Jay Noel Yuenger (born December 26, 1966), also known by the stage name "J.", is a rock guitarist best known for his work with

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated heavy metal band White Zombie.

Music career

As a teenager, Yuenger's interests quickly progressed from pop to hard rock to hardcore punk. He began learning guitar and played a small part in the early 1980s Chicago hardcore scene, forming the teen punk band Rights of the Accused in 1982. They released the 7" EP, ''Innocence'', in 1983 and opened for several noteworthy groups including

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitaris ...

, MDC, the

Big Boys Big Boys were an American pioneering punk rock band who are credited with having helped to create and introduce skate punk as a new style of music, which became popular in the 1980s. They also were famous for bringing elements of funk into thei ...

, Flipper, and Discharge. Yuenger left the band in 1985, attended college, and by 1987 had moved to New York City. After several failed attempts at forming groups in New York and New Jersey, he met the members of White Zombie in early 1989 and auditioned successfully to join the group as their guitar player. The band released the previously recorded '' Make Them Die Slowly'' on

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...

, toured the US and Europe, and recorded the ''God of Thunder'' 12" EP (also issued on Caroline). In 1990, the group signed to

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

and recorded their major label debut, '' La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One'', which eventually went on to sell over 2 million copies. During the next five years the band was almost constantly on tour, pausing only to record the triple platinum-selling '' Astro-Creep: 2000''. They also contributed songs to various movie soundtracks and compilation albums and ended up selling over 6 million records worldwide. Since the official disbandment of White Zombie in 1997, Yuenger has lived in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York and has worked as a recording engineer and record producer. In 2004, he recorded

King Louie Bankston Louis Paul Bankston (1973 – February 13, 2022), better known as King Louie Bankston, was an American rock and roll musician from New Orleans. Associated early on with Garage punk (fusion genre), garage punk, he abandoned the genre in 1998 and ...

King Louie One Man Band Louis Paul Bankston (1973 – February 13, 2022), better known as King Louie Bankston, was an American rock and roll musician from New Orleans. Associated early on with garage punk, he abandoned the genre in 1998 and focused on Louisiana swamp ...

LP entitled ''Chinese Crawfish'', which was released on

Goner Records Goner Records is an independent record label and record store co-owned by Eric Friedl of The Oblivians and Zac Ives and based in Memphis, Tennessee. It is known for releasing albums by punk, garage rock, and more recently post-punk and synth-orien ...

. He currently lives in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Discography

;Rights of the Accused ; White Zombie ;Other appearances

References

External links

* http://www.jyuenger.com/ * www.icj100wz.com - no longer active {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuenger, Jay American heavy metal guitarists White Zombie (band) members 1966 births Living people Alternative metal guitarists Guitarists from Chicago American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists