Richard Willett Miller, known professionally as Parthenon Huxley, was born on January 19, 1956, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He began his music career as a guitarist on Matt Barrett's 1980 EP The Ruse. Huxley's touring career started with the Chapel Hill rock band The Blazers. His first solo recording was the self-produced single "Buddha, Buddha" / "Sputnik" released under the pseudonym Rick Rock in 1983. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1987 and signed with Columbia Records, releasing his debut album Sunny Nights in 1989. In January 1997, Huxley's wife Janet Heaney died. He joined Electric Light Orchestra Part II in 1994, replacing Phil Bates, and toured with them until 2000. During this period, he released Purgatory Falls (2001), a deeply personal album chronicling his wife’s death, which included the single "I Loved Everything."
