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Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events.^[1]

In entertainment, spoken word performances generally consist of storytelling or poetry, exemplified by people like Hedwig Gorski and Gil Scott Heron, the lengthy monologues by Spalding Gray, and improvising ranters/commentators like Henry Rollins.

History[link]

Spoken word poetry originated from the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance^[2] and blues music.^[3]

Modern day spoken word poetry became popular in the underground African-American community in the 1960s with the Last Poets. The Last Poets was a poetry and political music group that was birthed from the African-American Civil Rights movement.^[4]

Spoken word poetry came more towards the mainstream in popularity a short time later when Gil Scott Heron released his spoken word poem The Revolution Will Not Be Televised on the album, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970.^[5]

In the late 1970s Los Angeles poet Wanda Coleman brought modern spoken word poetry into written form with the release of her poetry collection, Mad Dog, Black Lady in 1979 on Black Sparrow Press.^[6]

Spoken Word was adopted by college circles in the early 1980s to describe a new wave of performing arts that was birthed during Postmodern Art Movement.^[7]

Many artists and poets have not published any of their works in book forms. Some use video and audio recording, the means used exclusively by Hedwig Gorski, who rejected what she called the "dull-drums" of book publishing in the 1980s.^[8] Spalding Gray's film Swimming to Cambodia is a well-known example of spoken word, with Gray siting at a desk, talking about his experiences during the filming of The Killing Fields. Nevertheless, spoken word today is part of the oral culture movement spreading literary expression that includes all minorities and women, unlike the domination by the white male community as was case with the Beats in the 1960s.^[9]

The Nuyorican Poets Café on New York’s Lower Eastside was founded in 1973 and is one of the oldest American venues for presenting spoken word poetry. The Nuyorican Poets Café in 1989 held the first documented poetry slam. ^[10]

On the West Coast Da Poetry Lounge and The World Stage are two of the oldest venues for spoken word poetry. The World Stage presenting the more literary side of the spoken word tradition and Da Poetry Lounge embracing the more performance side of spoken word tradition.^[11]

The Nuyorican Poets Café and Da Poetry Lounge have a close association with the poetry slam movement which was popularized by Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Lounge with both main hosts Bob Holman^[12] and Shihan^[13] apprearing several times on the show.

Motivation[link]

Since its inception, the spoken word has been an outlet for people to release their views outside the academic and institutional domains of the university and academic or small press. The spoken word and its most popular offshoot, slam poetry, evolved into the present day soap-box for people, especially younger ones, to express their views, emotions, life experiences or information to audiences. The views of spoken word artists encompass frank commentary on religion, politics, sex and gender, often taboo subjects in the world of contemporary academic poetry. When talking about emotion, it depends. A spoken word piece can be powerful with the right emotion behind it but, at the same time, a lack of emotion can set a poem apart. It all depends on the topic. Life experiences are best, especially when the person has actually lived through the experience. Lastly, spoken word is used to inform or make an audience conscious of some human aspect pertaining to life.^[14]

See also[link]

• Spoken word soul
• List of performance poets

References[link]

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Staceyann Chin

Staceyann Chin (born December 25, 1972) is a spoken word poet, performing artist and LGBT rights political activist. Her work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Pittsburgh Daily, and has been featured on 60 Minutes. She was also featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where she shared her struggles growing up homosexual in Jamaica.

Personal life[link]

Chin was born in Jamaica but now lives in New York City, in Brooklyn. She is of Chinese-Jamaican and Afro-Jamaican decent. She announced in 2011 that she was pregnant with her first child, giving birth to a daughter in January 2012. She has been candid about her pregnancy by means of in-vitro fertilization, and wrote about her experiences as a pregnant, single lesbian in a guest blog for the Huffington Post.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/staceyann-chin/lgbt-pregnancy_b_1104635.html^[1]

Career[link]

Openly lesbian,^[1] she has been an "out poet and political activist" since 1998. In addition to performing in and co-writing the Tony-nominated Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, Chin has appeared in Off-Broadway one-woman shows and at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. She has also held poetry workshops worldwide. Chin credits her accomplishments to her hard-working grandmother and the pain of her mother's absence.

Chin's poetry can be found in her first chapbook, Wildcat Woman, the one she now carries on her back, Stories Surrounding My Coming, and numerous anthologies, including Skyscrapers, Taxis and Tampons, Poetry Slam, Role Call, Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies. Chin's voice can be heard on CD compilations out of Bar 13- Union Square and Pow Wow productions. In 2009, Chin published her autobiographical novel, The Other Side of Paradise - A Memoir. (New York: Scriber. ISBN 0-7432-9290-1).

