Glenn Danzig - WikiHQ

Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, film director and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns the Evilive record label as well as Verotik, an adult-oriented comic book publishing company.

Beginning in the mid-1970s, Danzig's musical career has encompassed a number of genres through the years, including punk rock and heavy metal, and incorporating influences from industrial, blues and classical music. He has also written songs for other musicians, most notably Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison.

As a singer, Danzig is noted for his baritone voice and tenor vocal range; his style has been compared to those of Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, and Howlin' Wolf. Danzig has also cited Bill Medley as a vocal influence. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Glenn Danzig at number 199 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Early life

Danzig was born Glenn Allen Anzalone, the third of four sons, His mother worked at a record store. Danzig and his family also spent some time living in Revere, Massachusetts. Danzig began listening to heavy metal music at an early age, and has described Black Sabbath, the Ramones, Blue Cheer, and The Doors as being among his early musical influences. He stopped using drugs at age 15.

Danzig graduated from Lodi High School in June 1973, aspiring to become a comic book creator and professional photographer. He attended the Tisch School of the Arts and later the New York Institute of Photography. Danzig formed an adult-oriented comic book company called Verotik in the mid-1990s. He later taught himself how to play the guitar. and then playing in local garage bands.

Misfits and Samhain (1977–1986)

In the mid-1970s, Danzig started the Misfits, releasing the band's records through his own label (originally known as Blank, later as Plan 9). Danzig had attempted to get the Misfits signed to several record labels, only to be told that he would never have a career in music. The impetus for the band's name comes from Marilyn Monroe's last film,

Before the disbanding of the Misfits, Danzig had begun working on a new band project, Samhain, Danzig took the name of the band from the ancient Celtic New Year (which influenced the evolution of the modern Halloween). Initially Samhain was conceived as a punk rock "super group". The band briefly featured members of Minor Threat and Reagan Youth, who contributed to Samhain's 1984 debut, Initium. The band then settled with a lineup consisting of Eerie Von on bass, Damien on guitar, and Steve Zing on drums (later replaced by London May). In 1985 the Unholy Passion EP was released, followed by November-Coming-Fire in 1986.

Samhain eventually attracted the interest of major labels including Epic and Elektra. Rick Rubin, music producer and head of the Def Jam label, would see the band perform at the 1986 New Music Seminar, on the advice of then-Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. Danzig has credited both Burton and Metallica frontman James Hetfield with helping to raise awareness about his music: "I first met them at a Black Flag gig, and then we became kinda friends. We'd often bump into each other on the road...James and Cliff helped to spread the word about me, and I was very grateful to them." The original band consisted of guitarist John Christ, bassist Eerie Von, and former Circle Jerks–DOA–Black Flag drummer Chuck Biscuits.

In 1987, Danzig, owing to his association with Rubin, was asked to write a song for Roy Orbison. The result was "Life Fades Away", featured in the 1987 movie Less than Zero.

In 1993, Danzig released Thrall-Demonsweatlive, an EP featuring both studio recordings and live tracks. Danzig broke into the mainstream when the live video of "Mother '93" became a hit on MTV and earned Buzz Bin rotation, six years after the original song was recorded. During this time the band reached its commercial peak, with both the debut album and Thrall-Demonsweatlive being certified Gold, and "Mother" becoming the band's highest charting single. Both Danzig and Thrall-Demonsweatlive have since been certified Platinum.

In 1994, the release of Danzig 4 saw the band going further into a darker, heavier and more experimental sound. The album also saw further development of his vocal style and range, most notable in songs like "Let It Be Captured", and a more blues-based approach on songs like "Going Down to Die".

Also in 1994, Danzig's song "Thirteen", written for Johnny Cash, appeared on the latter musician's album American Recordings. As a result, the label pulled support for Blackacidevil and the record deal was severed.

In September 1999, Danzig signed his band to E-Magine Records, becoming the first artist on the label. The deal also led to the release of a Samhain box set and the re-release of Blackacidevil. Bands featured on the tour have included Dimmu Borgir, Superjoint Ritual, Nile, Opeth, Lacuna Coil, Behemoth, Skeletonwitch, Mortiis and Marduk.

Recent activity (2005–2011)

In 2005, Danzig's tours to support the Circle of Snakes album and the Blackest of the Black Tour were highlighted by the special guest appearance of Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein. Doyle joined Danzig on stage for a 20-minute set of classic Misfits songs: "To do this right, I invited Doyle to join Danzig on stage at 'Blackest of the Black' for a special guest set. This is the first time we will be performing on stage together in 20 years. It's the closest thing to a Misfits reunion anyone is ever going to see."

