John Christ (born John Wolfgang Knoll on February 19, 1965) is an American musician best known as the original guitarist for the metal band Danzig. He has been known for his bluesy hard rock sound and frequent use of the

pinch harmonic Playing a string harmonic (a flageolet) is a string instrument technique that uses the nodes of natural harmonics of a musical string to isolate overtones. Playing string harmonics produces high pitched tones, often compared in timbre to a w ...

. Christ was ranked 63rd in ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

's'' list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists'.

Early life

Christ was born the youngest of five children, with four older sisters. Christ first started playing acoustic guitar when he was in grade school and began playing electric guitar at age 13. He had previously taken piano lessons. His first electric guitar was a Univox

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

copy. Christ grew up in

Catonsville, Maryland Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...

and attended Catonsville High School. He later studied classical guitar at the Peabody Institute and attended Towson University studying Jazz, theory and composition.

Samhain and Danzig

In 1987, Christ dropped out of college and moved to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

to join

Glenn Danzig Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film director, and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns t ...

's band Samhain, which became the band Danzig later that same year. Upon his arrival in New Jersey, Christ would share an apartment with Samhain drummer London May, for whom Christ had performed his first band audition. Christ auditioned well, but it wasn't until leaving countless

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...

s on Glenn Danzig's answering machine that he was finally invited to join the band. When May left the band, Christ shared an apartment with new drummer Chuck Biscuits, where they came up with Christ's original stage name "John Von Christ", before it was shortened to avoid it clashing with bassist

Eerie Von Eerie Von (born Eric Stellmann; August 25, 1964) is an American musician best known as the original bassist for the heavy metal band Danzig. His preferred bass is the Fender Jazz Bass. Early life Eerie Von was raised in Lodi, New Jersey. A ...

. Christ played guitar with Danzig from 1987 to July 1995, appearing on the albums '' Danzig'', '' Lucifuge'', '' How the Gods Kill'' and '' 4'', and also the ''

Thrall-Demonsweatlive ''Thrall-Demonsweatlive'' is an EP by American heavy metal band Danzig. It was released in 1993 on Def American Recordings and has been certified Gold. Music and recording The EP is split into two sections. The first section, ''Thrall'', consi ...

'' EP. In 1990, Christ recorded guitar for the Samhain album '' Final Descent''. Christ officially left Danzig on July 5, 1995, citing a breakdown in communication within the band as the reason behind his departure. During his time with Danzig, Christ's main guitar was a 1983 BC Rich Bich strung with custom D'Aquisto strings and fit with PRS pickups. The guitar was customized with the Danzig skull symbol, and is currently on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando.

Solo career

In 1997, Christ was part of the short lived band Juice 13, which also included

Randy Castillo Randolpho Francisco Castillo (December 18, 1950 – March 26, 2002) was an American musician. He was Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999 to his death in 2002. Ea ...

, former drummer for

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

. Christ's guitar work has been used by TV stations

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. During his time with Nine Network, he provided backing guitar for performances by artists including Tom Jones and

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

. In 1999, Christ released his debut solo album '' Flesh Caffeine''. In 2004, Christ was involved in a serious crash and suffered injuries to his fretting hand. As a result of his injuries, he underwent lengthy

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

. On November 27, 2009, Christ returned to the live stage for the first time in ten years with a solo performance in Essex, Maryland.

Discography

Danzig

* 1988 – '' Danzig'' * 1990 – '' Lucifuge'' * 1992 – '' Danzig III: How the Gods Kill'' * 1993 – ''

'' * 1994 – ''

Danzig 4 ''Danzig 4'', also titled ''Danzig 4P'', is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Danzig. Released in 1994, it was the band's final album on American Recordings, and the last to feature the original lineup of John Christ (guita ...

'' * 2001 – ''

Live on the Black Hand Side ''Live on the Black Hand Side'' is a double-disc live album by American heavy metal band Danzig. It was recorded at various shows between 1992 and 2000 (including Danzig's infamous Halloween '92 show at Irvine Meadows, CA), and was released in ...

'' * 2007 – ''

The Lost Tracks of Danzig ''The Lost Tracks of Danzig'' is a compilation album by American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Danzig (band), Danzig. The set showcases a number of previously unreleased Danzig songs, ranging from the band's first recording sessions in 198 ...

Samhain

* 1990 – '' Final Descent''

Solo

* 1999 – '' Flesh Caffeine''

Others

* 1987 – '' Less than Zero'' soundtrack album by Various Artists (contributed the track "You and Me (Less than Zero)" with

Glenn Danzig & the Power and Fury Orchestra Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film director, and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns t ...

) * 1994 – ''Guitar Practicing Musicians 3'' by Various Artists (Contributed the track "For Christ's Sake", also featuring Chuck Biscuits) * 1996 – ''Guitars That Rule the World, Vol. 2: Smell the Fuzz: The Superstar Guitar Album'' by Various Artists (Contributed the track "One Song") * 1999 – ''Black Glue'' by Mike Hartman * 2001 – '' Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica'' by Various Artists (Contributed the track " Enter Sandman", also featuring Robert Trujillo,

Burton C. Bell Burton Christopher Bell (born February 19, 1969) is an American musician and vocalist. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of the metal band Fear Factory. Until 2021 he was the only member to perform on all of the band's album ...

and Tommy Aldridge) * 2012 – '' Ex Lives'' by Every Time I Die (Contributed guitar on the track "Revival Mode")

References

External links

*
John Christ's MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christ, John 1965 births Living people Musicians from Baltimore American heavy metal guitarists Horror punk musicians Danzig (band) members Towson University alumni People from Catonsville, Maryland Guitarists from Maryland American male guitarists Samhain (band) members 20th-century American guitarists