Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby (15 June 1972 – 19 November 2021), also known as Hank von Helvete and Hank von Hell, was a Norwegian singer best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band

Turbonegro Turbonegro (Turboneger in Norway) is a Norwegian rock band, active from 1989 to 1998 and from 2002 to the present. The band combines glam rock, punk rock, and hard rock into a self-described "deathpunk" musical style. History Early years (1 ...

Career

Von Hell's former band Turbonegro is most well known for their tongue-in-cheek humor dealing with homosexual aesthetics and punk rock antics, and the formation of a genre they label "death punk". The band formed in the late 1980s and put out a few records before disbanding in 1998 when von Hell's

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

addiction made him unable to perform. After going through rehab, Turbonegro reunited in 2002, but the band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2010. The main reason for this was his new lifestyle as a sober family man. In 2009, he had a joint No. 1 hit alongside

Maria Solheim Maria Solheim (born 19 January 1982 in Alsvåg, Øksnes, Vesterålen) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. She was discovered at 15 years old, by a travelling musician, singing her own songs in a small fishing village. She has released 7 solo album ...

in the

Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continents around the world. The data are collected by Nie ...

with "Rom for alle". The song stayed at No. 1 for three weeks including the Christmas chart for 2009. Von Hell played the title role in ''

Cornelis Cornelis is a Dutch language, Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius (name), Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees (given name), Kees, Neel and Nelis. Cornelis (Kees) an ...

'', a Swedish film from 2010 about the singer-songwriter

Cornelis Vreeswijk Cornelis Vreeswijk (; ; 8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch-born Swedish singer-songwriter, poet and actor. He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become ...

. On 6 June 2011, von Hell, alongside his new band

Doctor Midnight & The Mercy Cult Doctor Midnight & The Mercy Cult (DMTMC) was a supergroup formed in 2009. The band made its live debut in Helsinki, Finland, on 11 May 2011 at club DOM followed by shows in Oslo, Stockholm and Örebro. DMTMC's debut single, "(Don't) Waste It ...

, released their first album ''I Declare: Treason''. In late 2011, he was a judge in the Norwegian TV series ''

Idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

''. His biography was released in Norway October 2012, written by writer and poet Havard Rem, where he speaks openly about his life so far.

Solo career

On 31 August 2018, von Hell released his first single, "Bum to Bum", from his forthcoming solo record ''Egomania''. The album was released on 2 November through

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

worldwide. He wrote the album with the help of guitarist and band member Eric Bachman, also known as Cat Casino. Von Hell was asked why he decided to return and produce a solo record in an interview in 2018, stating: "The timing was just right. I was done with others "angels" in life, and it felt like it was time to go back and do what I always should’ve done – ROCK. And shake ass." On 25 January 2019, the song "Fake It" was chosen for competition in the

Melodi Grand Prix 2019 Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Spirit in the Sky (Keiino song), Spirit in the Sky" written by Tom Hugo, Tom Hugo Hermansen, Fred Buljo, Fred-René Buljo, Alexandra Rotan, Henrik Tala, Alex Olsson and Rüdi ...

to represent Norway at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

in Israel.

Personal life and death

Hans-Erik Husby and his family moved frequently during his childhood and adolescent years, living in various places across Norway. His early childhood years were spent in the village of Å on the southwest edge of the

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...

islands, later moving to

Fauske or is a municipality located in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fauske. Some of the villages in Fauske include Nystad, Venset, Straumsn ...

Rognan Rognan is a village and the administrative centre of the municipality of Saltdal in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located at the innermost part of Skjerstad Fjord, called Saltdal Fjord. It is located about north of the village of R ...

and

Tvedestrand is municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative center is the town of Tvedestrand. There are many villages in the municipality including Dypvåg, Fiane, Gjeving, Gødders ...

. Von Hell went through detox while living at the

Moskenes Moskenes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality comprises the southern part of the island of Moskenesøya in the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Reine. Ot ...

island in

, Norway. Here he worked at Norsk Fiskeværsmuseum in Å, as well as working as a presenter at Moskenesradioen, a local radio station. He claimed to have dealt with his drug addiction problem thanks to the

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...

drug rehab program

Narconon Narconon International (commonly known as Narconon) is a Scientology organization which promotes the theories of founder L. Ron Hubbard regarding substance abuse treatment and addiction. Its parent company is the Association for Better Living ...

