Chris Holmes (musician)

For other musicians of that name, see Chris Holmes.

Chris Holmes
Birth name	Christopher John Holmes
Born	June 23, 1958 (1958-06-23) Glendale, California, United States
Genres	Heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Years active	1978–present
Associated acts	Sister, W.A.S.P., Psycho Squad, Animal, Big Ball Stars, L.A. Guns, Where Angels Suffer

Chris Holmes (full name Christopher John Holmes) is a musician who was born June 23, 1958 in Glendale, California and grew up in La Canada, California. Together with Blackie Lawless and Randy Piper, he was one the founding members of the heavy metal band W.A.S.P.

Career

Chris Holmes is a heavy metal guitarist and songwriter who started his musical career in the Pasadena, California area in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is best known as the lead guitarist of heavy-metal band W.A.S.P.. Prior to meeting Blackie Lawless and Randy Piper, and joining W.A.S.P., Holmes played guitar with L.A. bands Buster Savage, LAX, and Slave. Holmes was a member of W.A.S.P. first from 1983 to 1990, and again from 1996 to 2001.

W.A.S.P.

Holmes joined W.A.S.P. in 1983, and remained with the group until 1990. In 1996 Holmes rejoined W.A.S.P., and remained lead guitarist until 2001. Holmes has not played with W.A.S.P. since.

"The Metal Years" Interview

While still with W.A.S.P., Holmes participated in the filming of the rock documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years.[1] This "rockumentary" included interviews with members of Motörhead, Aerosmith, Poison, Kiss, Megadeth, London, Faster Pussycat and others discussing their lifestyle and the metal scene in late 1980s Los Angeles.[2]

Holmes is infamous for his contribution to the 1988 documentary, during which he was interviewed while floating in a swimming pool, fully clothed and visibly intoxicated. This interview stood out in stark contrast to the more light-hearted and humorous interviews conducted by director Penelope Spheeris, which mostly portrayed rockers as good-natured, though often dimwitted or deluded, party animals. During the interview, Holmes smiled drunkenly at the camera, deeming himself "a full-blown alcoholic" and "a piece of crap" despite his band's success, and punctuated his remarks by guzzling from three bottles of vodka. At the end of the interview, Holmes upends a full bottle of Smirnoff over his head as he rolls out of his inflatable chair and into the water. Holmes' mother, Sandy, is also present during the interview, sitting at poolside, trying to ignore her son's taunts.

Personal life

Holmes has been married twice. First to Kaylen Rodgers in the late 1980s, then briefly to Lita Ford in the early 1990s.

Randy Piper’s Animal

Holmes was contacted by friend and former bandmate Randy Piper to join Piper's new project, Animal. Holmes quickly relocated to Ohio to prepare for Animal's upcoming "900 lb Steam" tour. The tour was considered successful, and after its conclusion, Animal (with Holmes) recorded tracks for a new album.

After Animal

After Holmes returned to Los Angeles in late 2003, he began working with several Southern California-based metal groups, producing and contributing guitar tracks. In 2007, Holmes was involved with the filming of a Randy Rhoads documentary directed by Peter M. Margolis, which has yet to be released. Holmes appears briefly in a 2009 episode of VH1's Rock Docs, "Do It For The Band: The Women of Sunset Strip." In the Summer of 2009 Holmes released Secret Society's "Death by Misadventure."

W.A.S.P

In 2010, he joined Where Angels Suffer (W.A.S) with Randy Piper (W.A.S.P.) on guitar, Steve Unger (Metal Church) on bass, Rich Lewis (Animal), on vocals, and Stet Howland on drums (Blackfoot, Lita Ford, Killing Machine, Belladonna, Impellitteri, Sister and W.A.S.P.).

Trivia

• Holmes did a song for the Hot Wheels:AcceleRacers movie series-Anything But Down.

Guitars

• • Jackson (Charvel) Customparts Star (Yellow, completely beaten-up)
  • Jackson Custom Star (Bloodsplatter)
  • Jackson Custom Rhoads (Black with white bevels)
  • Jackson Custom Rhoads (White, later sent back to customshop, wing cut, slimmer neck and zebra/lion graphic added). Sold on eBay, currently residing in Finland.
  • Jackson Custom Star (Black with Harley Davidson graphic and yellow bevels) Sold on eBay.
  • Fender Stratocaster (Red w. White pickguard) seen once on a TV Show.
  • Jackson Custom Star (Budweiser graphic and reverse Strathead-neck) Smashed by Lita Ford.
  • Jackson Flying V (Natural).
  • Jackson Custom Explorer (Headless Children graphic).
  • Gibson Flying V (Black w. White pickguard).
  • Destroyer (Black)
  • Amfisound Custom
  • Ibanez Destroyer (Red) - In an interview, Holmes said that this guitar was borrowed by Eddie Van Halen for the recording of the Women and Children First album. The guitar can be seen in the Neil Zlozower "Women and Children First" Sunset Sound studio photographs. Eddie had a similar Ibanez Destroyer that he modified after recording Van Halen into the Shark Destroyer. Eddie did not like the tone after the modification so he borrowed Chris Holmes's Ibanez Destroyer. Holmes' Red Ibanez Destroyer is distinctive as it was modified to have only a single volume control whereas usually there are 2 volume and 1 tone control. The Red Ibanez Destroyer is still in his possession.

External links

• Chris Holmes, Interview: "There’s A Lot Of People I Don’t Like " February 25, 2011