On October 17, 2006, he released his second solo album, Black Aria II. The album reached the top ten on the Billboard classical music chart.

In November 2006, Danzig toured the west coast with former Samhain drummer Steve Zing on bass. They played three Samhain songs including "All Murder All Guts All Fun". In Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Doyle joined the band onstage for the encore and played two Misfits songs, "Skulls" and "Astro Zombies".

In 2007 Danzig produced the debut album by ex-Misfits guitarist Doyle's metal-influenced band, Gorgeous Frankenstein.

thumb|left|Glenn Danzig at Getaway Rock Festival in 2011

In July 2007, Danzig released The Lost Tracks of Danzig, a compilation of previously unreleased songs. The project took nine months to complete with Glenn Danzig having to add extra vocal and instrument tracks to songs that had been unfinished. The album included the controversial "White Devil Rise", recorded during the sessions for Danzig 4 in response to inflammatory comments by Louis Farrakhan and his use of the term "The White Devil". Danzig himself has bluntly denied any accusations of racism: "As far as me being an Aryan or a racist, anyone who knows me knows that's bullshit." On October 23, 2007, Danzig was performing the song "How the Gods Kill" in Baltimore and fell off the stage, injuring his left arm. He did not perform the Misfits set that night, The song, titled "Father's Grave", features Danzig singing from the perspective of a gravedigger and appears on Auf der Maur's 2010 album Out of Our Minds. Auf der Maur has spoken highly about the experience of meeting and working with Danzig.

In a July 2010 interview with Metal Injection, Glenn Danzig was asked if he was going to make another Danzig record after Deth Red Sabaoth. His response was, "I don't know, we'll see. With the way record sales are now...I won't do some stupid pro-tool record in someone's living room where all the drum beats are stolen from somebody and just mashed together...and I'm not going to do that if I can't do a record how I want to do it, and if it's not financially feasible, I'm just not going to do one."

During the later quarter of 2011 Danzig performed a string of one-off reunion shows called the "Danzig Legacy" tour. The shows consisted of a Danzig set, followed by a Samhain set, then closing off with Danzig and Doyle performing Misfits songs.

During the third date of Metallica's 30-year anniversary shows at the Fillmore Theater in San Francisco, Danzig went on stage with Metallica to perform the Misfits songs "Die, Die My Darling", "Last Caress", and "Green Hell".

Current activity (2012–present)

thumb|upright=1.1|Glenn Danzig performing with [[Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein at Wacken Open Air 2013]]

Danzig has said he wishes to avoid extensive and exhaustive touring in the future, preferring instead to focus on his various music, film and comic book projects: "I don't really want to tour. My reason for not doing it is because I'm bored of it. I like being onstage, but I don't like sitting around all day doing nothing. I could be home, working." Danzig has started work on a third Black Aria album, and a covers album is set for release by the end of 2013. Danzig hopes to record a dark blues album involving Jerry Cantrell and Hank III. He is currently working on new Danzig material with Tommy Victor and Johnny Kelly.

In 2014, Danzig filed a lawsuit against Misfits bassist Jerry Only claiming Only registered trademarks for everything Misfits-related in 2000 behind Danzig's back, misappropriating exclusive ownership over the trademarks for himself, including the band's iconic "Fiend Skull" logo, violating a 1994 contract the two had. Danzig claims that after registering the trademarks, Only secretly entered into deals with various merchandisers and cut him out of any potential profits in the process. On August 6, 2014, a U.S. district judge in California dismissed Danzig's lawsuit.

On October 21, 2015, during an interview with Loudwire, Danzig stated his current tour with Superjoint could be his last.

On May 12, 2016, Danzig, Only, and Frankenstein announced they would perform together as the Misfits for the first time in 33 years in two headlining shows at the September 2016 Riot Fest in Chicago and Denver. He later noted that he would be "open to possibly doing some more shows". The reunited Misfits did more shows and Danzig enforced a "no cell phone" policy at the reunion shows. The reunited "Original Misfits" sold out a succession of arenas, a singular accomplishment for a classic punk band, providing evidence that they are among the most popular punk bands ever.

Danzig returned to Riot Fest in 2017 with his band Danzig. Their album Black Laden Crown was released on May 26, 2017.

When asked in May 2020 by Billboard.com about the possibility of another Danzig album with all-new material, Danzig stated, "For now, people are going to have to be happy with the Danzig Sings Elvis record, and I'll see in a couple years if I feel like recording another. If something comes in my mind, maybe I'll do another. Maybe I'll just give it away for free or something. I don't know. But as long as I'm having a good time, it doesn't really matter."

In May 2023, Danzig unveiled a series of live performance dates in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Danzig’s self-titled debut album. The band played the album in its entirety for these concerts.