She is a host on Logo's After Ellen Internet show, "She Said What?" and a co-host of Centric's My Two Cents.

In 2009, Chin performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States”.^[2]

Critical analysis[link]

Chin's "activist driven"^[3] work has garnered praise in various publications. Of her one-woman show Border/Clash, The New York Times wrote that Chin "is sassy, rageful and sometimes softly self-mocking."^[4] The Advocate wrote, "With poems that combine hilarious one-liners ("I told her I liked the way she made that pink push-up bra look intellectual") with a refusal to conform ("I want to be the dyke who likes to fuck men"), Chin is out to confront more than just the straight world."^[5] And in the book, Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, author Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz referred to Chin as "definitely the prize to win" among the three New York City Poetry Slam venues during the years she competed, adding:

Awards[link]

Chin was the winner of the 1999 Chicago People of Color Slam; first runner- up in the 1999 Outright Poetry Slam; winner of the 1998 Lambda Poetry Slam; a finalist in the 1999 Nuyorican Grand Slam; winner of the 1998 and 2000 Slam This!; and winner of WORD: The First Slam for Television. She has also been featured by Public-access television cable TV programs in Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as many local radio stations including, WHCR and WBAI. The Joseph Pap Public Theatre has featured her on more than one occasion, and Staceyann has toured internationally, with performances in London, Denmark, Germany, South Africa and New York's own Central Park Summer Stage.

Works[link]

Books[link]

• Chin, Staceyann (April 2009). The Other Side of Paradise - A Memoir. New York: Scriber. ISBN 0-7432-9290-1. 

Anthologies[link]

• "Authenticity", in Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness. Edited by Rebecca Walker (Soft Skull Press, February 1, 2012)^[7]

Performances[link]

• Staceyann Chin: Performed Poems in Trikster - Nordic Queer Journal #3, 2009.

Interviews[link]

• Staceyann Chin & Ulrika Dahl: Articulating Honesty: A Conversation on Literature and Activism in Trikster - Nordic Queer Journal #3, 2009

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} Boykin, Keith (October 3, 2006). "Staceyann Chin's Redemption Song". KeithBoykin.com. http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2006/10/03/staceyann_chin_redem. Retrieved 2007-10-29 
2. ^ http://www.thepeoplespeak.com/pages/credits/
3. ^ Windy City Times "Multifaceted: Staceyann Chin Talks" by MARK CORECE. March 19, 2008
4. ^ LEE, FELICIA R. (July 17, 2005). "A Def Poetry Jam of Her Very Own". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/theater/newsandfeatures/17lee.html. 
5. ^ The Advocate "Getting raves for her rants" by MICHAEL GILTZBY. April 29, 2003
6. ^ Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. Soft Skull Press. Page 181. ISBN 1-933368-82-9.
7. ^ Staff (December 12, 2011). "Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness. Edited by Rebecca Walker.", Publishers Weekly.

External links[link]

• Official Staceyann Chin website
• Staceyann Chin at the Internet Broadway Database
• Brantley, Ben (November 15, 2002). "Untamed Poetry, Loose on Broadway". The New York Times. http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9405E5DE1730F936A25752C1A9649C8B63. Retrieved 2010-02-07. 
• Voo, Jocelyn (September 2008). "Staceyann Chin: More Than a Mouthful". Curve Magazine. http://www.curvemag.com/Curve-Magazine/September-2008/Stacyann-Chin-More-than-a-Mouthful/. Retrieved 2010-02-07. 

Andrea Gibson (born August 1975) is an award-winning poet and activist. She lives in Colorado. Her poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, and the struggles queer people face in today's society. Gibson disclosed that she chose to write what was in her bones and thus these subject matters are what came out. On top of using poetry to express what she feels and tackle real issues, she is involved with many group activists. She often performs at Take Back the Night Events, LGBT events, Pride events, Trans* events, Anti-war rallies, Peace rallies, organizations against the occupation of Palestine, groups focused on examining the wrongs of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy. She also works with a group called Vox Feminista whose model is to "comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" on all these issues.

