The Verbal Venom: Five musicians Henry Rollins took issues with
Henry Rollins has never been someone you want to be on the bad side of. Even though he can be the nicest person in the world when the time calls for it, he will throw down if he thinks that someone isn’t taking their craft seriously or making a mockery of what it means to be a decent human being. The rock star lifestyle is home to many a freeloader, though, and Rollins had his taste when talking about people like U2.
That’s not to say that Rollins hates every single person here on principle. Outside of some songs that might not be to his liking, some of them might be perfectly nice people who think they are providing the world a service by making the music they make. Then again, that’s probably one of the reasons why they’re on his shitlist.
For all of the fantastic musicians who come out of rock and roll, Rollins is more than a little bit wary of when someone is taking themselves a bit too seriously, eventually telling them off for either not contributing enough with their status as an entertainer or actively making the genre worse by what they said.
Some of them may have their hearts in the right place, but there are still more than a few instances of artists being assholes and Rollins writing them up for their problems. Rock and roll should be all about the music, but it’s also about lifestyle for Rollins, and as far as he’s concerned, these artists aren’t using their potential as much as they should.
Five artists Henry Rollins hates:
John Lydon
Everyone in the punk community usually holds someone like John Lydon in high esteem. Outside of breaking down barriers with Sex Pistols on their one album, his work with Public Image Ltd led to a whole new realm of post-punk that no one had thought was possible just a few years prior. Despite Rollins having an affinity for albums like Metal Box, he admitted to losing all respect for Lydon when he was on a press junket with him.
When promoting a documentary on the foundation of punk rock, Lydon showed up completely wasted and made a mockery of the entire night. Even though he was just doing his traditional John Lydon schtick, Rollins wasn’t willing to roll over, especially if it came at the expense of people he loved, like Ramones and L7.
After meeting up backstage, Rollins was livid, saying, “This guy was a hero to me, and he was such a drunk pathetic slob. Me and Duff McKagan went to dinner afterwards and said, ‘How sad! Let’s not end up like him”. Whereas Rollins still saw the entire world of punk rock as a lifestyle, it must have been sad seeing his hero being outed for putting on an act rather than being earnest.
Trent Reznor
All good rock and roll tends to come from people who are wearing their hearts on their sleeves. No matter if they’re singing or playing the guitar, there’s always a certain energy in the air the minute they try to put chords together and quote the darkest corners of their psyche. Trent Reznor certainly falls under that category, but Rollins wasn’t exactly impressed by what they were doing when they toured together.
By the time Rollins had put together Rollins Band after Black Flag, he thought that he shouldn’t have been opening for Nine Inch Nails, who he thought didn’t have as much credibility. Compared to the other major figures working on Lollapalooza when they met, Reznor said that he had a bit of a frail relationship with Rollins ever since.
While Reznor took the high road, he did admit that he wasn’t the biggest fan of what Rollins had done, either, commenting to Spin, “We irritated him because there was a buzz about Nine Inch Nails, and we were the guys with no credibility, we were the young guys on Lollapalooza. I think a lot of what he does is pretty good. But he irritated me on a personal level”.
All rave music
Rollins has been known for his intense stance on what rock and roll should be. He came from the school where rock and roll lyrics had to mean something, and even when they were talking about nothing but sex and drugs, they still had to at least hold together as a decent tune. There were limits on where it could go, and by the time rave music started, Rollins felt like his brain was coming out of his ears when he saw the new “musicians” of the day.
Whereas he slogged away trying to make the best music he could, he thought all rave music was nothing but shit, stating, “Did these guys get their computers out and hire DJ Fuckhead. They say, ‘I’m a musician, man’. No, you’re not. You’re a fucking thief of music with a record player”.
Although there have been new and interesting ways that DJs have been able to interpolate music whenever they play, that’s still not enough to get them off the hook for Rollins. He was always more into playing for the effort put into it, and when all they had to do was hit a few buttons, it’s not that hard to see why he would feel a little bit jaded.
U2
There probably isn’t a bigger band that’s sold on their own power trip than U2. That’s not to say that they’re even that bad. Some of the best records of the 1980s came from them, and they still have a handle on the public in a way that only a few can master today. By the time Black Flag became famous, Rollins had no problem calling U2 one of the most overrated bands to have walked the earth.
In an interview, Rollins went after both their ability and their way of preaching to the public rather than actually making good music, saying, “They have the worst rhythm section in big rock. That is the most plodding, corny rhythm section ever to fill a stadium. If you look at some of those records, they’re mediocre Brian Eno records with a bad band in the way. I just think when you campaign, it turns into a little bit like grandstanding to me”.
That hasn’t stopped U2 from continuing to grandstand wherever they see fit, even taking their gigs into the Las Vegas Sphere recently. Rollins might still only be the one with the regular gigs instead of the massive stadium shows and audiences eating out of his hand, but he’s much happier that he didn’t have to lose his authenticity in order to make his fans happy.
Morrissey
There’s a good chance that everyone and their mother could justifiably have a problem with Morrissey. He wrote some of the best songs of the 1980s, and yet some of his comments as of late are enough to nullify any of his goodwill towards the general public. Whereas most artists just rub Rollins the wrong way in terms of their life choices, he thinks Morrissey is one of the most reviled people in the music business.
When discussing the archetype of the worst person in the world, Rollins is sure that Morrissey checks every box, telling Rage, “Morrissey embodies every horrible human trait that a human could possibly possess. I mean, he’s British, he doesn’t have to work very hard, they have a handicap anyway”.
Despite that interview happening years before, Morrissey hasn’t elected to repent. Instead, he doubled down on all his horrific practices and even managed to sound more patronising in his older age. Compared to all the other indie rock veterans of the scene, Rollins may be in the right for calling out who is essentially the disgruntled grandpa of indie rock.