Greg Hetson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Greg Hetson
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Hetson performing with Bad Religion in 2010
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| Background information | |
| Born | June 29, 1961 New York City, U.S. |
| Origin | Hawthorne, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Redd Kross (1979) Bad Religion (1984–2013) Black President (2006–2008) G.F.P (2012–present) Punk Rock Karaoke (1996–present) Rile 9 Collective (2014–2016) |
Greg Hetson (born June 29, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the guitarist for the influential punk rock band Bad Religion. He is known for his high energy stage antics which people have coined the term "The Hetson Leap". Hetson was a founding member of and also plays guitar in another supergroup, Punk Rock Karaoke, and the hardcore punk band G.F.P.
Career
Bad Religion
Greg Hetson was credited on Bad Religion's album How Could Hell Be Any Worse? for playing the solo for the song Part III. His first (official) release with Bad Religion was the Back to the Known EP, released in 1985, which declared the band's return to their original punk sound after releasing the highly unsuccessful, progressive rock album Into the Unknown, after which the band disbanded.
After the release of Back to the Known, Bad Religion broke up for a second time, but reformed in 1986 with the How Could Hell Be Any Worse? line-up and Hetson was included. Bad Religion recorded their first three highly acclaimed reunion albums, Suffer, No Control and Against the Grain, before drummer Pete Finestone quit the band in 1991.
Bad Religion replaced Finestone with Bobby Schayer, then recorded their next album, Generator. The album was completed in the spring of 1991, but the band was forced to delay its release until a year later. For the album, Bad Religion also filmed their first music video "Atomic Garden", which was also their first song to be released as a single. In 1993, the band left their original label Epitaph Records and signed to Atlantic Records, who released their next album Recipe for Hate. While moderately successful, this was the first Bad Religion album to reach any Billboard charts and two videos for the album, "American Jesus" and "Struck a Nerve", were made.
The band's popularity grew in 1994 with their widely successful album Stranger Than Fiction, including their well-known hits "Infected" and "21st Century (Digital Boy)", which are often considered concert staples. After the album was completed, longtime guitarist Brett Gurewitz soon left Bad Religion to concentrate on the future of Epitaph, citing the increasing amount of time he was spending at Epitaph's offices as The Offspring became one of the biggest bands of the mid-1990s, but it was well known that his departure was not on good terms.
Gurewitz was replaced by former Minor Threat/Dag Nasty guitarist Brian Baker and Bad Religion recorded three more albums without him. He returned to the band in 2001, the line-up consisting of Greg Graffin (vocals), Gurewitz, Hetson, Baker (all on guitar), Jay Bentley (bass) and Brooks Wackerman (drums).
In April 2013, Hetson stopped touring with Bad Religion, supposedly due to divorce, and after briefly playing as a four-piece band (as Gurewitz does not tour with the band due to his commitments with Epitaph), Bad Religion recruited Mike Dimkich of The Cult to fill in for Hetson. Bassist Jay Bentley released the following statement: "Greg Hetson is dealing with some personal issues, if he wishes to make a statement we will support that, if he chooses not to we will support that. Mike Dimkich is indeed helping us out right now, and we are genuinely appreciative. Right now we are just looking forward and getting ready to play our shows." In January 2014, Bentley confirmed that Dimkich is an official member of Bad Religion, meaning that Hetson is no longer a member of the band. In April 2014, Hetson tweeted that he is no longer in Bad Religion, later claiming he was "kicked out" of the band.
Punk Rock Karaoke
Hetson plays guitar in the all star band Punk Rock Karaoke with Eric Melvin of NOFX, and Steve Soto of The Adolescents, Stan Lee of The Dickies and original Goldfinger drummer Darrin Pfeiffer.
Other notable past and recurring members have included Bob Mothersbaugh of Devo, and Mike Watt of Minutemen, Iggy and the Stooges. It was the first interactive live Punk Karaoke band since 1996. The band released DVD/CD set on MVD which has "sing along with" videos as well as a covers album featuring singers such as Matt Skiba, Dave King and Mike Herrera.
New Musical Project
Hetson is currently working with Loomis Fall, on a side project which include guests Bobby Alt, Chris Vrenna, Christopher Chartrand and engineered by Josh Achziger, though no release date has been stated.