In April 2025, Danzig faced backlash among his fans for selling merchandise with Nazi-related symbolism.

Musical style

Danzig's musical career has encompassed a number of genres, from punk rock and heavy metal to classical music. He is noted for his baritone voice and tenor vocal range; his style has been compared to those of Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Roy Orbison and Howlin' Wolf. Critic Mark Deming of Allmusic described Danzig as "one of the very best singers to emerge from hardcore punk, though in a genre where an angry, sneering bark was the order of the day, that only says so much. Still, the guy could carry a tune far better than his peers". As a musician, in addition to his vocals, Glenn Danzig has also contributed guitar, bass, drums and piano to his various musical projects.

The Misfits combined Danzig's harmonic vocals with camp-horror imagery and lyrics. The Misfits sound was a faster, heavier derivation of Ramones-style punk with rockabilly influences. Glenn Danzig's Misfits songs dealt almost exclusively with themes derived from B-grade horror and science fiction movies (e.g., "Night of the Living Dead") as well as comic books (e.g. "Wasp Women", "I Turned into a Martian"). Other musical influences include The Doors, and the ballads of Roy Orbison. Danzig opted for a thicker and heavier-sounding guitar tone than with his previous bands, retaining his preference for a single lead guitarist and short guitar solos. After replacing the band's original line-up, Danzig began to experiment with a more industrial sound, before merging into gothic metal. Later, Danzig albums have returned to the band's original sound.

Glenn Danzig's lyrics, which had already evolved from those of the Misfits to the more serious style of Samhain, progressed even further with Danzig to become "frighteningly intense images of doom" which "convey their bleak messages with an eerie grace and intelligence". Lyrical themes include love, sex, evil, death, religion, and occult imagery. Danzig's songs about love often deal with the pain of loss and loneliness using gothic romanticism. Sex is another common theme, with songs frequently alluding to various sexual practices and depicting powerful, seductive and sometimes supernatural female figures. Glenn Danzig has tackled Biblical subjects and has offered his criticisms of organised religion. He often promotes rebellion and anti-authoritarianism, whilst embracing independence and the left-hand path. In other lyrics, Danzig deals with the subject of death and questions the concepts of evil and sin.

Glenn Danzig has served as the sole songwriter for every band he has fronted, and described his writing process: "Sometimes I get the guitar lines, sometimes I write on the piano, sometimes I'll write the lyrics first and then figure out the chord patterns on guitar, and sometimes I write the drum pattern first. It's all different". Danzig also records basic song ideas when away from his home: "I usually hum it into a microcassette recorder and then I transpose it when I get home and work it out on guitar or piano".

Danzig appeared as singer Fellatia in the 2008 film Young Hollywood starring Kimberly Kane.

He was invited by 20th Century Fox to audition for the role of Wolverine in X-Men, as his height and build closely resemble that of the film's protagonist, as described in the original comic books. However, he declined due to scheduling conflicts.

Danzig guest-appeared as himself in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future" where he purchased the house of the character Carl.

In February 2016, Danzig appeared in the Portlandia episode "Weirdo Beach".

Danzig appeared as vampire Bad Bathory in the 2021 film Death Rider in the House of Vampires starring Danny Trejo.

Directing

Danzig plays a personal role in the production of the band's music videos, suggesting ideas and sometimes directing them himself. He has worked on a film version of the Verotik comic Ge Rouge.

In 2019, Danzig made his feature film directorial debut with Verotika, an anthology horror film that premiered at Chicago's Cinepocalypse Film Festival that year. The film was directed, written and scored by Danzig.

In 2020, Danzig announced his next film was Death Rider in the House of Vampires, which blends elements of the Spaghetti western with vampire horror. Danzig stated there would be several prominent actors in the film, including: Devon Sawa, Danny Trejo, Julian Sands, and Kim Director.

In multiple interviews, Danzig cites Italian horror director Mario Bava among his directorial inspirations, along with Sergio Leone and Jean Cocteau.

Personal life

Danzig lives in Los Angeles, California, where he (along with his then-bandmates in Danzig) moved in 1989 during the making of Danzig II: Lucifuge. When asked why he had moved there, Danzig said, "I'd been working in L.A. a lot and there wasn't much for me in New York anymore. It had become...taken over by yuppies and preps and rap music was gigantic. Out here there was tons of different stuff to do."