Gibson grew up in Calais, Maine. She is the daughter of Mark and Shirley Gibson, and has one sister, Laura, whom she mentions in her poem 'Titanic'. She attended Saint Joseph's College of Maine. Later, she moved to New Orleans with her girlfriend. In 1999, the two moved to Boulder, Colorado. She went to her first open-mic in Denver.^[1] A four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion, Gibson finished fourth at the 2004 National Poetry Slam, and she finished third at both the 2006 and 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam.^[2][3] In 2008, Gibson became the first poet ever to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWps) in Detroit.^[4]

In 2011, Write Bloody Publishing published Andrea Gibson's 6th book, "The Madness Vase". In 2009, they published her first syndicated work, Pole Dancing To Gospel Hymns, She also has self-published four books: Trees that Grow in Cemeteries, Yellow Bird, What the Yarn Knows of Sweaters, and Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns.

Discography[link]

• Bullets and Windchimes (2003)
• Swarm (2004)
• When the bough breaks (2006)
• Yellowbird (2009)
• Flower Boy (2011)

Yellowbird is her second most recent album incorporates music and song throughout the album. Andrea professes that she always writes to music and so it was natural to put music together for the album. This album was also her effort to write about what she was afraid to write about. This theme is continued through many of the poems in her most recent album, Flower Boy.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Audio of "Andrew," "For Eli," "See-Through," "Walmart," "Swingset," and "Blue Blanket" (among others) on Indiefeed Performance Poetry Channel
• Video of Andrea Gibson from June 2009 at Da Poetry Lounge in West Hollywood, CA – on Poetry.LA

Henry Rollins
Rollins performing in 2006
Born	Henry Lawrence Garfield (1961-02-13) February 13, 1961 (age 51) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Spoken word artist
Years active	1980–present
Known for	Musician, Spoken word artist
Website
21361.com

Henry Rollins (born 13 February 1961) is an American spoken word artist, writer, journalist, publisher, actor, comedian, radio DJ, activist and formerly singer-songwriter.

After performing for the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from August 1981 until mid-1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 until 2003, and during 2006.

Since Black Flag disbanded, Rollins has hosted numerous radio shows, such as Harmony in My Head on Indie 103, and television shows such as The Henry Rollins Show, MTV's 120 Minutes, and Jackass. He had a recurring dramatic role in the second season of Sons of Anarchy and has also had roles in several films. Rollins has also campaigned for various political causes in the United States, including promoting LGBT rights, World Hunger Relief, and an end to war in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops.^[1]

Rollins stated in a 1998 interview with NY Rock, "I don't want a wife and I don't want kids. I'm 36 and if I met a woman of my own age and married her, I'd also be marrying her former life, her past."^[2] Rollins dated fellow KCRW-DJ Liza Richardson.^[3] Rollins has been close friends with musician Ian MacKaye since childhood.^[4]

Early life[link]

Born Henry Lawrence Garfield in Washington, D.C., the only child of Iris, a federal employee in the health and education sectors, and Paul J. Garfield, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was a World War II veteran and Economist with a "Ph.D. in economics".^[5][6] When he was two years old, his parents divorced and he was raised by his mother in the affluent Glover Park neighborhood of the city.^[7][8]

As a child and teenager, Rollins suffered from depression and low self-esteem.^[9] In the fourth grade, he was diagnosed with hyperactivity and took Ritalin for several years so that he could focus during school. His mother taught him how to read before he was enrolled in kindergarten;^[10] however, due to "bad grades, bad attitude, poor conduct," he was soon enrolled at The Bullis School, then an all-male preparatory school in Potomac, Maryland.

According to Rollins, the Bullis School helped him to develop a sense of discipline and a strong work ethic.^[9] It was at Bullis that he began writing; his early literary efforts were mainly short stories about "blowing up my school and murdering all the teachers."^[10]; "it was a very rough upbringing in a lot of other ways. I accumulated a lot of rage by the time I was seventeen or eighteen." He has also mentioned that a "Ramones" concert helped shape his thoughts on music into becoming the musician he is today.

Music career[link]

State of Alert[link]

After high school, Rollins attended American University in Washington D.C. for one semester, but dropped out in December 1979.^[11] He began working minimum-wage jobs, including a job as a courier for liver samples at the National Institutes of Health.^[12] Rollins got into punk rock after he and his friend Ian MacKaye procured a copy of The Ramones's eponymous debut album; he later described it as a "revelation." From 1979 to 1980, Rollins was working as a roadie for Washington bands, including Teen Idles. When the band's singer Nathan Strejcek failed to appear for practice sessions, Rollins convinced the Teen Idles to let him sing. Word of Rollins's ability spread around the punk rock scene in Washington; Bad Brains singer H.R. would sometimes get Rollins on stage to sing with him.^[13]

