W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982. The band is considered to be an integral part of the early Sunset Strip scene of hard rock and glam metal, and they became recognized for their shock rock-themed image, lyrics and live performances. The band has sold over 12 million records worldwide, with their first two full-length studio albums, W.A.S.P. (1984) and The Last Command (1985), being certified as gold by the RIAA.
W.A.S.P. was a target in the mid-1980s by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), an organization that pushed for warning labels on recorded music. The band immortalized its fight with the PMRC on the song "Harder, Faster" from their 1987 live album, Live... in the Raw. Their most popular songs include "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)", "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Wild Child", "Blind in Texas", "Forever Free", "The Headless Children", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)" and "The Idol", as well as their cover versions of Ray Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor" and The Who's "The Real Me". The band's most recent studio album, Golgotha, was released in 2015 and they are currently working on new material.
In 2020, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included W.A.S.P. in his list of "the 20 greatest hair metal bands of all time".
History Early years and rise to fame (1982–1985)
W.A.S.P. began following the demise of Circus Circus, a Los Angeles-based band featuring Blackie Lawless and Randy Piper. The original lineup of W.A.S.P. was formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 by Lawless, Piper, Rik Fox, and Tony Richards. The band became notorious for its raunchy and, at times, shocking live shows. Lawless was known to tie semi-naked models to a torture rack, and to also hurl raw meat into the audience. The band's debut single, entitled "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)", and its cover were equally controversial.
The first lineup did not last for long, as Fox was let go and went on to join the band Steeler with vocalist Ron Keel and a then-unknown guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. He was replaced by Don Costa, the bassist in Richards' former band, Dante Fox (which later evolved into Great White). Shortly afterward, Costa also left the band and his position on the bass was filled by Brayden Parker. In 1983, guitarist Chris Holmes joined the band; after Parker left, Lawless switched to playing bass.
In September 2023, Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy told AXS TV that only a small number of bands had "really kickstarted things" on the Sunset Strip, naming Roxx Regime (later Stryper), Dante Fox (later Great White), W.A.S.P., Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe, and Ratt as the core group.
W.A.S.P. signed to Capitol Records for their debut album, W.A.S.P., released on August 17, 1984. The debut was at one time planned for release with the title Winged Assassins. The band's first single, "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)", was omitted from the album in the United States to prevent it from being banned from major chain stores. W.A.S.P. was accompanied by the band's first world tour, performing with numerous bands such as Kiss, Iron Maiden, Dokken, Krokus, Helix, Quiet Riot, Armored Saint, and a then-relatively unknown Metallica.
Shortly afterwards, the band made an appearance in the 1984 film The Dungeonmaster and on the soundtrack to Ghost Warrior with the song "Tormentor".
"L.O.V.E. Machine" and "I Wanna Be Somebody" helped the album sell, and set the band up for "Blind in Texas", a song written in St. Paul, Minnesota, by Lawless. The song was included on their next album The Last Command, which was released in October 1985. The Last Command remains W.A.S.P.'s highest-charting album, peaking at No. 47 on the Billboard album chart. "Blind in Texas" is perhaps their best known song, more than four decades after its release. The Last Command was also the first album with new drummer Steve Riley (formerly of Keel), who had replaced Richards at the beginning of the 1984–1985 tour. W.A.S.P. supported the album by participating in two arena tours, opening for Kiss on their Asylum tour, and, along with a then-unknown Anthrax, they supported Black Sabbath on their Seventh Star tour.
After The Last Command tour, Piper departed the band. Former King Kobra bassist Johnny Rod joined W.A.S.P. as Lawless went back to playing rhythm guitar. Around this time, W.A.S.P. became a very prominent target of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), an organization led by Tipper Gore and dedicated to opposing music with lyrics deemed violent or overtly sexual in content. This lowered the band's reputation to such a degree that concert halls were getting bomb threats, band members were receiving death threats by the hundreds, and Lawless was shot at twice (though not hit). The controversy generated valuable publicity for the band.
Mainstream success (1986–1989)
With the lineup changes made, they recorded their third album, titled Inside the Electric Circus. It was released in October 1986, and a near year-long world tour in support of the album followed, including supporting Iron Maiden on their Somewhere in Time tour in Europe, and a headlining North American tour with Slayer, Raven and Saxon. Inside the Electric Circus received a mixed reaction from the music press: it was considered a big hit with W.A.S.P. fans, while critics, on the other hand, dismissed it as "7th-grader rock". Songs like "Shoot From The Hip" and the minor hit single "95-N.A.S.T.Y." helped the band live up to the reputation of one of the possible meanings of their band name, "We Are Sexual Perverts". However, Blackie Lawless himself, known to be a harsh critic of his own work, cited in the album's re-release liner notes that Inside the Electric Circus was "[a] tired record by a tired band." Ultimately it was an unfavorable critical review of the single "95-N.A.S.T.Y." that convinced Lawless to take some time off and reconsider the band's creative direction.
