The Most Spectacular Degenerate in Rock ‘n’ Roll History: GG Allin

GG Allin was born Jesus Christ Allin on the 29^{th of} August 1956, in Lancaster, New Hampshire. He was nicknamed GG after his brother struggled to pronounce Jesus. Their father, Merle SR was a reclusive, paranoid religious extremist, constantly speaking of sin, the apocalypse and believing GG was to be the next messiah.

GG felt he was cursed by the name Jesus, that he had to live up to some impossible delusion of his father’s. In defiance of expectations, he went on to become the anti-Christ of rock 'n' roll.

GGS's childhood was abusive and traumatic due to his father’s behaviour. Merle SR refused to let his family interact with others and would threaten to murder them to ‘save them from sin’. Life was chaotic and dangerous. Eventually, GG’s mother managed to escape with her children and divorce Merle SR. They moved to Vermont, and GG’s name was changed from Jesus to Kevin Michael Allin, though the nickname ‘GG’ stuck.

GG’s schooling wasn’t a happy time for him. Other children bullied him for being poor and dirty, and he was diagnosed with a learning disability, often failing his classes.  As a way to cope, he started acting out and eventually immersed himself in the early punk scene, despite being a huge fan of country singer Hank Williams. GG began to embrace the reputation he developed as a deviant.

In 1978, he married Sandra Farrow. GG started playing with various bands as a drummer, releasing his first album ‘Always Was, Is and Always Shall Be’ with The Jabbers in 1980.

As time went on, GG grew increasingly erratic and became violent towards bandmates and audiences alike. Drink, drugs and anger fuelled him. By the mid-80s, he had become something else entirely. His performances were ‘a war between himself and the audience’; he would display acts of violence, self-mutilation, and sexual acts, usually while he was naked. In 1985, at a show in Peoria, Illinois, he deliberately shit himself on stage, having taken laxatives beforehand. This caused a near-riot as people tried to escape the stench, and it soon became a regular part of his act. He saw this as true freedom, an anarchic protest against conformity. During this time, he played with many bands, including The Scumfucs, The Texas Nazis, and, most famously, The Murder Junkies.

Sandra divorced him in 1986, and he went on to impregnate a teenage girl, Tracey Deneault; they had a daughter named Nico. Both mother and daughter distanced themselves from GG.

GG was arrested numerous times, usually for assault, disorderly conduct and indecent exposure. In 1989, he was charged with aggravated assault of a woman in Michigan. He admitted to burning her, cutting her and drinking her blood. Despite his claims that it was ‘performance art’ and consensual (the woman refuted these claims), he was sentenced and served 18 months in prison. Whilst serving his sentence, GG wrote extensively about his thoughts on life. He claimed he had a dark spiritual awakening; he was a martyr destined to die for his art and beliefs.

Rather than calming him down, prison had the opposite effect. Once released, he was soon back up on stage, performing more violently, more intensely than ever before. Venues, unsurprisingly, were reluctant to book him and, when they did, the shows would descend into riots within minutes. At the same time, GG kept insisting he was going to kill himself on stage, the ultimate fuck you to society.

GG was interviewed numerous times, including on television, and would brag about how he raped men, women and children, as well as committing acts of bestiality (and if that’s true, then fuck him, although it could have been lies and simply an attempt to shock).

On the 27^th of June 1993, GG played at the Gas Station venue in Manhattan’s East Village. The police quickly shut down the gig, and GG, covered in blood and his own shit, led his crowd through the streets of New York. GG ended up at a party at 94 Avenue B and spent the night drinking and doing heroin. Despite his promise to die on stage, he overdosed in the early hours of 28^th June 1993 at the age of 36. His body was discovered by Johnny Puke, who posed for Polaroid selfies with the corpse before calling for an ambulance.

As he had requested, GG was not embalmed; his body was dressed in a leather jacket and jockstrap, and a bottle of Jim Beam was placed in his hand. His funeral was far from a formal affair, with friends and fans taking photos of themselves with his corpse.

GG lived his life exactly as he thought he should. He was seen as the personification of anarchy, a symbol of anti-establishment freedom. But maybe the persona he developed became a prison in itself, forcing him to become increasingly outrageous and a warning of self-destruction and nihilism. Either way, GG Allin will not be forgotten anytime soon.

As always, thanks for reading; take care of yourselves, and I will see you next time.

Hi! I spend a lot of time writing for the website, and I basically exist on caffeine and anxiety - if anybody would like to encourage this habit, please feel free to buy me a coffee!