In 1980, the Washington punk band The Extorts lost their frontman Lyle Preslar to Minor Threat. Rollins joined the rest of the band to form State of Alert, and became its frontman and vocalist. He put words to the band's five songs and wrote several more. S.O.A. recorded their sole EP, No Policy, and released it in 1981 on MacKaye's Dischord Records.^[14] S.O.A. disbanded after a total of a dozen concerts and one EP. Rollins had enjoyed being the band's frontman, and had earned a reputation for fighting in shows. He later said: "I was like nineteen and a young man all full of steam [...] Loved to get in the dust-ups." By this time, Rollins had become the manager of the Georgetown Häagen-Dazs ice cream store; his steady employment had helped to finance the S.O.A. EP.^[15]

Black Flag[link]

In 1980, a friend gave Rollins and MacKaye a copy of Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown EP. Rollins soon became a fan of the band, exchanging letters with bassist Chuck Dukowski and later inviting the band to stay in his parents' home when Black Flag toured the East Coast in December 1980.^[16] When Black Flag returned to the East Coast in 1981, Rollins attended as many of their concerts as he could. At an impromptu show in a New York bar, Black Flag's vocalist Dez Cadena allowed Rollins to sing "Clocked In", as Rollins had a five-hour drive back to Washington, D.C., to return to work after the performance.^[17]

Unbeknownst to Rollins, Cadena wanted to switch to guitar, and the band was looking for a new vocalist.^[17] The band was impressed with Rollins' singing and stage demeanor, and the next day, after a semi-formal audition at Tu Casa Studio in NYC, they asked him to become their permanent vocalist. Despite some doubts, he accepted, in part because of MacKaye's encouragement. His high level of energy and intense personality suited the band's style, but Rollins' diverse tastes in music were a key factor in his being selected as singer; Black Flag's founder Greg Ginn was growing restless creatively and wanted a singer who was willing to move beyond simple, three-chord punk.^[18]

After joining Black Flag in 1981, Rollins quit his job at Häagen-Dazs, sold his car, and moved to Los Angeles, California. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Rollins got the Black Flag logo tattooed on his left biceps^[12] and changed his surname from Garfield to Rollins, a surname he and MacKaye had used as teenagers.^[18] Rollins was in a different environment in Los Angeles; the police soon realized he was a member of Black Flag, and he was hassled as a result. Rollins later said: "That really scared me. It freaked me out that an adult would do that. [...] My little eyes were opened big time."^[19]

Before concerts, as the rest of the band tuned up, Rollins would stride about the stage dressed only in a pair of black shorts, grinding his teeth; to focus before the show, he would squeeze a pool ball.^[20] His stage persona impressed several critics; after a 1982 show in Anacortes, Washington, Sub Pop critic Calvin Johnson wrote: "Henry was incredible. Pacing back and forth, lunging, lurching, growling; it was all real, the most intense emotional experiences I have ever seen."^[21]

By 1983, Rollins' stage persona was increasingly alienating him from the rest of Black Flag. During a show in England, Rollins assaulted a member of the audience; Ginn later scolded Rollins, calling him a "macho asshole."^[22] A legal dispute with Unicorn Records held up further Black Flag releases until 1984, and Ginn was slowing the band's tempo down so that they would remain innovative. In August 1983, guitarist Dez Cadena had left the band; a stalemate lingered between Dukowski and Ginn, who wanted Dukowski to leave, before Ginn fired Dukowski outright.^[23] 1984's heavy metal music-influenced My War featured Rollins screaming and wailing throughout many of the songs; the band's members also grew their hair to confuse the band's hardcore punk audience.^[24]

Black Flag's change in musical style and appearance alienated many of their original fans, who focused their displeasure on Rollins by punching him in the mouth, stabbing him with pens, or scratching him with their nails, among other methods. He often fought back, dragging audience members on stage and assaulting them. Rollins became increasingly alienated from the audience; in his tour diary, Rollins wrote "When they spit at me, when they grab at me, they aren't hurting me. When I push out and mangle the flesh of another, it's falling so short of what I really want to do to them."^[25] During the Unicorn legal dispute, Rollins had started a weight-lifting program, and by their 1984 tours, he had become visibly well-built; journalist Michael Azerrad later commented that "his powerful physique was a metaphor for the impregnable emotional shield he was developing around himself."^[24] Rollins has since replied that "no, the training was just basically a way to push myself."^[26]

Rollins Band and solo releases[link]

Rollins performing with the Rollins Band in 1993

Before Black Flag disbanded in August 1986, Rollins had already toured as a solo spoken word artist.^[27] He released two solo records in 1987, Hot Animal Machine, a collaboration with guitarist Chris Haskett, and Drive by Shooting, recorded as "Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters";^[28] Rollins also released his second spoken word album, Big Ugly Mouth in the same year. Along with Haskett, Rollins soon added Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain, both former members of Ginn's side-project Gone, and called the new group Rollins Band. The band toured relentlessly,^[29] and their 1987 debut album, Life Time, was quickly followed by the outtakes and live collection Do It. The band continued to tour throughout 1988; 1989 marked the release of another Rollins Band album, Hard Volume.^[30] Another live album, Turned On, and another spoken word release, Live at McCabe's, followed in 1990.

Rollins and Weiss released Fast Food For Thought, an EP by their one-off side project Wartime in 1990. It was sonically in many ways more reminiscent of Weiss's work with Ween than the Rollins Band. The music, while heavy and driving, had a distinctly psychedelic bent, culminating in the final track, a cover of "Franklin's Tower" by The Grateful Dead. Early pressings were simply credited to "Wartime" while later releases added the phrase "featuring Henry Rollins" to the cover.

1991 saw the Rollins Band sign a distribution deal with Imago Records and appear at the Lollapalooza festival; both improved the band's presence. However, in December 1991, Rollins and his best friend Joe Cole were accosted by two armed robbers outside Rollins's home. Cole was murdered by a gunshot to the head, Rollins escaped without injury but police initially suspected him in the murder and detained him for ten hours.^[31] Although traumatized by Cole's death, as chronicled in his book Now Watch Him Die, Rollins continued to release new material; the spoken-word album Human Butt appeared in 1992 on his own record label, 2.13.61. The Rollins Band released The End of Silence, Rollins's first charting album.^[30]

The following year, Rollins released a spoken-word double album, The Boxed Life.^[32] The Rollins Band embarked upon the End of Silence tour; bassist Weiss was fired towards its end and replaced by funk and jazz bassist Melvin Gibbs. According to critic Steve Huey, 1994 was Rollins's "breakout year".^[30] The Rollins Band appeared at Woodstock 94 and released Weight, which ranked on the Billboard Top 40. Rollins released Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag, a double-disc set of him reading from his Black Flag tour diary of the same name; he won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording as a result. Rollins was named 1994's "Man of the Year" by the American men's magazine Details and became a contributing columnist to the magazine. With the increased exposure, Rollins made several appearances on American music channels MTV and VH1 around this time, and made his Hollywood film debut in 1994 in The Chase playing a police officer.^[33]

In 1995, the Rollins Band's record label, Imago Records, declared itself bankrupt. Rollins began focusing on his spoken word career. He released Everything, a recording of a chapter of his book Eye Scream with free jazz backing, in 1996. He continued to appear in various films, including Heat, Johnny Mnemonic and Lost Highway. The Rollins Band signed to Dreamworks Records in 1997 and soon released Come in and Burn, but it did not receive as much critical acclaim as their previous material. Rollins continued to release spoken-word book readings, releasing Black Coffee Blues in the same year. In 1998, Rollins released Think Tank, his first set of non-book-related spoken material in five years.

By 1998, Rollins felt that the relationship with his backing band had run its course, and the line-up disbanded. He had produced a Los Angeles hard rock band called Mother Superior, and invited them to form a new incarnation of the Rollins Band. Their first album, Get Some Go Again, was released two years later. The Rollins Band released several more albums, including 2001's Nice and 2003's Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three. After 2003, the band became inactive as Rollins focused on radio and television work. During a 2006 appearance on Tom Green Live!, Rollins stated that he "may never do music again"^[34] a feeling which he reiterated in 2011 when talking to Trebuchet magazine.^[35] In an interview with Culture Brats, Henry admitted he had sworn off music for good - "... and I must say that I miss it every day. I just don't know honestly what I could do with it that's different." ^[36]

Musical style[link]

As a vocalist, Rollins has adopted a number of styles through the years. Rollins was initially noted in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene for what journalist Michael Azerrad described as a "compelling, raspy howl".^[13] With State of Alert, Rollins "spat out the lyrics like a bellicose auctioneer".^[15] He adopted a similar style after joining Black Flag in 1981. By their album Damaged however, Black Flag began to incorporate a swing beat into their style; Rollins then abandoned his S.O.A. "bark" and adopted the band's swing.^[37] Rollins later explained: "What I was doing kind of matched the vibe of the music. The music was intense and, well, I was as intense as you needed."^[38]

