The most violent man in rock is dead. GG Allin, whose extreme brand of punk rock included defecating on stage and frequent fist fights with the audience, was found dead at 9:20 yesterday morning at 29 Avenue B, according to a police spokesman. Cause of death was not immediately known.
Allin, who lived in the East Village and whose full name Kevin Michael Allin, was 36.
"I think it's safe to say he OD'ed," said the rock singer's brother, Merle Allin, who played bass guitar in his band. "Though with GG you never know."
Merle said that his brother, who played a last, brief set Sunday evening at the Gas Station, at Avenue B and Second Street, had been "partying all day and all night" Sunday.
GG Allin died as he lived. Backed by his band, the Murder Junkies, he had only gotten as far as the second song in his set at the Gas Station before he began fighting with audience members. Technicians turned off the sound, ending the show.
According to witnesses, the rocker was at one point thrown through a drum set, and later smashed himself through a french door, emerging from the Gas Station covered in blood.
The crowd at the Gas Station should consider itself lucky. Two years ago, in Orlando, Fla., Allin was arrested after he defecated on stage and then threw his feces at the audience.
"He believed that he was the rock and roll messiah, and that he was trying to bring danger back into rock and roll," said Merle. "He was by far the most outrageous performer who ever hit a stage."
According to filmmaker Todd Phillips, whose documentary "Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies" plays Thursday nights at the Anthology Film Archives, Allin had been arrested 52 times for his various onstage activities. He had also occasionally threatened to kill himself onstage.
Allin, raised in Lancaster, N.H., was also prolific as a rocker. He recorded 18 albums with different bands, among them the Jabbers and the AIDS Brigade. His latest record, with the Murder Junkies, is called "Bloodshed and Brutality for All," and will be out in September.
Matthew Flamm
Return to The GG Allin SuperSite Media Guide