John Haggerty (born October 17, 1960,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is an influential Chicago

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ist. A key member of

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...

during their heyday (1983–1989), Haggerty formed the band

Pegboy Pegboy is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois with a relatively large cult following. They were founded in 1990 by John Haggerty (ex-guitarist for Naked Raygun), along with his brother Joe Haggerty (drums, formerly of The Effigies), Larry ...

, with brother Joe Haggerty on drums and Steve Saylors (bass) and Larry Damore (vocals) of the

Bhopal Stiffs Chicago hardcore band the Bhopal Stiffs was formed in 1985 by singers/guitarists Larry Damore and Vince Marine, bassist Steve Saylors, and drummer Dave Schleitwiler. The band name is a reference to an ecological disaster which took place in Bhopal ...

, upon leaving Naked Raygun.

Background

The eldest son of a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

father and a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

mother, Haggerty first picked up the guitar at age 16. His early influences included

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

Michael Schenker Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955) is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group. He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker. ...

and Brian Robertson. Upon discovering the Chicago punk scene at O'Banions, Haggerty quickly began searching for his place in punk rock. His biggest influences were the

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

, the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

and

the Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...

. John also plays in a band called the Nefarious Fat Cats which features an all star line up including himself and brother Joe,

Jake Burns John "Jake" Burns (born 21 February 1958) is a singer and guitarist, and is best known as the frontman of Stiff Little Fingers, although he has also recorded with Jake Burns and the Big Wheel, 3 Men + Black, and as a solo artist. Early life ...

of Stiff Little Fingers, Herb Rosen of Beer Nuts and Rights of the Accused, Mark DeRosa of the band Dummy and Scott Lucas of

Local H Local H is an American rock band originally formed by guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, bassist Matt Garcia, drummer Joe Daniels, and lead guitarist John Sparkman in Zion, Illinois in 1990. The members all met in high school in 1987 and founde ...

. John toured with Stiff Little Fingers in mid-2011 as a substitute for Ian McCallum, who could not make the tour due to illness. In 2021 Haggerty became a member of industrial/punk/hard rock supergroup

The Joy Thieves The Joy Thieves is a musical supergroup, consisting of current, former, and touring members of bands such as Ministry, Stabbing Westward, The Rollins Band, Killing Joke, Pigface, Revolting Cocks, , David Bowie, Machines of Loving Grace, Marilyn M ...

by contributing a guitar track to their song "Nihilist Landscape" from their album, "American Parasite."

Partial discography

Naked Raygun

*''

Throb Throb ''Throb Throb'' is an album by American punk rock band Naked Raygun, released on Homestead Records in 1985. It was the first of the band's releases to feature the musicianship of John Haggerty whose guitar playing distinguished the band's sound d ...

'' (1983) *'' All Rise'' (1986) *'' Jettison'' (1988) *''

Understand? ''Understand?'' is the fourth album by Chicago post-hardcore band Naked Raygun, released in 1989 through Caroline Records. "Hip Swingin'" is about the United States involving itself in the affairs of South American countries. Critical reception T ...

'' (1989) *''Last Of The Demo Hicans'' (1997)

Pegboy

*'' Strong Reaction'' (1991) *''

Earwig Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forcep-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded ...

'' (1994) *''

Cha Cha Damore ''Cha Cha Damore'' is the third album by Pegboy. It was released on October 14, 1997, through Quarterstick Records. Critical reception ''Ox-Fanzine'' wrote that "the Pegboy variant of melodic guitar punk deliberately aims to avoid catchy tralala ...

'' (1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haggerty, John American rock guitarists American male guitarists 1960 births Living people Guitarists from Chicago 20th-century American guitarists Naked Raygun members Pegboy members Stiff Little Fingers members 20th-century American male musicians