In both incarnations of the Rollins Band, Rollins combined spoken word with his traditional vocal style in songs such as "Liar" (the song begins with a one minute spoken diatribe by Rollins), as well as barking his way through songs (such as "Tearing" and "Starve") and employing the loud-quiet dynamic. Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis names Rollins a "screeching hate machine" and his "hallmark" as "the sheets-of-sound assault".^[39]

With the Rollins Band, his lyrics focused "almost exclusively on issues relating to personal integrity," according to critic Geoffrey Welchman.^[40]

As producer[link]

In the 1980s, Henry Rollins produced an album of acoustic songs for the convicted murderer Charles Manson titled Completion. The record was supposed to be released by SST Records, but the project was later canceled due to the label receiving death threats for working with Manson. Only five test presses of Completion were pressed, two of which remain in Rollins' possession.^[41]

Media work[link]

Television[link]

As Rollins rose to prominence with the Rollins Band, he began to present and appear on television. These included Alternative Nation and MTV Sports in 1993 and 1994 respectively. 1995 saw Rollins appear on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries that explored the murder of his best friend Joe Cole^[42] and present State of the Union Undressed on Comedy Central. Rollins began to present and narrate VH1 Legends in 1996.^[43] Rollins, busy with the Rollins Band, did not present more programs until 2001, but made appearances on a number of other television shows, including Welcome to Paradox in 1998 in the episode "All Our Sins Forgotten", as a therapist that develops a device that can erase the bad memories of his patients. Rollins also voiced Mad Stan in Batman Beyond in 1999 and 2000.^[44][45] He also did the voice in Apple's 1999 G4 Cube Ad with Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" playing as the theme song.

Rollins was a host of film review programme Henry's Film Corner on the Independent Film Channel, before presenting the weekly The Henry Rollins Show on the channel. The Henry Rollins Show is now being shown weekly on Film24 along with Henry Rollins Uncut. The show also lead to a promotional tour in Europe that led to Henry being dubbed a “bad boy goodwill ambassador” by a NY reviewer.^[46]

2002 saw Rollins guest star on an episode of the sitcom The Drew Carey Show as a man whom Oswald would find on eBay and pay to come to his house and kick his ass. He co-hosted the British television show Full Metal Challenge, in which teams built vehicles to compete in various driving and racing contests, from 2002–2003 on Channel 4 and TLC. He has made a number of cameo appearances in television series such as MTV's Jackass and an episode of Californication, where he played himself hosting a radio show.^[47] In 2006, Rollins appeared in a documentary series by VH1 and The Sundance Channel called The Drug Years.^[48]

Rollins appears in FX's Sons of Anarchy's second season, which premiered in the fall of 2009 in the United States. Rollins plays A.J. Weston, a white-supremacist gang leader and new antagonist in the show's fictional town of Charming, California, who poses a deadly threat to the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club.^[49]

Rollins was a voice actor in the animated Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and voiced Robotman (Cliff Steele)^[50] in two episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Rollins was also interviewed in the National Geographic series Explorer "Born To Rage". He was interviewed regarding his possible link to the MAO gene (Warrior gene) and violent behavior.^[51]

Rollins has done voice over work for Verizon Wireless and Infiniti luxury automobiles (2011).^[52]

Radio[link]

On May 19, 2004, Rollins began hosting a weekly radio show, Harmony in My Head, on Indie 103.1 radio in Los Angeles. The show aired every Monday evening, with Rollins playing music ranging from early rock and jump blues to hard rock, blues rock, folk rock, punk rock, heavy metal and rockabilly, and touching on hip hop, jazz, world music, reggae, classical music and more. Harmony In My Head often emphasizes B-sides, live bootlegs and other rarities, and nearly every episode has featured a song either by the Beastie Boys or British group The Fall.

Rollins put the show on a short hiatus to undertake a spoken-word tour in early 2005. Rollins posted playlists and commentary on-line; these lists were expanded with more information and published in book form as Fanatic! through 2.13.61 in November 2005. In late 2005, Rollins announced the show's return and began the first episode by playing the show's namesake Buzzcocks song. As of 2008, the show continues each week despite Rollins's constant touring with new pre-recorded shows between live broadcasts. In 2009 Indie 103.1 went off the air, although it continues to broadcast over the Internet.

In 2007 Rollins published Fanatic! Vol. 2 through 2.13.61. Fanatic! Vol. 3 was released in the fall of 2008.

On February 18, 2009, KCRW announced that Rollins would be hosting a live show on Saturday nights starting March 7, 2009.^[53]

In 2011 Rollins was interviewed on Episode 121 of American Public Media's podcast, "The Dinner Party Download", posted on November 3, 2011.

