Chris Holmes | |
|---|---|
 Holmes in 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher John Holmes |
| Born | June 23, 1958 Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Formerly of | |
Christopher John Holmes (born June 23, 1958) is an American heavy metal guitarist. He started his musical career in the Pasadena, California area in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is best known as one of the lead guitarists of heavy metal band W.A.S.P. Holmes was a member of W.A.S.P. first from 1983 to 1990, and again from 1996 to 2001.
Prior to meeting Blackie Lawless and Randy Piper, and joining W.A.S.P., Holmes played guitar with Los Angeles bands Buster Savage, LAX, and Slave. Holmes joined W.A.S.P. from 1983 to 1990, playing on the first four studio albums and the first live album. In 1996, Holmes rejoined W.A.S.P., and remained lead guitarist until 2001. Holmes has not played with W.A.S.P. since.
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 recorded tracks for a new album.
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 2005, Holmes contributed with the song "Anything but Down" for the soundtrack of Hot Wheels: AcceleRacers. In 2007, Holmes was involved in the filming of a Randy Rhoads documentary directed by Peter M. Margolis, which is 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."
In 2010, he joined Where Angels Suffer with Randy Piper 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.). Ira Black has since replaced Piper. The band toured Europe for the first time in 2011.
On November 26, 2012, Chris Holmes released his first solo album Nothing to Lose and decided to produce, manage and distribute it himself along with his wife Catherine Holmes. After his first album, Chris started recording his second solo album, Shitting Bricks. On May 2, 2015, that album was released worldwide and on the same day Chris Holmes played his first concert in Nantes, France, with his new band Mean Man . Two of the songs were filmed live, and uploaded to the official YouTube channel.
In September 2018, Chris recorded the EP "Under the Influence" at Replug studio, mixed by Raphael Gary and produced by Chris and Catherine Holmes. It was released on the 2nd December 2018 in Dublin.
Since 2019 Chris has introduced new members to Mean Man: Vocalist Oliver Tindall, Bassist Lex Gifford and Stephen Jackson, Drums. In early 2022 he was diagnosed with throat and neck cancer, future plans had to be set on hold because of the necessary treatment.[1]
While a member of W.A.S.P., Holmes participated in the filming of the documentary film, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, directed by Penelope Spheeris. The film included interviews with many well-known heavy metal personalities of the era discussing their lifestyle and the metal scene in late 1980s Los Angeles.
Holmes' contribution to the 1988 documentary is perhaps the most memorable, because he was interviewed while floating in a swimming pool, fully clothed and visibly quite intoxicated while his mother sat poolside. The 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 smiles drunkenly at the camera, deems himself "a full-blown alcoholic" and "a piece of crap" despite his band's success, and punctuates his remarks by guzzling from three bottles of vodka. At the end of the interview, Holmes opens a full bottle of Smirnoff over his head as he rolls out of his inflatable chair and into the water (Spheeris has stated that the bottle was actually half filled with vodka, with the rest being pool water). Holmes looked back on the interview with a "sequel pool interview" in 2017, with his wife asking him the same questions; Holmes stated that he has been sober since February 6, 1996.[2]
Chris Holmes is the subject of the 2020 documentary Mean Man: The Story of Chris Holmes , directed by Antoine De Montremy and Laurent Hart. The project's title is from the song "Mean Man" on the 1989 W.A.S.P. album The Headless Children.
Chris Holmes has been married three times. His first marriage was to Kaylen Rodgers in the late 1980s. He was briefly married to Lita Ford in the early 1990s. He is now married to Catherine Holmes, whom he wed in August 2012.
In 2014, Chris Holmes and Catherine Holmes moved to Finland, but after living in Porvoo for a few months they moved to France where Catherine's parents lived.[3] The couple currently resides in Cannes, France.
