GG Allin's last day on Earth |
On June 28th, 1993, GG Allin, referred to by AllMusic magazine as "the most spectacular degenerate in rock & roll history" died of a heroin overdose in New York City.
GG Allin was born Jesus Christ Allin in Lancaster, New Hampshire, to a religious fanatic named Merle Allin, Sr. and his wife Arleta Gunther.
His father named him Jesus Christ due to a visit from God who told him that his newborn son would become the Messiah.
GG's older brother, Merle Jr., who was three at the time of GG's birth, was unable to pronounce "Jesus" and instead called him "Je- Je", which was how he got the name "GG", although once his mother was able to escape the abusive confines of Merle Sr., she legally changed his name to Kevin Micheal when he was 6 years old.
The Allin family lived in a log cabin with no running water or electricity in Groveton, New Hampshire, as Merle Sr. was a mentally unstable recluse, who routinely threatened to kill his family, even digging their graves in the cellar.
His mother relocated to Vermont with Merle Jr., and GG. Of their childhood GG said that it was "very chaotic. Full of chances and dangers. We sold drugs, stole, broke into houses, cars. Did whatever we wanted to for the most part." GG attended high school cross-dressed, which he said was inspired by the New York Dolls, his brother Merle said GG was bullied constantly.
After graduating high school GG and Merle began their life long adventure in the music business, playing together in bands such as The Jabbers (1977-1984) The Murder Junkies (formed in 1990), as well as performances and albums billed as a GG Allin solo act but including Merle as part of the backing band, with GG almost decidedly setting out to prove his father's premonition absolutely wrong.
By the mid 1980s Allin had a reputation for outlandish stage shows that regularly included self mutilation, defecating and eating or slinging his own feces onto the crowd, as well as attacking and physically assaulting audience members. By the late 1980s Allin began hinting to wanting to kill himself onstage, culminating in a promise to commit suicide on stage on October 31st 1989 but before Halloween of that year Allin was imprisoned for cutting, burning, and drinking the blood of a young woman, to which admitted for a reduced sentence.
Allin was released March 26, 1991, being quite possibly the only person to admit to feeling ''re-energized" by prison. It was during his incarceration that he wrote the "GG Allin Mission", recommitting himself to his on stage suicide promise:
"Time to get Rock 'N' Roll out of the hands of the masses and back to the people who will not accept comfort or conformity at any cost. Then I will commit suicide on stage and the blood of Rock 'N' Roll will become the poison of the Universe forever.."
Wether it was an affirmation of intent, or a ploy to sell tickets, Allin's wish would not come true.
Unbeknownst to GG, his last show was on June 27, 1993 at a punk club in Manhattan called The Gas Station. GG's friend, Johnny Puke, lived across the street from the club and around noon invited the band to his place before the show to drink and do cocaine. By the time Allin took to the stage he was "super-wired" from the drugs and immediately broke the microphone. By the third song Allin had defecated on himself and began attacking the audience, which sent about 200 people stampeding for the courtyard, which Allin followed throwing glass bottles at them.
After GG finally left the club, he was covered in blood and feces, wearing only boots, walking aimlessly through the streets followed by a crowd of fans. After the police were called, Allin was somehow able to hail a cab, completely naked and smelling like human waste. Finally Allin and his girlfriend made it back to Johnny Puke's apartment, where they drank and snorted 10 bags of heroin that the show promoter paid Allin with.
At some point around 2 a.m. Allin passed out, or so the partygoers thought, and they posed for pictures with Allin's corpse covered in blood and feces and wearing a skirt.
GG Allin's funeral took place on July 3, 1993 in his native New Hampshire. GG's brother Merle forbade the undertaker from washing or preserving the body, so at his funeral, Allin's bloated, unpreserved corpse still covered in feces was dressed in his black leather jacket and jock strap. Friends posed for pictures with his corpse and shoved drugs and whiskey into his mouth, and he was laid to rest in the plot reserved for his mother.
GG Allin's tombstone read 'Live Fast Die - Rock N Roll Terrorist' but was removed because the grave was frequently vandalized with urine, cigarette butts, and feces by fans.
Despite Johnny Puke's efforts to reclaim the photographs of Allin's corpse confiscated by the police, they refused and are presumably still at Manhattan's 9th precinct.
Painting of Allin in his casket by friend and serial killer John Wayne Gacy |