Jay Dee Bentley (born June 6, 1964) is the bassist and co-founding member of the punk rock group

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

. He has played with the band through its whole existence with a small break between 1983 and 1985. Along with vocalist

Greg Graffin Gregory Walter Graffin (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer and evolutionary biologist. He is most recognized as the lead vocalist and only constant member of punk rock band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1980. He embarked on a s ...

, Bentley has appeared on nearly all of Bad Religion's studio albums, with the sole exception being their second album '' Into the Unknown'' (1983).

Career

Jay Bentley grew up in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...

, and later moved to Woodland Hills. As with guitarist

Brett Gurewitz Brett W. Gurewitz (born May 12, 1962), nicknamed Mr. Brett, is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and a number of sister labels. He has produced albums f ...

and lead singer

, he was a student of

El Camino Real High School El Camino Real Charter High School (also known locally as "ECR" or "Elco") is an independent charter secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. ...

. He played in Bad Religion for three years (1980–1983), and left while the band was in the midst of writing and recording their second album, '' Into the Unknown''. Bentley was a onetime member of such notable L.A. groups as Wasted Youth,

T.S.O.L. T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathrock, a ...

The Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Ci ...

and Cathedral Of Tears. He rejoined Bad Religion in late 1985 while the ''

How Could Hell Be Any Worse? ''How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'' is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on January 19, 1982 by Epitaph Records. Released almost a year after their self-titled EP, it was financed by a $3,000 loan by guitarist ...

'' line-up – adding

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Circle ...

Greg Hetson Greg Hetson (born June 29, 1961) is an American guitarist. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and has lived in the Los Angeles area since he was 2 years old. Active since 1979, Hetson is best known as the guitarist for the influential hardcore pu ...

as the band's second guitarist – was reuniting to record the first three reunion albums, '' Suffer'', '' No Control'' and '' Against the Grain'', which are often considered their best releases. Today, Bentley continues touring and recording with Bad Religion. He has appeared on every Bad Religion release, with the exceptions of '' Into the Unknown'' (1983) and the '' Back to the Known'' (1985) EP. The band's most recent studio album, '' Age of Unreason'', was recorded in 2018 and 2019, with a May 1, 2019 release. Since the early 2010s, Bentley has been the regular touring member of

Me First And The Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. Ch ...

filling in on bass and backup vocals for

Fat Mike Michael John Burkett (born January 16, 1967), known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me F ...

Personal life

Bentley has two sons: Miles (born 1991), who played bass in Dave Hause and The Mermaid, and Hunter (born 1993). He also has a daughter named Peribeau and a son named Dragon and lives with his wife Natalia Fabia in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...

. In the past, Bentley has had struggles with alcoholism. He first quit drinking in 1990 but relapsed in 1998. Since 2005, he is completely alcohol abstinent.

Equipment

Bentley's main basses have been Fender models for most of his career in Bad Religion, primarily a black and/or white

Precision Precision, precise or precisely may refer to: Science, and technology, and mathematics Mathematics and computing (general) * Accuracy and precision, measurement deviation from true value and its scatter * Significant figures, the number of digit ...

models; in recent years, however, he has been an endorser of

Epiphone Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over his f ...

and has his own Jack Cassidy signature. Bentley often plays bass with a pick.

References

External links

*
2008 Interview with Jay Bentley

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Jay 1964 births Living people Bad Religion members Guitarists from California T.S.O.L. members American bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists Critics of religions People from Saugus, Santa Clarita, California People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles American male guitarists El Camino Real High School alumni 20th-century American guitarists