White Zombie

Obsessed with horror, gore and thrashing theatrical rock, Rob Zombie grew up wanting to be Alice Cooper, Stephen Spielberg and comic book creator Stan Lee - and in his own way he did. Forming White Zombie with then girlfriend Sean Yseult while studying at Parsons School of Design in New York, the band played their first gig at the legendary CBGB club in 1986 and gained acclaim from Kurt Cobain, Iggy Pop and Thurston Moore for debut Soul-Crusher (1987), released through their own Silent Explosion label. Full of noisy, mid-tempo, groove metal and B-movie samples, third album La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1 (1992) on major label Geffen Records launched the band into the mainstream, with MTV show Beavis And Butthead heavily featuring single Thunder Kiss '65. Follow-up Astro-Creep: 2000 (1995) went on to become a huge smash, reaching Number 6 in the US and producing the Top 10 hit More Human Than Human, but the increasing animosity led to the band splitting in 1998. Zombie went on to a successful solo career and released his own comic Spookshow International; but it was as a film director that he became best known, producing the cult favourites House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects as well as a box office remake of classic horror flick Halloween.