. He was married to model Gro Skaustein (b. 1980) from August 2009 until October 2014. The couple had a daughter together who was born on 21 December 2008. Von Hell died suddenly on 19 November 2021, at the age of 49, and was found dead in Slottsparken in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. No cause of death has been made public, but his manager later denied rumours that he had committed suicide, stating that "his body had finally given in" after a long life of drug abuse.Nettavisen, 19.11.2021
/ref>

Discography

Turbonegro

Albums

* ''

Never Is Forever ''Never Is Forever'' is the second full-length album by the Norwegian rock band Turbonegro, released in 1994 via Dog Job Records. It was a limited and CD-only release to only 1,000 copies (some accounts suggest 1,200). Bitzcore Records re-relea ...

'' (1994) * ''

Ass Cobra ''Ass Cobra'' is the third full-length studio album by Norwegian punk rock band Turbonegro. It was first released in May 1996 on Boomba Records in Germany and in 1997 on Sympathy for the Record Industry in the United States. It was re-released ...

'' (1996) * ''

Apocalypse Dudes ''Apocalypse Dudes'' is the fourth album by the Norwegian band Turbonegro. It is the first studio album with Euroboy as the lead guitarist and the last before the band disbanded in December 1998. Released in early 1998 in Norway and Germany, th ...

'' (1998) * ''

Scandinavian Leather ''Scandinavian Leather'' is an album by the Norwegian band Turbonegro that followed the band's reunion in 2002 and was released in April 2003 on Burning Heart Records in Sweden, on Bitzcore Records in Germany, on JVC/ Victor Records in Japan, and ...

'' (2003) * '' Party Animals'' (2005) * '' Retox'' (2007)

Live albums

* '' Darkness Forever!'' (1999)

Compilations

* '' Love It to Deathpunk'' (Australian best-of compilation, 2001) * ''

Small Feces ''Small Feces'' is a two-part compilation album by the Norwegian rock band Turbonegro, released in 2005 on Bitzcore Records. It features 42 songs and documents the first steps from the beginning in 1989 until the ''Ass Cobra'' times ca. 1997. It ...

'' (Box set of rarities, 2005) * ''This Ain't No Fucking Melodic Punk'' 7" (Probe Records, 1995)

Splits

* '' Stinky Fingers'' 10" vinyl (1995) – split EP with Flying Crap * '' Flabby Sagging Flesh'' 7" vinyl (1995) – Turbonegro / Anal Babes Split

EPs

* '' (He's a) Grunge Whore'' 10" vinyl EP (1993)

Singles

* "Denim Demon" 7" vinyl (1995) * "

Bad Mongo ''Ass Cobra'' is the third full-length studio album by Norwegian punk rock band Turbonegro. It was first released in May 1996 on Boomba Records in Germany and in 1997 on Sympathy for the Record Industry in the United States. It was re-released ...

" 7" vinyl (1995) * "

I Got Erection ''Ass Cobra'' is the third full-length studio album by Norwegian punk rock band Turbonegro. It was first released in May 1996 on Boomba Records in Germany and in 1997 on Sympathy for the Record Industry in the United States. It was re-released ...

" 7" vinyl (1995) * "

Prince of the Rodeo ''Apocalypse Dudes'' is the fourth album by the Norwegian band Turbonegro. It is the first studio album with Euroboy as the lead guitarist and the last before the band disbanded in December 1998. Released in early 1998 in Norway and Germany, th ...

" 7" vinyl (1996) * "

Suffragette City "Suffragette City" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally released in April 1972 as the B-side of the single "Starman" and subsequently appeared on his fifth studio album ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and ...

" 7" vinyl (1997) * " Get It On" 7" vinyl (1998) * " Fuck the World (F.T.W.)" 7" vinyl & CD (2003) * " Locked Down" 7" vinyl & CD (2003) * "Sell Your Body (to the Night)" 7" vinyl & CD (2003) * "High on the Crime" (2005) * "City of Satan" CD (2005) * " Do You Do You Dig Destruction" mobile-only download & CD (2007)

Solo

Albums

* ''I ljuset av Cornelis'' (2010) – Cover album with songs from Swedish/Dutch singer-songwriter

* ''Egomania'' (2018) * ''Dead'' (2020)

Singles

* "Vi mot världen" (2017) * "Fake It" (2019)

Other solo albums

* 2009: "Rom for alle" (duo with

– #1 hit in Norway in 2009)

References

External Links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Von Helvete, Hank 1972 births 2021 deaths Melodi Grand Prix contestants Norwegian rock singers Turbonegro members Doctor Midnight & The Mercy Cult members People from Moskenes