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Henry Rollins

Henry RollinsAKA Henry Garfield

Born: 13-Feb-1961
Birthplace: Washington, DC

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Musician, Author

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Black Flag

Musician, stand-up comedian, poet, author, publisher, and spoken word artist: Henry Rollins was once Henry Garfield, a scrawny boy growing up in Washington DC. His father was a military man who disciplined Henry with his fists, and his mother was considered a bit unhinged. As a young man, Garfield worked in a Haagen-Dazs shop and loved loud music. He became involved in the punk scene through his close friend Ian MacKaye, the Fugazi frontman and co-founder of Dischord Records. With a regimen of weightlifting and anger, Garfield transformed himself from weakling into burly muscleman. With the addition of many tattoos, he became as intimidating visually as he is vocally.

He performed with the band State of Alert, which released one record before disbanding. Then, in 1981, the hardcore punk rock band Black Flag came to town, and Garfield climbed onto the stage and sang with them. Black Flag was already of legendary status, but the band were impressed, and reshuffled their lineup to make Garfield their new lead singer. His gruff nickname, Rollins, became his last name. With the intense, gravelly-voiced Rollins as frontman, the band reached new heights as a seminal influence on punk, hardcore, and death metal. Rollins self-published his Black Flag tour diary as Get In The Van, and toured and recorded with Black Flag until the band broke up in 1986.

Rollins then recorded solo, and briefly called himself and some new bandmates Henrieta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters. He then formed his Rollins Band, which recorded several albums, toured with Lollapalooza, became increasingly popular, then split up in 1997. Rollins then hired an already existing band called Mother Superior, redubbed them the Rollins Band, and released several more albums to continued popularity.

Rollins first performed spoken word with Lydia Lunch in 1983. In addition to his punk career, Rollins has toured widely as a spoken-word artist, with work focusing on his own life, and on social and political issues. His performances are riddled with self-deprecating humor, and have earned him respect as a comedian and commentator.

Rollins has also been successful as an independent publisher, and owns the 2.13.61 publishing company, named for his birthday. 2.13.61 has released several albums of Rollins' spoken word, books by Rollins, Joe Cole, Nick Cave, Michael Gira, and others, and albums by Rollins Band, other groups including Exene Cervenka, The Birthday Party, and Gun Club, and jazz performers Matthew Shipp and Roscoe Mitchell.

In 1991, Rollins and Cole, his best friend, were accosted, and while Rollins' back was turned Cole was shot dead.

Girlfriend: Lydia Lunch
Girlfriend: Diamanda Galas (1990)
Girlfriend: Kari Wuhrer (actress, dated in 2000)
Girlfriend: Kira Roessler

    High School: Bullis School, Potomac, MD (1979)

    Black Flag
    Rollins Band
    Häagen-Dazs Washington, DC
    Endorsement of Apple Powerbook (1994), G4 cube (1999)
    Endorsement of Verizon (2011)
    Grammy Best Spoken Word Album for Get in the Van (1995)
    Mugged Venice, CA (19-Dec-1991)
    Risk Factors: LSD

    TELEVISION
    Sons of Anarchy

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    He Never Died (17-Mar-2015)
    Downloaded (10-Mar-2013) · Himself
    A Band Called Death (16-Jun-2012) · Himself
    West of Memphis (21-Jan-2012) · Himself
    Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (9-Apr-2011) [VOICE]
    Sounds Like a Revolution (16-Jun-2010)
    Barbershop Punk (Mar-2010) · Himself
    Suck (11-Sep-2009) · Rockin' Roger
    The Devil's Tomb (26-May-2009) · Fulton
    Wrong Turn 2 (25-Aug-2007)
    American Hardcore (13-Sep-2006) · Himself
    Live Freaky Die Freaky (31-Jan-2006) [VOICE]
    Lies & Alibis (12-Jan-2006) · Putty
    Feast (14-Oct-2005)
    We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (25-Feb-2005) · Himself
    Bad Boys II (18-Jul-2003) · TNT Leader
    Jackass: The Movie (21-Oct-2002) · Himself
    The New Guy (7-May-2002) · Warden
    Time Lapse (27-Nov-2001)
    Scenes of the Crime (8-Sep-2001)
    Dogtown and Z-Boys (19-Jan-2001) · Himself
    Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (12-Dec-2000) [VOICE]
    Desperate But Not Serious (31-Oct-2000)
    Morgan's Ferry (1999)
    Jack Frost (11-Dec-1998) · Sid Gronic
    Lost Highway (21-Feb-1997)
    Heat (15-Dec-1995) · Hugh Benny
    Johnny Mnemonic (15-Apr-1995) · Spider
    Woodstock '94 (1995) · Himself
    The Chase (4-Mar-1994) · Officer Dobbs

Official Website:
http://www.henryrollins.com/

Author of books:
Hallucinations of Grandeur (1986)
Polio Flesh (1986)
You Can't Run from God (1986)
Pissing in the Gene Pool (1987)
Art to Choke Hearts (1989)
Bang! (1990)
The Jackass Theory (1990)
Black Coffee Blues (1992)
See A Grown Man Cry (1992)
Now Watch Him Die (1992)
Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag (1994, memoir)
Eye Scream (1996)
Do I Come Here Often?: Black Coffee Blues Part 2 (1996)
Solipsist (1998)
Smile, You're Traveling (2000)
Broken Summers (2003)
Roomanitarian (2005)
A Dull Roar: What I Did on My Summer Deracination 2006 (2007, memoir)
A Mad Dash: Introspective Exhortations and Geographical Considerations 2008 (2009, memoir)
Occupants (2011, travelogue)


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