Bare-chested, muscles bulging, veins fit to bursting, Henry Rollins was the raging, intense face of the US hardcore movement of the 1980s. Part of the burgeoning Washington DC punk scene, Rollins played in several local bands before getting his break when his heroes Black Flag invited him to perform with them during a gig in New York. He joined the band permanently in 1981 and became famed for his snarling, hyperactive performances, storming around the stage like a heavyweight boxer and sometimes getting involved in a fracas with members of the audience. He started performing as a spoken word artist in the mid-1980s and released the live album Short Walk On A Long Pier (1985), before Black Flag's split in 1986 led to the solo albums Hot Animal Machine (1987) and Drive By Shooting (1987). Still rocking as hard as ever but adding elements of funk, jazz and poetry, he went on to form the Henry Rollins Band and scored his biggest commercial success with the album Weight (1994) which reached Number 22 in the UK. Incredibly prolific and bursting with energy, Rollins has also turned his hand to stand-up comedy, presented television and radio shows, acted in several films, made documentaries, worked for the USO visiting troops and written numerous books, articles and essays on a wide range of subjects.
