Marriage to Virginia Olivier[edit | edit source]
On July 5, 2013, Gregory Preston Olivier married Virginia Marilyn Trinity Karyn Olivier in Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States on Virginia's father's estate overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Gregory Preston began dating Virginia just shortly after his relationship with Kleo had ended in early 2013; by May 2013, Gregory Preston had proposed to Virginia just shortly after he graduated from Columbia University.
Gregory Preston is twelve years younger than Virginia (at the time they first got married, he was 22 and she was 34) and both have known each other since they lived next door to each other in the same Upper East Side neighborhood in New York City while growing up. Virginia used to babysit Olivier when he was still a child and before she went to college. Virginia also comes from a wealthy family and is a successful businesswoman and crisis management consultant who owns her own firm based in Washington, DC. After they got married, Gregory Preston decided to legally take Virginia's surname as his married legal name.
Aspects about Gregory Preston's marriage to Virginia attracted attention from the mainstream press in the United States such as the fact that they were interracial, there was a "noticeable" age gap, the fact that they used to be childhood friends, and the fact that they had only dated each other for a few months before deciding to get married. Gregory Preston also got attention - and even some criticism - for taking his wife's last name, Olivier. Despite their marriage becoming tabloid fodder of sorts, Gregory Preston and Virginia were said to be very happily married throughout most of their marriage.
On July 5, 2014, on his one year wedding anniversary, Gregory Preston separated from his wife, after discovering her cheating on him with his father, Silas. Prior to her marriage with Gregory Preston, Virginia was having an on-and-off again affair with Silas that lasted for two years. Gregory Preston reportedly ran out of the house crying while his father followed close behind him smirking and mocking him. Devastated by his wife's betrayal, Gregory Preston decided to move with his friends/bandmates to San Francisco, California just four days after.
In November 2014, Virginia filed for divorce from Gregory Preston, asking for no alimony and saying she wanted a "clean and amicable split". Though he had initiated the separation, Gregory Preston was devastated by the divorce since he had hoped that he and Virginia could reconcile. Gregory Preston's father, Silas, also filed for divorce from Olivier's mother, Marie around the same time. The divorce was finalized in early 2015. Silas and Virginia continued to be in a relationship and were living together in Washington, D.C until Spring 2016.
In June 2016, Gregory Preston suddenly announced via social media that he was to be remarried to Virginia, essentially revealing that Virginia had broken up with Silas and reconciled with Gregory Preston. Gregory Preston also revealed that she was pregnant with the couple's first child.
Olivier lived with his bandmates in both San Francisco and London after his split from Virginia, but has since moved back in with her in Washington, D.C since her reconciliation and Curriculum's pending disbandment.
Health concerns[edit | edit source]
In Spring 2012, while in the recording studio with the band, Olivier had a mental breakdown just shortly after he finished recording a song. Band member Wyatt van Cleef confirmed that the story, saying shortly before he had the breakdown, he began hyperventilating and forgetting "much of what he was supposed to do that day". Olivier was hospitalized for a number of days but was eventually taken out of the hospital and recovered. Prior to his recovery, it was noted that Olivier had limited speech and emotion.
In January 2013, Olivier was admitted into rehab by his girlfriend Kleo for misuse and abuse of cocaine and prescription medication. Kleo walked in on Olivier doing cocaine while pills were sprawled out on a table. Kleo and Olivier had a discussion and mutually agreed he would go to rehab. Olivier was eventually released from rehab in the spring of 2013.
Discography[edit | edit source]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
