Rollins became involved in the punk rock scene after he and Ian MacKaye bought a Ramones record he later described it as a 'revelation.' By 1979, Rollins was working as a roadie for local bands, including MacKaye's Teen Idles. I accumulated a lot of rage by the time I was seventeen or eighteen.'Īfter high school, Rollins attempted college, but after being discouraged by the behavior of his fellow students, who were into 'beer and bongs,' he left and began working in minimum-wage jobs, including a job as a courier for liver samples at the National Institutes of Health. 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.' Despite the relative affluence of Glover Park, for Rollins 'it was a very rough upbringing in a lot of other ways. He was raised primarily by his mother, Iris, who taught him to read before he entered public school however, because of 'bad grades, bad attitude, poor conduct,' he was soon sent to The Bullis School, a preparatory school in Potomac, Maryland.Īccording to Rollins, the Bullis School helped him to develop a sense of discipline and a strong work ethic. An only child, his parents divorced when he was a toddler he suffered from low self-esteem and a poor attention span as a child. on February 13, 1961, and grew up in the Glover Park neighborhood of the city. Henry Garfield was born in Washington, D.C. Rollins has also campaigned for human rights in the United States, promoting marriage equality for LGBT couples, World Hunger Relief, and an end to war in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops. He had a recurring dramatic role as a white supremacist in the second season of Sons of Anarchy and has also had roles in several films. He 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.

Since Black Flag, Rollins has embarked on projects covering a variety of media. Following the band's breakup, Rollins soon 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 until 2003 and during 2006. After joining the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1981 until 1986. Henry Rollins (born Februas Henry Lawrence Garfield) is an American singer-songwriter, raconteur, stand-up comedian, spoken word artist, writer, publisher, actor, radio DJ, and activist.

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