Rob Zombie

Infobox musical artist|Name = Rob Zombie


Img_capt = Rob Zombie at Ozzfest.
Img_size =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Robert Bartleh Cummings
Alias = Rob Zombie, Robert Wolfgang Zombie, Rob Straker
Born = birth date and age|1965|1|12
Haverhill, Massachusetts, United States
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Heavy metal, industrial metal, alternative metal, groove metal
Occupation = Musician, Songwriter, Screenwriter, Film director, Film producer
Years_active = 1985-present
Spouse = Sheri Moon
Label =
Associated_acts = White Zombie, Alice Cooper, Danzig, Powerman 5000, Scum of the Earth, Marilyn Manson, Ozzy Osbourne
URL = http://www.robzombie.com/
Current_members =

Robert Bartleh Cummings [Citation |last= |first= |title=Rocker Zombie does horror in Halloween |url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=326074 |publisher="MSN" |date=2007-11-18 |accessdate=2007-12-14] (born January 12, 1965), better known by his stage name, Rob Zombie, is an American musician, film director, Artist, screenwriter, film producer and writer.

He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie, [cite web |title=Rob Zombie's School of Cool |url=http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do films.site=MensHealth&channel=guy.wisdom&category=life.lessons&conitem=878503d513066010VgnVCM100000cfe793cd____ |work=Men's Health |date=2007-08-28 |accessdate=2007-09-06 ] and as a solo musician sold a further 15 million albums. [cite news |first=Pamela |last=McClintock |title=Rob Zombie pacts with Dimension |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971020.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |work=Variety |date=2007-08-28 |accessdate=2007-09-06 ] Five of his albums have been certified platinum and another two have been certified gold, making him the artist with the most gold and platinum discs on the Geffen Records label.

Zombie has also established a successful career as a film director, creating the movies "House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects", as well as the 2007 remake of "Halloween".

Biography

Personal life

Zombie was born Robert Cummings Jr. to a saleswoman mother and a furniture-crafter father. He has a younger brother, Michael, who is now known as Spider One of the alternative-metal band Powerman 5000. After years working in carnivals, his parents settled down to raise their sons in Haverhill,_Massachusetts, Massachusetts, a suburban town Zombie considered sinister yet lacking in excitement. He was driven by boredom to watch more than eight hours a day of television and was soon fascinated by horror movies.

Zombie has been a longtime fan of The Ramones, The Misfits, shock-rocker Alice Cooper, British heavy-metal pioneers Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, Metallica and many more. The styles of these musicians continue to be a strong influence on him to this day. Zombie attended, but did not graduate from, Parsons The New School for Design in New York and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Zombie got his start in entertainment by working as a bike messenger for Pee Wee's Playhouse. It was during this time that he met future White Zombie band-mate Sean Yseult.

On October 31, 2002 he married long-time girlfriend Sheri Moon after almost 13 years of dating. The two had met at Toad's Place, a concert venue, in New Haven, Connecticut through mutual friends.cite web| title= Interview with Sheri Moon Zombie| publisher= sherimoonboards.com| url= http://www.sherimoonboards.com/SMZInterview.htm | accessdate= 2007-08-26] Ten days before their planned wedding date, the couple eloped on Halloween. She has appeared, usually as the lead actress, in all of his films.

Zombie is also a longtime vegetarian after being affected by slaughterhouse footage he saw in high school.cite web| title= Blog about Rob Zombie| publisher= peta.org| url= http://blog.peta.org/archives/2007/09/rob_zombie_does_1.php| accessdate= 2007-05-13] For Thanksgiving of 2007, Zombie used his notoriety and joined forces with PETA to record a message with PETA's 2007 holiday hotline. The message itself gave details about the lives and gruesome slaughtering of turkeys and a plea to choose an alternative for the holiday.cite web| title= PETA Holiday Feature| publisher= peta.org| url= http://www.goveg.com/f_rob_zombie.asp| accessdate= 2007-11-20] .

Zombie has various tattoos forming sleeves on both arms, most of them featuring horror/science fiction imagery. These include the Creature From the Black Lagoon, sinister clowns, demons, and skulls. He designed almost all of the tattoos himself.

Zombie's signature jacket (that he wore mainly with White Zombie) supposedly was stolen from Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme ride in Orlando Florida, by Zombie himself.

White Zombie (1985–1998)

White Zombie was an American band named after the 1932 film "White Zombie", which starred Bela Lugosi. Based in New York, White Zombie was originally a noise rock band in the vein of fellow New York band Sonic Youth and Texas Experimental Punk band Butthole Surfers. White Zombie was known for combining heavy-metal music with driving guitar riffs (as on "Super-Charger Heaven"), overlayed with lyrics heavily influenced by horror films and pseudo-Satanic imagery. Unlike other metal bands of the 1990s, White Zombie was almost exclusively a "fantasy" band, writing songs not about real life, but about surreal horror fantasies.

