William Beckett

Beckett performed a DJ set at Emo Nite Day, a festival hosted by Emo Nite, in Los Angeles in December 2017.

The Academy Is... reunited at Riot Fest 2015 in the fall of 2015 in Chicago. Although Beckett had said the occasion would serve as a "farewell" show, the band later had an additional final tour in late 2015.

Beckett wrote the theme song for John Scalzi's novel, Lock In, released on August 28, 2014.

William played the Acoustic Basement tent of the 2013 Van's Warped Tour, where he played not only "Benny & Joon", but much of his solo discography and a few The Academy Is... songs.

The eagerly anticipated Genuine and Counterfeit was released August 20, 2013, though he leaked it to Alternative Press five days prior. It was met with a generally good reception from William's fans.

On September 5, 2013, the Punk Goes... album series by Fearless Records released their Punk Goes Christmas album, which featured William Beckett's cover of "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

After breaking up The Academy Is..., allegedly to start a solo music career, though other reasons (internal strife within the band) were hinted at, he came out with his first EP, Walk the Talk, released on April 17, 2012, with the single "Compromising Me". His second EP was announced on June 18, 2012, entitled Winds Will Change (produced by Matt Grabe), and was released July 17, 2012, and the main single "Great Night", being released on June 19, 2012. His third EP, What Will Be, was released October 30, 2012. In January 2013, William released a compilation of acoustic covers of his own music, titled The Pioneer Sessions. In February 2013, William was signed to Equal Vision Records. Later in 2013, it was announced that William's debut full-length album, titled Genuine and Counterfeit, would be released in August. The first single off the album, "Benny & Joon", was released June 17, 2013. The music video for the same was released July 31.

Beckett announced via his blog on July 12, 2010 (the post has now been deleted and replaced with an update post) that he would be starring in a short film based on Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher.

On April 16, 2009, Beckett posted the first chapter of the book he hopes to have published, entitled The Folding.

In a November 2009 interview with Alternative Press, Beckett confirmed that he has a child, a daughter, Genevieve Dylan Beckett.

In 2007, Alex Davies from the BBC described Beckett as a mix of Adam Lazzara and Prince, labeling him "utterly captivating".

He has been married to Christine Bandy since May 2007.

Beckett has also sung on a number of notable albums by other bands, such as the track "Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year" from Fall Out Boy's 2005 album, From Under the Cork Tree. He sang backing vocals on Fall Out Boy's "What a Catch, Donnie". Other songs he has sung on include "There's a Class for This" from Cute Is What We Aim For's 2006 album The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch, "7 Weeks" from Gym Class Heroes's album As Cruel as School Children, and the Cobra Starship song "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)," which later appeared on the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack and on Cobra Starship's album While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets under the title "Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)".

William Beckett is an American musician who first became known for his work with the now-defunct Chicago-based band The Academy Is... (TAI), who were signed to Atlantic Records/Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance Records. While still in high school in 2002, Beckett and guitarist Mike Carden came together from rival bands in Chicago to form The Academy Is... In addition to founding the band, Beckett and Carden are credited as the primary songwriters. A third core member of the band was Adam T. Siska, Beckett's classmate and friend from Barrington High School.