In January 1992, Danzig became a student of Jerry Poteet, a martial artist in Jeet Kune Do. Danzig has since earned a teaching degree in the discipline. also developed an interest in bodybuilding:

: "I've always been attracted to the Nietzschean idea of perfection, and so I began trying to perfect my body. I bought Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and started studying. Lifting weights is just lifting weights, but bodybuilding is about sculpting the body. Nutrition is essential, and though I'd like to be eating candy and cake, it immediately settles on my hips. Unfortunately, when I'm on the road I only get to work out a few times weekly, but when I'm at home with my weights and machines I work out four or five times a week."

thumb|Glenn Danzig signing his book at Atomic Comics in Mesa, Arizona (2010)

Danzig has several distinctive tattoos, all by tattoo artist Rick Spellman, which incorporate artwork based upon his music. These include a Danzig/Samhain skull symbol designed by Michael Golden, a bat with a Misfits Crimson Ghost skull, a wolf's head with the text "Wolfs Blood" (the title of a Misfits song),

Danzig's favorite composers include Richard Wagner, Sergei Prokofiev, Camille Saint-Saëns, Carl Orff, and film score composer Jerry Goldsmith.

Danzig is an avid reader and owns a large book collection on subjects including the occult, religious history and true murder cases. He commented about the book The Occult Roots of Nazism that "every school kid should have this book", though he later stated that the comment was satirical. Danzig also has a long-standing interest in New World Order-related conspiracies: "Not only have I always been interested in the families that run the world forever, that people know now as the Bilderberg Group. But there's an older book called Committee of 300 which tells you all about it. I mean, I got in trouble for this back in the 90s, talking about this kind of stuff – how the United States is based on a Freemason thing, and I got so many government files on me from that one".

Regarding his political views, Danzig has described himself as being "conservative on some issues, and some issues I'm really liberal". He defended President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban from selected countries, arguing "It's really not a travel ban. When you walk into the country, we want to see who you are and what you're doing." Danzig has voiced his dissatisfaction with the United States' two-party system; stating "the bottom line is that both parties are in agreement about one thing: They don't want a third, a fourth, or a fifth party in there. They want it Democratic and Republican. Both sides are corrupt." In an interview with Greg Gutfield of Fox News on June 5th, 2010, in response to being asked if he would ever make a lighthearted album "about puppies and rainbows," Danzig stated "No, maybe I'll do a real horror record and talk about the Obama administration."

Though sometimes portrayed as a Satanist by the media, Danzig has denied this in several interviews, elaborating that "I embrace both my light and dark side... I definitely believe in a yin and yang, good and evil. My religion is a patchwork of whatever is real to me. If I can draw the strength to get through the day from something, that's religion... I'm not trying to be preachy or tell people what to think." He has stated that religion does not play a role in how he perceives other bands and musicians.

Discography

Danzig

Studio albums

Danzig (1988)
Danzig II: Lucifuge (1990)
Danzig III: How the Gods Kill (1992)
Danzig 4 (1994) – LP
Blackacidevil (1996; reissued in 2000 with extra tracks)
6:66 Satan's Child (1999)
I Luciferi (2002)
Circle of Snakes (2004)
Deth Red Sabaoth (2010)
Skeletons (2015)
Black Laden Crown (2017)
Danzig Sings Elvis (2020)

EPs

Thrall/Demonsweatlive (1993)
Sacrifice (1996; reissued in 2000 with extra tracks)

Singles

"Mother" (1988) – promotional CD single
"Her Black Wings" (1990) – promotional CD single
"Killer Wolf" (1990) – promotional CD single
"A Taste of Danzig III" (1992) – promotional CD single
"Dirty Black Summer" (1992) – CD single
"How the Gods Kill" (1992) – promotional CD single
"It's Coming Down" (1993) – promotional CD single
"Mother '93" (1993) – promotional and wide-release CD singles
"Until You Call on the Dark" – (1994) – promotional CD single
"Brand New God" (1994) – promotional CD single
"Cantspeak" (1994) – CD single
"I Don't Mind the Pain" (1995) – CD single
"7th House" (1996) – promotional CD single
"Sacrifice" (1996) – CD single
"Unspeakable" (1999) – promotional CD single
"Wicked Pussycat" (2001) – promotional CD single
"On a Wicked Night" (2010) – CD single
"Ju Ju Bone" (2011) – CD single

Compilations

The Lost Tracks of Danzig (2007) – double LP

Live albums

Live on the Black Hand Side (2001) – double LP

Soundtracks

"Deep" Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files (1996)
"UnderBelly of the Beast" The Crow: Salvation Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2000)
"Mother" Guitar Hero II (2006)
"Thirteen" The Hangover Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2009)
"Mother" Guitar Hero Smash Hits (2009)
"Black Hell" The Hangover Part II Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2011)
"Mother '93" The Hangover Part III Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2013)

Official videography

Danzig (1990) – VHS
Lucifuge: The Video (1991) – VHS