The Murder Junkies are an American punk rock band, best known for having been

GG Allin Kevin Michael "GG" Allin (born Jesus Christ Allin; August 29, 1956 – June 28, 1993) was an American punk rock musician who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. Allin was best known for his controversial live performances ...

's final backing band before his death. They perform songs from Allin's back catalog as well as their own original material. They are the third GG Allin backing band to bear the name.

Earlier bands bearing the name

The original Murder Junkies was a Texas band formed independently of Allin which performed as his backing band for several live dates in the late 1980s. The second Murder Junkies was a studio band including Allin's friend Mark Sheehan on guitar which recorded the ''Watch Me Kill'' six-track EP, released on Fuckin' A/Stomach Ache Records in 1991.

Formation and career with Allin (1990–1993)

The third Murder Junkies lineup was formed in 1990 as Allin's new backing band and rehearsed while he concluded his prison sentence. The original line-up consisted of guitarist "Chicken" John Rinaldi (later a 2007

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

mayoral candidate), GG's elder brother

Merle Allin Merle Allin (born September 1, 1953) is an American bass guitarist. He is the elder brother of the late punk rock vocalist GG Allin. Allin played electric bass for three groups that featured GG Allin: Malpractice, The AIDS Brigade and the thi ...

on bass, and drummer Donald "Dino Sex" Sachs. Rinaldi left the band later in 1991, and voiced negative opinions about the experience in Todd Phillips's documentary '' Hated: GG Allin And The Murder Junkies''. He was replaced by William Weber.

Dee Dee Ramone Douglas Glenn Colvin (September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002), better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. Throughout the band's existence, he w ...

was also recruited to play guitar at the same time as Weber, but quit shortly thereafter, without playing any live dates with the band. GG Allin and the Murder Junkies recorded their sole studio album, ''

Brutality and Bloodshed for All ''Brutality and Bloodshed for All'' is the eighth and final studio album by American punk rock musician GG Allin, recorded with his backing band the Murder Junkies. Released after his death in 1993, the first recording on Alive Records. All son ...

'', for

Alive Records Alive Naturalsound Records (also known as Alive Records) is an independent record label formed in 1993 in Los Angeles, California by Patrick Boissel, specializing in garage rock, punk, psychedelic, and blues rock. It grew out of Boissel's associ ...

in April 1993. Their subsequent tour, shortly followed by Allin's death from a drug overdose on June 28, was chronicled by roadie Evan Cohen in the book ''I Was A Murder Junkie: The Last Days Of GG Allin''.

Activity after Allin's death; breakup (1993–1999)

Dino, Merle, and Weber decided to continue the band, and recruited new singer Mike Denied, former bassist with

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

band The Denied. They released a mini-album ''Feed My Sleaze'' in 1995. "The Right To Remain Violent", a 7" single, appeared the following year. The Murder Junkies toured throughout the 1990s and went through several more vocalists, including

Mike Hudson Michael Hudson (born February 6, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League between 1988 and 1997. Playing career Hudson grew up playing hockey in his hometown of Guelph, Ontario before ad ...

, formerly of

the Pagans The Pagans were an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States, that was originally active from 1977 to 1979. They reformed several times, from 1982-1983, from 1986-1989 and again in 2014-2017. Along with fellow Cleveland band ...

(he only lasted for two shows in 1994), Jeff Clayton of

Antiseen Antiseen (often stylized as ANTiSEEN) is an American punk rock band formed in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Jeff Clayton and Joe Young in 1983. The name "Antiseen" serves as a deliberate deviation of the phrase "anti-scene" - the group not wis ...

, and

J. B. Beverley J.B. Beverley (born July 11, 1977) is an American musician. Born Joshua Beverley, Beverley goes by the nickname "J.B." which he acquired in grade school. Reared in a musical household, Beverley grew up on early country, bluegrass, rockabilly, big ...

, a musician from the

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area. They broke up in 1999.

Reformation, subsequent activity (2003–present)

The band reformed with Clayton singing for a tour in April 2003, the 10th anniversary of GG Allin's death. They performed alongside a version of Allin's first band,

The Jabbers The Jabbers are an American punk rock band. Perhaps best known for having GG Allin as the frontman at the beginning of his career in the late 1970s to early 1980s, many of his most well-known songs were recorded with the band, such as "Don't T ...

, for several shows. In 2005, the band completed a tour of continental Europe. In 2006, they appeared at two shows supporting

CKY CKY may refer to: * CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" ** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manito ...

, and toured as the opening act for

Hank Williams III Shelton Hank Williams (born December 12, 1972), known as Hank Williams III, is an American musician, singer and multi-instrumentalist, known for his unique fusion of traditional country music, rockabilly, heavy metal and punk rock. He was the ...

. The band released the album ''Road Killers'' in 2011, followed by ''A Killing Tradition'' in 2013 and ''Killing For Christ Sakes'' the following year. The lineup currently features Merle Allin, Dino Sex, guitarist Duane Rollick, and vocalist Brandon Fergus.https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02kVNLRUWedTPngxTXSBPyajLTtgNFQswMFKyEndACjiWeeopt3KycGE8UxpVhEYK2l&id=585345590&mibextid=qC1gEa

Discography

Studio albums

;as GG Allin & The Murder Junkies ;as The Murder Junkies

Live albums

;as GG Allin & The Murder Junkies

Extended Plays

;as The Murder Junkies

Singles

;as GG Allin & The Murder Junkies

References

External links

*
Discogs entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder junkies, The Punk rock groups from New York (state) Musical groups from New York City