Following their signing to Geffen Records, White Zombie achieved commercial success, with two 2x platinum albums and a large number of their songs featured in movies and TV shows (notably Beavis and Butthead). The group officially disbanded in 1998 shortly after the release of singer Zombie solo album "Hellbilly Deluxe".

olo career (1998–present)

In 1996, Zombie collaborated with Alice Cooper on the song "Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)" for the X-Files tie-in CD "Songs in the Key of X". It was Zombie's first work outside of his band White Zombie. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance the same year, but lost to Nine Inch Nails for their song "Happiness in Slavery".

Zombie formed his own solo band in 1998. John Tempesta (drums) came directly from White Zombie, and was joined by Mike Riggs on guitar and Blasko (Rob Nicholson) on bass. They recorded and released Zombie's debut solo album, "Hellbilly Deluxe", in 1998, produced by Scott Humphrey. The album was a success, selling three million copies domestically. This album contained the hit singles "Dragula", "Living Dead Girl" and "Superbeast". White Zombie dissolved after the release of "Hellbilly Deluxe". Zombie toured extensively to promote the debut album, releasing "American Made Music to Strip By" in 1999, an album of remixes from "Hellbilly Deluxe".

Zombie next released "The Sinister Urge" in 2001 (the title taken from a 1961 film by Edward D. Wood), again produced by Scott Humphrey. This release contained the singles "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)", "Feel So Numb" and "Demon Speeding". While the album still featured Zombie's signature heavy metal sound, it was also more experimental than "Hellbilly Deluxe", such as including brass instruments on "Go To California." The album has been certified platinum.

Zombie released his first greatest-hits album "Past, Present & Future", in 2003, containing hit songs both from his solo band and White Zombie. It also featured covers (The Commodores' "Brick House" and The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop") and unreleased songs ("Two-Lane Blacktop" and "Girl on Fire").

After a 2002-2003 world tour, Mike Riggs and John Tempesta left White Zombie to form a similar band, Scum of the Earth. This put plans for another tour or new album on hold. Instead, between 2003 and 2005, Zombie released two self-directed horror films, "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects".

In 2005, Zombie returned to the music world by recruiting former Marilyn Manson guitarist, John 5, and former Alice Cooper drummer, Tommy Clufetos. Blasko and Humphrey remained, and the five began recording "Educated Horses", which was released in 2006. Stylistically, "Educated Horses" is Zombie's most experimental release. In contrast to the heavy metal sound of his first 2 albums, this one has a more alternative metal sound to it. The single "Foxy Foxy" can be described as his most "party-going" song. The other 2 singles, "Let It All Bleed Out" and "American Witch", featured his signature heavy sound. It was also his 1st album to not contain heavy amounts of horror—either in the artwork, songs, or even his physical appearance (Zombie is dressed in regular clothes on the album cover, and his dreadlocks are gone). However, the songs "Seventeen Year Locust" and "The Scorpion Sleeps" featured song topics of creepy-crawlies. Following the release of the album he toured the U.S. with Lacuna Coil.

"" was also released in 2006 by his label, Geffen Records. It contains songs similar to his 1st greatest-hits album, but there are also songs on this release from "Educated Horses". In 2007 Zombie released his first Live CD, this was supposed to be accompanied by a live DVD & picture booklet, but so far only the CD has surfaced.Blasko, Zombie's bass player, left the band after the Educated Horses Tour, shortly before the American Witch Tour (The 2nd leg of the tour), to play bass with Ozzy Osbourne. To fill in, Zombie hired Piggy D. of Amen and Wednesday 13 fame as a permanent replacement.

On May 31, 2006, Zombie was joined by guitarist Slash (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver), Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns N' Roses) on rhythm guitar, Scott Ian of Anthrax on bass, Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on drums and special guest Ace Frehley of Kiss also on lead guitar. The occasion was a one-time supergroup tribute to Kiss for the first annual VH1 Rock Honors Award Show. They played one song, "God of Thunder," before handing it off to the honoree. Zombie then went on tour with Ozzy Osbourne.

Zombie has also started work on a currently untitled follow-up to 2006's Educated Horses. In may of 2008 he posted an update on his website stating:

"Well, we have for the first time ever written more songs than we need for an album. Everything isn't 100% finished, but everything is moving along great. No release date yet." In August of 2008, a new (instrumental) song entitled "Tyrannosaurus Rex" , featuring John 5 on guitar, was uploaded onto Zombie's MySpace music page.

Zombie has his own official Youtube channel, which he created on 12 December 2005. He has two "blog" videos explaining his tours and another one wishing his fans a happy Halloween. On the latter video, Zombie recommends Halloween horror videos to his fans.

