Henry Rollins
About
Biography
Biography
Henry Rollins had one of the more diverse careers in punk rock, evolving from the fearsome lead singer of Black Flag to a respected writer, actor and monologist. Raised in DC, Rollins attended American University for one semester but fell under the punk-rock spell by 1979, getting into the Ramones with his friend Ian MacKaye. He began working with various local bands, sometimes as a roadie for MacKaye's early band Teen Idles (MacKaye would later form the more celebrated Fugazi), occasionally jumping onstage with the Bad Brains, and joining the band State of Alert. Most significantly he heard the early singles by the California band Black Flag and began writing to them; by the time they played the East Coast he was known to them as a friend and fan. Black Flag had now been through three singers and after singing a number with them in New York, Rollins became the fourth and best-known. Rollins fronted Black Flag from 1981-86, changing their visual style with his muscular tattooed look, and their music with his preference for darker, self-lacerating lyrics. Beginning with 1984's My War album, Black Flag were arguably the first hardcore band to fully embrace metal and slower tempos. Confrontational with audiences at first, Rollins ultimately warmed to the frontman's role and Black Flag toured and recorded incessantly during his tenure. He also began breaking out, devoting one side of Black Flag's Family Man album to spoken word, and began doing spoken concerts, sometimes in tandem with MacKaye. While his early spoken performances could be quite angry, particularly after the murder of his close friend Joe Cole, over time Rollins' barbed humor became more of a trademark. After Black Flag's demise Rollins continued their punk-metal direction, with guitarist Chris Haskett as his main collaborator. After a trio of solo albums he dubbed the group the Rollins Band and signed a higher-profile deal with the Imago label. By now the grunge movement was underway and Rollins' music was suddenly mainstream-friendly. In 1994 he played the Woodstock revival and scored a radio hit with "Liar"-which like many of his songs, urged personal strength and railed against users, with plenty of sarcasm thrown in. In 1998 the group disbanded and he launched a new, less commercially successful Rollins Band. This group also disbanded after a 2002 tour, in which a set of Black Flag songs was performed to benefit the defense in the West Memphis Three murder trial. Rollins effectively left music afterward to focus on other sides of his career. As an actor he appeared in more than two dozen films, working with Al Pacino in "Heat" (1995), with Jeff Bridges in "Scene of the Crime" (2001), and with Will Smith in "Bad Boys II" (2003). He released numerous spoken word CDs, surpassing his output as a singer; beginning in 2003 he also performed on numerous international USO tours. He also wrote regularly on both music and politics for the Huffington Post and the LA Weekly, and hosted the discussion series "Henry's Film Corner" (IFC 2004-05).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (Short)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1980
Briefly joined the Washington D.C. band State of Alert
1981
Fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag
1982
Made film debut in "The Slog Movie," about the West Coast punk scene
1985
First film appearance without Black Flag was the short film "The Right Side of My Brain" by underground filmmaker Richard Kern
1985
Released first spoken word album <i>Short Walk On A Long Pier</i>
1987
Released two solo records, <i>Hot Animal Machine</i> and <i>Drive by Shooting</i>
1988
Founded 2.13.61, Inc., an independent publishing house and record label, which released his spoken word albums, essays, and tour diaries
1988
Formed the Rollins Band, which released eleven albums while they were together
1991
Signed a distribution deal with Imago Records and appeared at the first Lollapalooza festival
1992
Released the spoken-word album <i>Human Butt</i> through his own record label
1994
Released <i>Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag</i>, a double-disc set of him reading from his Black Flag tour diary of the same name
1994
Made film debut in "The Chase" with Charlie Sheen
1995
Had supporting roles in "Johnny Mnemonic" and "Heat"
1997
Played a foul-mouthed prison guard in David Lynch's "Lost Highway"
1998
Disbanded the original line-up of the Rollins band
1998
Produced a Los Angeles hard rock band called Mother Superior and invited them to form a new incarnation of the Rollins Band; stopped performing together in 2003
1999
Appeared as an escaped convict in "Morgan's Ferry"
2001
Appeared as the uncredited host of Fox's "Night Visions," a short-lived horror anthology series
2001
Provided commentary for the documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys"
2002
Co-hosted the British television show "Full Metal Challenge" on TLC
2002
Joined the cast of MTV's extreme show for the feature film "Jackass The Movie"
2002
Played a prison warden in "The New Guy"
2003
Appeared as a SWAT team leader in "Bad Boys 2"
2004
Played the Angel of Death in "Deathdealer: A Documentary"
2004
Hosted <i>Henry's Film Corner</i> for IFC
2004
Hosted the weekly radio show "Harmony in My Head" on Los Angeles' Indie 103.1 radio
2005
Co-starred in the horror film "Feast"
2006
Again joined the MTV cast for "Jackass Number Two"
2007
Guest-stared on an episode of Showtime's "Californication," playing himself hosting a radio show
2009
Had a recurring role as A.J. Weston, a white-supremacist gang leader, in the second season of FX's "Sons of Anarchy"