Film[link]

Rollins began his film career appearing in several independent films featuring the band Black Flag. His film debut was in 1982's The Slog Movie, about the West Coast punk scene.^[54] An appearance in 1985's Black Flag Live followed. Rollins' first film appearance without Black Flag was the short film The Right Side of My Brain with Lydia Lunch in 1985.^[55] Following the band's breakup, Rollins did not appear in any films until 1994's The Chase. Rollins appeared in the 2007 direct-to-DVD sequel to Wrong Turn (2003), Wrong Turn 2: Dead End as a retired Marine Corps officer who hosts his own show which tests the contestants' will to survive. Rollins has also appeared in Punk: Attitude, a documentary on the punk scene, and in American Hardcore (2006).

Some feature length movies Henry Rollins has appeared in include:

• Kiss Napoleon Goodbye (1990), with Lydia Lunch and Don Bajema.
• The Chase (1994), with Charlie Sheen.
• Johnny Mnemonic (1995), with Keanu Reeves, Ice T and Dolph Lundgren.
• Heat (1995), with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer.
• Lost Highway (1997), with Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette. Directed by David Lynch.
• Jack Frost (1998), with Michael Keaton.
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000), with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill
• Morgan's Ferry (2001), with Billy Zane and Kelly McGillis.
• Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001 documentary)
• Scenes of the Crime (2001), with Jeff Bridges.
• The New Guy (2002), with Tommy Lee and DJ Qualls.
• Jackass The Movie (2002) with Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera.
• Jackass Number Two (2006) with Preston Lacy, Steve-O, and Chris Pontius.
• Bad Boys 2 (2003), with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
• Feast (2005), with Balthazar Getty and Navi Rawat.
• The Alibi (2006)
• Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
• The Devil's Tomb (2009)
• H for Hunger (2009 documentary)
• William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet (2009 documentary)
• Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011) as Kilowog

Books and Audiobooks[link]

Rollins has written a series of books based on his travel journals referred to as the Black Coffee Blues trilogy. They include the namesake book, Black Coffee Blues, Do I Come Here Often?, The First Five and Smile, You're Traveling. Others include See a Grown Man Cry, Now Watch Him Die, Get in the Van, Eye Scream, Broken Summers, Roomanitarian, and Solipsist.

For the audiobook version of the 2006 novel World War Z Rollins voiced the character of T. Sean Collins, a mercenary hired to protect celebrities during a mass panic caused by an onslaught of the undead. Rollins' other audiobook recordings include 3:10 to Yuma and his own autobiographical book Get in the Van, for which he won a Grammy Award.

Online Journalism[link]

In September 2008 Rollins began contributing to the "Politics & Power" blog at the online version of Vanity Fair magazine.^[56] Since March 2009 his posts have appeared under their own sub-title, Straight Talk Espresso.^[57] His posts consistently direct harsh criticism at conservative politicians and pundits, although he does occasionally target the left wing as well. In August 2010 he began writing a music column for the LA Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Los Angeles.^[58]

Spoken Word[link]

Rollins also has toured doing spoken word performances which range from stand up comedy to more introspective commentaries on his childhood, such as the death of his friend, Joe Cole. He also speaks about experiences he's had with eccentric people. Rollins' spoken word style varies greatly, ranging from intense commentaries on society to playful, sometimes vulgar, anecdotes.

Campaigning and activism[link]

Rollins signing an autograph while on a United Service Organizations tour in Iraq in 2006.

Rollins has become an outspoken human rights activist, most vocally for gay rights. Rollins frequently speaks out on social justice on his spoken word tours and promotes equality, regardless of sexuality.^[59] He was the host of the WedRock benefit concert, which raised money for a pro-gay-marriage organization.

During the 2003 Iraq War, he started touring with the United Service Organizations to entertain troops overseas while remaining against the war, leading him to once cause a stir at a base in Kyrgyzstan when he told the crowd: "Your commander would never lie to you. That's the vice president's job."^[60] Rollins believes it is important that he performs to the troops so that they have multiple points of contact with the rest of the world, stating that, "they can get really cut loose from planet earth".^[61] He has made 8 tours, including visits to bases in Kuwait, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan (twice), Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Honduras, Japan, Korea and the United Arab Emirates.^[62] He has also been active in the campaign to free the "West Memphis Three"—three young men believed by their supporters to have been wrongfully convicted of murder. Rollins appears with Public Enemy frontman Chuck D on the Black Flag song "Rise Above" on the benefit album Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three, the first time Rollins had performed Black Flag's material since 1986.^[63]

Continuing his activism on behalf of troops and veterans, Rollins joined Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) in 2008 to launch a groundbreaking national public service advertisement campaign, CommunityofVeterans.org, which helps veterans coming home from war reintegrate into their communities. In April 2009, Rollins helped IAVA launch the second phase of the campaign which engages the friends and family of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at SupportYourVet.org.

