Robert Bartleh Cummings, better known by his stage name, Rob Zombie, is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie, and as a solo musician sold a further 15 million albums. 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 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". The Dragula title was inspired by the '60s TV series The Munsters; the DRAG U-LA was a dragster built from a coffin driven by Grandpa. Episode footage of the drag race was included in House of 1,000 Corpses. 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"). Blacktop" and "Girl on Fire").
After a 2002-2003 world tour, Mike Riggs and John Tempesta left 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 metal 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. The Best of Rob Zombie 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. In August of 2008, a new (instrumental) song entitled "Tyrannosaurus Rex", featuring John 5 on guitar, was uploaded onto Zombie's MySpace music page. In a interview published in December 2008, Rob spoke about his new band lineup ( John 5, Piggy D, and Tommy C), and how happy he was with his new band members, saying, "I've never had a band that I could call my good friends until now."
Rob Zombie's new album is rumored to be released in 2009. Piggy D. stated on a Metal Messiah Radio interview with DJ Lovely Laura that the band had been working on material since February and the album had been finished since late December of 2008 with no release date yet. Zombie Live is the first live album from heavy metal artist Rob Zombie. The CD was recorded over several nights during the band's "Educated Horses" tour.
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". The Dragula title was inspired by the '60s TV series The Munsters; the DRAG U-LA was a dragster built from a coffin driven by Grandpa. Episode footage of the drag race was included in House of 1,000 Corpses. 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"). Blacktop" and "Girl on Fire").
After a 2002-2003 world tour, Mike Riggs and John Tempesta left 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 metal 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. The Best of Rob Zombie 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. In August of 2008, a new (instrumental) song entitled "Tyrannosaurus Rex", featuring John 5 on guitar, was uploaded onto Zombie's MySpace music page. In a interview published in December 2008, Rob spoke about his new band lineup ( John 5, Piggy D, and Tommy C), and how happy he was with his new band members, saying, "I've never had a band that I could call my good friends until now."