Rick Florian (born April 10, 1962) is a musician,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and producer, most known for being the

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

of contemporary Christian music

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

White Heart White Heart, also listed as Whiteheart, was an American contemporary Christian music and pop-rock band which formed in 1982. White Heart's discography includes thirteen albums, the most recent of which was released in 1997. Original members Bil ...

from 1986 through to their disbandment in 1998. He lives in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454 ...

with his wife, Lisa, and two of their five children. Florian works as a

real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

, though he has sung on several music projects over the years.

Early life

Florian was born in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

, in 1962. He graduated from

Taylor University Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country. The university is named after Bishop Willia ...

in 1984.

Whiteheart

Florian was a lighting tech/roadie for the band back in the 80s. When Florian was caught off guard singing and dancing to White Heart's songs, he was asked to audition for the open position as the band's vocalist. He got the job and recorded eight studio albums with them. Throughout his tenure with the band, he was praised on several occasions for his clean

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

and excellent performing abilities. He could always find a clever spot to show off his back handspring in each concert. Despite not being a founding member, he became the core of White Heart along with

Billy Smiley Billy Smiley (born October 19, 1957) is a music producer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for being one of the core members of the Christian rock band White Heart. He was the bands' guitarist, vocalist, and one of the main songwriters ...

and

Mark Gersmehl Mark "Gersh" Gersmehl (born July 29, 1954) is a contemporary Christian musician who is best known as one of the founding members of the Christian rock group White Heart. He and guitarist Billy Smiley were the only two original members of the band ...

(who's also an

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

native, like Florian himself). Florian issued a statement several years ago that the band was only at "a dormant stage". When Florian released his first album with White Heart, a tradition of using unique spelling variations of his name for each album began. There is no precise account as to who started it, but it remained up until the last albums of the band. The various spellings used have been: Ric, Rikk, Riq, Ricke, Rhic, Rikcq, Ricque. Florian has also been known to go by the nickname, "Tubes".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florian, Rick American male singers Living people 1962 births People from Franklin, Tennessee Musicians from South Bend, Indiana White Heart members