On December 3, 2009, Rollins wrote of his support for the victims of the Bhopal disaster in India, in an article for Vanity Fair^[64] 25 years – to the day – after the methyl isocyanate gas leak from the Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide factory exposed more than half a million local people to poisonous gas and resulted in the death of 17,000. He spent time in Bhopal with the people, to listen to their stories. In a later radio interview in February 2010^[65] Rollins summed-up his approach to activism, "This is where my anger takes me, to places like this, not into abuse but into proactive, clean movement".^[66]

Works[link]

Work with State of Alert[link]

• No Policy (1981)
• three songs on the sampler Flex Your Head (1982)

Work with Black Flag[link]

• Damaged (1981)
• My War (1984)
• Family Man (1984)
• Slip It In (1984)
• Loose Nut (1985)
• In My Head (1985)

Studio albums (Solo)[link]

• Hot Animal Machine (1987)
• Drive by Shooting (1987)

Studio albums with Rollins Band[link]

• Life Time (1987, re-release 1999)
• Do It (1987)
• Hard Volume (1989, re-release 1999)
• The End of Silence (1992, double-CD re-release 2002)
• Weight (1994)
• Come In and Burn (1997)
• Get Some Go Again (2000)
• Nice (2001)
• Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three (2002)

Spoken word[link]

• Short Walk on a Long Pier (1985)
• Big Ugly Mouth (1987)
• Sweatbox (1989)
• Live at McCabe's (1990)
• Human Butt (1992)
• The Boxed Life (1993)
• Think Tank (1998)
• Eric the Pilot (1999)
• A Rollins in the Wry (2001)
• Live at the Westbeth Theater (2001)
• Talk Is Cheap: Volume 1 (2003)
• Talk Is Cheap: Volume 2 (2003)
• Talk Is Cheap: Volume 3 (2004)
• Talk Is Cheap: Volume 4 (2004)
• Provoked (2008)
• Spoken Word Guy (2010)
• Spoken Word Guy 2 (2010)
• The Long March (2012)

Spoken word documentaries[link]

• Talking from the Box (1993)
• Henry Rollins Goes to London (1995)
• You Saw Me Up There (1998)
• Up for It (2001)
• Live at Luna Park (2004)
• Shock & Awe: The Tour (2005)
• Uncut from NYC (2007)
• Uncut from Israel (2007)
• San Francisco 1990 (2007)
• Live in the Conversation Pit (2008)

Audio books[link]

• Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag (1994)
• Everything (1996)
• Black Coffee Blues (1997)
• Nights Behind the Tree Line (2004)

Essays[link]

• Iron and the Soul, First published in Details magazine, 1994.^{[citation needed]}
• As We See It, an editorial essay in Stereophile magazine.^[67]

Guest appearances and collaborations[link]

In 1993, Rollins appeared on the Tool album, Undertow where he and Tool front man, Maynard James Keenan, performed the vocals in the song "Bottom". Rollins appeared on the 1996 studio album Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel Presents Highball with the Devil, narrating "Delicate Tendrils". He also appears on Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's solo record Iommi which was released in 2000.

Rollins appeared as Vanilla Ice in the 1991 music video "Pop Goes the Weasel" by hip-hop trio 3rd Bass; and as Duke in the 2009 music video "The Ballad of G.I. Joe" on the website Funny or Die. He also appeared in the 2010 music video "Haifisch" by German industrial metal band Rammstein.

Rollins has made several voice acting performances in video games including the main character Mace Griffin in Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter and as himself in Def Jam: Fight for NY.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Little Brown and Company, 2001. ISBN 0-316-78753-1

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Henry Rollins

• Official website
• Interview with Henry Rollins on PMAKid.com
• Straight Talk Espresso, Rollins's blog at VanityFair.com
• Henry Rollins at the Internet Movie Database
• IFC Site for The Henry Rollins Show
• Henry Rollins: 9 Questions with the Legendary Frontman about the Mainstream Media, So-called Class Warfare and the Political Necessities facing the 99% Movement, Dan O'Mahony, "Point Nine Nine", November 7, 2011