Cuomo formed Weezer in 1992 with the drummer Patrick Wilson, the bassist Matt Sharp and the guitarist Jason Cropper. "Weezer" was the nickname given to Cuomo by his father when he was a toddler. Weezer signed with DGC, a subsidiary of Geffen Records, on June 25, 1993, and released their self-titled debut album, commonly known as the Blue Album, in May 1994. Cropper was asked to leave the band by Cuomo during the recording, and was replaced by Brian Bell. The album was certified platinum on January 1, 1995, with sales of over one million. Despite his success, Cuomo became tired of the monotony and loneliness of touring and developed a "huge inferiority complex" about rock music, saying: "I thought my songs were really simplistic and silly, and I wanted to write complex, intense, beautiful music
Rivers Cuomo was born on June 13, 1970, in New York City to Frank Cuomo, of Italian descent, and Beverly Shoenberger, of German-English descent. Frank was a musician who played drums on the 1971 album Odyssey of Iska by the jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter. According to one account, Cuomo's mother named him Rivers either because he was born between the East and Hudson rivers in Manhattan or because she could hear a river outside her hospital window. However, his father said Rivers was named after three prominent soccer players: Rivellino, Luigi Riva, and Gianni Rivera, all of whom were playing in the 1970 World Cup.