Henry Rollins (born February 13, 1961 in Washington, DC) is an American singer, poet, monologuist, and publisher whose tenure as the lead vocalist of Los Angeles hardcore group Black Flag made him one of the most recognizable faces in the 1980s punk scene.
Rollins was an avid fan of hardcore music, and, as a teenager, he performed with a number of bands in the Washington, D.C., area. During a performance by Black Flag in New York City, Rollins, who was in the audience, climbed onstage and sang along with the group. Dez Cadena, then Black Flag’s front man, had been considering a move from vocals to guitar, and Rollins joined the band and took over as lead singer. The band encountered legal trouble with its label, MCA, but it nevertheless maintained a relentless touring schedule and produced a number of notable albums throughout the 1980s, including Damaged (1981) and In My Head (1985).
When Black Flag disbanded in 1986, Rollins continued performing, recruiting a revolving stable of musicians to join him in the Rollins Band. The Rollins Band recorded a string of solid hard-rock albums through the 1990s and early 2000s, and Weight (1994) featured Rollins’s first Top 40 single, “Liar.” However, Rollins was perhaps best known for his nonmusical endeavors. While still a member of Black Flag, he had established 2.13.61, a publishing house that released books of his own poetry as well as works by Nick Cave, Hubert Selby, Jr., and others.
Rollins also proved himself to be a gifted monologuist. His performances often blend self-deprecating humor and political commentary with the rage and intensity befitting a former punk front man. Rollins earned a Grammy Award for best spoken-word album for Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag (1994). He also published a memoir with the same title that year. His popular Harmony in My Head radio show, which debuted in 2004, served as an outlet for his eclectic taste in music, and The Henry Rollins Show (2006–07) was a unique twist on the traditional television talk show. Between 2015 and 2019 he issued Henry & Heidi, a series of autobiographical podcasts that included his longtime assistant, Heidi May. Continue reading from Encyclopedia Britannica