Film career

"House of 1000 Corpses" was Rob Zombie's directorial debut and his first horror film. Zombie wrote the screenplay as well as directing the film. It took four years to make (1999–2003), and was finally released by Lion's Gate Films in 2003, after Stacy Snider, then-head of Universal Pictures, sold the film to them. It featured a great deal of violence and gore. The movie told the tale of a group of unlucky teenagers who stumble upon the Firefly Family, a family of sadistic and vicious murderers. The film was shot in a surreal and over-the-top style that alternated between dark and campy humor. While hailed by many horror fans as a masterpiece, the film has also come under scrutiny for being very similar in look, feel, and plot to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre film from 1974.

The "House of 1000 Corpses"' sequel, "The Devil's Rejects", which Zombie also wrote and directed, showcased a much different style. Whereas "House" was at times comedic and bizarre, "Rejects" was darker, more serious and grittier. Released in 2005, "Rejects" had the Firefly Family on the run from the law and a particularly vengeful sheriff whose brother had been murdered by them in the first film.

Zombie contributed to the 2007 exploitation film "Grindhouse", by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino by directing a faux trailer, called "Werewolf Women of the S.S.", starring his wife, exploitation veterans Udo Kier and Sybil Danning, and Nicolas Cage, who appeared free as a favor.

Zombie next wrote and directed "Halloween", a reimagining of the 1978 classic that was released August 31, 2007. Although it was a success and opened at number #1 at the box office with $26 million, it registered only 27% at Rotten Tomatoes [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1179254-halloween/ Halloween review on Rotten Tomatoes] . It would go on to gross over $78 million, his biggest hit yet and the highest grossing "Halloween" film of all time (when not adjusted for inflation).

Zombie is also the executive producer of the forthcoming animated film "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto", based upon his comic book series, "The Adventures of El Superbeasto" (which appeared in his "Spookshow International" comic book). The film is due for a 2008 release.

Zombie will next be directing a new movie for Dimension Films known as "Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex".

TV host

On Friday, October 13, 2006, Zombie became the host of "TCM Underground" on the Turner Classic Movies channel. It premiered with the screening of a double feature of Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Bride of the Monster". Until January 2007, Zombie hosted a different double bill every Friday night at two in the morning. [cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/movienews/index/?cid=148290|title=TCM 2006-2007 Programming Slate|date=2006-12-01|work=TCM Movie News|accessdate=2006-12-09]

Filmography

Discography

Cultural references

trivia|date=November 2007
* The popular vocalist and 70s rock icon Linda Ronstadt praised Zombie in an August 2007 Associated Press interview for the Cape Cod Times, stating that her teenage son has exposed her to his music - loves it, and "There's real power and energy there."cite web | title=Cape Cod Times| work= More than music on Ronstadt's mind, August 10, 2007] | url=http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070810/LIFE/708100301l| accessmonthday=October 22|accessyear=2007]
* Promoted as being on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Season 2 Episode 1 'Vacation' (though he was played by [cite web | url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGXLe8SGq3c | title=Vlog by Sam Proof on Youtube | accessdate=2007-11-27] SamProof of youtube celebrity).
* In the comic book , one of the participants at a serial killer convention bears a strong resemblance to Zombie as seen on the Hellbilly Deluxe album cover art.
* In the King of the Hill episode "The Good Buck", Octavio shows Luanne Platter his apparent tattoo of Jesus, at which point Joseph Gribble exclaims, "Hey, that's Rob Zombie!"
* In the King of the Hill episode, "Escape from Party Island", "Dragula" can be heard in the background during one of the spring break scenes.
* Zombie's music was featured in the PlayStation video games Twisted Metal III and Twisted Metal 4. In TM3, the songs "Meet the Creeper" and "Superbeast" are used. TM4 includes "Dragula" (remixed by Charlie Clouser), "Grease Paint and Monkey Brains", and "Superbeast" (Girl on a Motorcycle Mix). TM4 also features Rob himself as a playable character. In the game, he is referred to as "Mr. Zombie" and his vehicle is called Dragula.

References

[ [http://www.komodorock.com/latest-news/latest-news/next-rob-zombie-movie-to-be-titled-tyranosaurus-rex-and-has-nothing-to-do-with-dinosaurs-200802094143/ Next Rob Zombie movie to be titled Tyranosaurus Rex] Feb 9. 2008]

External links

* [http://www.robzombie.com/ Rob Zombie] , official website
* [http://www.fearnet.com/Video.aspx?mid=aed7ce1f-a725-4d87-b0a1-69fc73e77c2d] , Rob Zombie on El Superbeasto
* [http://www.maximumthreshold.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81 Piggy D on Maximum Threshold Radio Show]
* [http://www.iconsoffright.com/IV_RobZombie.htm Rob Zombie Icons of Fright interview]
* [http://www.geffen.com/robzombie Rob Zombie] at Geffen Records
* [http://www.myspace.com/robzombie Rob Zombie] on MySpace
*imdb name|id=0957772|name=Rob Zombie
* [http://www.marsdust.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=26 Rob Zombie interview for MarsDust.com]
* [http://www.youtube.com/robzombie Rob Zombie's] YouTube channel