Hit Parader ran a cover story in February 1987 titled "Stryper vs. W.A.S.P.: Heaven and Hell" that contrasted the two bands. Blackie Lawless described their shock tactics as "entertainment, pure and simple", while Michael Sweet proposed a joint tour, noting Stryper's experience opening for similar bands: "We think the same thing would happen with W.A.S.P. ... Maybe we'd even be able to get through to the people in W.A.S.P.—that would be a real challenge."
In 1987, W.A.S.P. had their song "Scream Until You Like It" included on the soundtrack of the movie Ghoulies 2. The same year, a few dates during the Inside the Electric Circus tour were recorded and on November 27, 1987, the Long Beach Arena concert was released as the Live... in the Raw album. By this time, Riley had left W.A.S.P. to join L.A. Guns, and was replaced by local drummer Chad Nelson. Then-eighteen-year-old Glenn Soderling, who had recorded an album in 1983 with the band Pandemonium, then joined the band, but did not play any shows due to Holmes' illness. Soderling left during rehearsals and was replaced by Kelly Martella for their Donington appearance and a Top of the Pops performance of "Scream Until You Like It" on the BBC. Martella went on to join the band Silent Rage in 1988. Soderling later surfaced under the name "Tripp Holland" in the band Engines of Aggression with former Tomorrow's Child members Rik Schaffer and Craig Dollinger, and is currently making music for TV shows as staff writer with Supersonic Noise.
W.A.S.P.'s fourth studio album, The Headless Children, was released in April 1989, and was their first album without any overtly sexually explicit songs. The album reached the band's highest chart position with No. 48 on the Billboard 200 before falling off the charts in 13 weeks. However, it was W.A.S.P.'s most critically acclaimed work up to that point and, according to a recent Lawless interview, it is now the highest-selling W.A.S.P. album to date. The drumming duties for the album were handled by former Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali. It features two of the band's most highly acclaimed songs, the power ballad "Forever Free" and a cover of The Who's "The Real Me". W.A.S.P. went on tour in the United States with Accept and Metal Church to support The Headless Children, playing at smaller venues such as clubs and theaters, as opposed to the arenas and stadiums that had propelled the band into success.
Post-Chris Holmes period (1989–1995)
Chris Holmes left the band in August 1989, stating that he wanted to "have fun, you know." Lawless responded with a caustic remark about the fact that "some guys want to stay at home and wear aprons," hinting at the nature of Holmes' relationship with his new wife Lita Ford. The band effectively disbanded a few months later, with Blackie Lawless embarking on a short lived solo career. Lawless was originally slated to play the T-1000 terminator in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but was later replaced by Robert Patrick after Arnold Schwarzenegger deemed Lawless "too tall" (1.93m). Lawless himself commenced work on his solo project, but under pressure from both promoters and fans, he released it as a W.A.S.P. album. Ironically, many critics feel that the resulting concept album, The Crimson Idol, has been the best W.A.S.P. output so far.
The follow-up to The Crimson Idol was Still Not Black Enough (1995), a collection of dark, introspective tunes that extended the Crimson Idol mythology. This time, rather than "hiding behind" alter ego Jonathan Steele, Lawless spoke directly to the audience about his own feelings (as stated in the liner notes). While the album lacked the cohesiveness of its predecessor, the lyrics still explored similar topics to Crimson Idol: being an outcast and misfit, the pressures of fame and society, and the search for love. Still Not Black Enough also included cover songs as "bonus tracks". The initial European edition included a different track listing from the American version and a subsequent American re-issue featured yet a different track listing. No version to date includes all the various tracks on one disc.
Reunion with Chris Holmes (1996–2001) Chris Holmes returned to W.A.S.P. in 1996 and together they released Kill.Fuck.Die (1997) and Helldorado (1999). They also recorded two live albums from these tours, Double Live Assassins and The Sting respectively. The Sting CD and DVD were taken directly from an experimental webcast that Lawless claims to have had no control over. This release angered him as he was unhappy with the sound and picture quality.
The band continued with the album Unholy Terror in 2001. Holmes left the band once again that year, stating that he wanted to "play the blues". He hooked up with fellow ex-W.A.S.P. member Randy Piper's band Animal, but soon dropped out of that project also. Holmes, for his part, has claimed he never played on Unholy Terror.
Dying for the World and the Neon God albums (2002–2005) Dying for the World, released in 2002, was written and recorded in less than a year which is very fast by Lawless' perfectionist standards. Its liner notes feature one of Lawless' strongest statements about political correctness, inspired by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In April 2004, W.A.S.P. released the first part of The Neon God, subtitled The Rise, a conceptual album about an abused and orphaned boy who finds that he has the ability to read and manipulate people. The second part, The Demise, was released in September 2004.
In 2005, W.A.S.P. headlined American Metal Blast. A video shoot for the track "Never Say Die" was planned with Ward Boult, a fetish photographer, directing. To this day, there has been no news as to whether the shoot resulted in anything concrete. It would have been the first W.A.S.P. promo video in ten years, the last being 1995's "Black Forever".
Dominator and Babylon (2006–2014)