Tommy Henriksen | |
|---|---|
 Tommy Henriksen at Wacken Open Air 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | February 21, 1964 Port Jefferson Station, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, bass guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1984–present |
Tommy Henriksen (born February 21, 1964) is an American musician from Port Jefferson Station, New York, best known for his work as a guitarist, bassist and songwriter with Alice Cooper, Hollywood Vampires, Crossbone Skully and German metal band Warlock. He has also fronted punk rockers P.O.L. and released several albums as a solo artist. In addition, Henriksen is a songwriter, arranger, producer and mixer who has worked with artists such as Lady Gaga, Meat Loaf, Lou Reed, Halestorm, Kesha, and Daughtry. Henriksen is currently based out of Zurich, Switzerland where he lives with his family.[citation needed]
Henriksen got his start on the New York scene with the band Ruffkut which also featured his brother Gene on drums. After playing mostly covers initially, the group began writing their own material and issued the Fight for the Right mini-LP in 1984.[1] In 1986, Henriksen joined German metal band Warlock and was featured on their 1987 album Triumph and Agony which went gold in Germany; the videos for the singles "All We Are" and "Für immer" were in regular rotation on MTV's heavy metal program Headbangers' Ball. Henriksen stuck around co-writing several songs as lead vocalist Doro Pesch lost the rights to the name Warlock and issued her next album Force Majeure, which also went gold, under the name Doro. Eventually, Henriksen, guitarist Jon Levin, and drummer Bobby Rondinelli all left the Doro camp and formed their own band, Big Trouble, with future Burning Rain and Montrose vocalist Keith St. John rounding out the line-up; another incarnation featured Eric St. Michaels (China, Criminal Minds) on vocals. Although signed to Atlantic Records the band split up without ever releasing an album. Henriksen left New York and moved to Los Angeles. After a brief stint with C.C. DeVille's ill-fated band Needle Park he joined former Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson's band War & Peace, appearing on the band's 1993 debut album, Time Capsule, along with guitarist Russ Parrish, aka Satchel of Steel Panther, and future Enuff Z'nuff drummer Ricky Parent.
In 1994, Henriksen, taking on the alias Da Skunk, formed punk rock outfit P.O.L., short for Parade of Losers, signing a major label deal with Warner Bros. imprint Giant Records. The band's Garth Richardson produced self-titled debut was released in 1995 and the group appeared on The Jon Stewart Show playing their top 5 alternative single, "Stupid". P.O.L. issued their sophomore effort, Sprockett, on their own Junkrock label in 1996 before the album saw a wider release via Entourage Records. The song "Sixteen and Confused" would later become the alternate closing theme to Is It Fall Yet?, the first Daria TV film.
After the breakup of P.O.L., Henriksen began working Keith Forsey on a more pop oriented full-length solo album.[2] Released by Capitol Records in 1999, the self-titled album included the hit single "I See the Sun", which reached #34 on the Adult Top 40 that year[3] and was also included in the Blast from the Past movie soundtrack.[4] In 2000, Henriksen released the follow-up, Selected Songs for a New Beginning, on his own ZuZu Ltd label. He also collaborated with former War & Peace bandmate Jeff Pilson in Underground Moon whose sole album was issued on the Nuclear Blast subsidiary Rebelution Entertainment in 2002.
In 2001, Henriksen teamed up with P.O.L. drummer and future Alice Cooper bandmate Glen Sobel to form girl-fronted sugar-punk band Boink!. They achieved popularity in LA, releasing a single and video, "Punk Break Beat", followed up by a 5-track EP, Walk of Fame. A huge Sex Pistols fan, Henriksen unleashed DiS ViciOuS in 2006, described by Tommy as being "another side of Sid Vicious". A few tracks were released via social networking, most of which were an anarchic rant against society, albeit rather tongue-in-cheek.
2007 saw Henriksen, in a silent member producer/singer/songwriter role, join forces with Rehab's Brooks Buford and Ashley Alan-Lee in The Audio Club. The trio independently produced a music video for the single, "Sumthin' Serious", which gained airplay on a number of North American radio stations. Signed to Interscope Records, the group disbanded after disputes with their label. During this time Henriksen also continued to hone his skills as a producer and engineer working with a wide variety of artists.
Henriksen has worked as a songwriter, arranger, producer and mixer for such artists as Lady Gaga, Kesha, Krace, Daughtry, Kumi Koda, Porcelain Black, Meat Loaf, Cavo, Allison Iraheta, Atom Smash, Steel Magnolia, Alice, Tohoshinki, Kimberly Caldwell, Hyper Crush, The Canadian Tenors, Fefe Dobson, Lou Reed, Christian Kane, Alice Cooper, Longview, Reamonn, Revis, Runner Runner, Clear Static, Framing Hanley, Halestorm, China, Camera Can't Lie, New Medicine, Angels Fall, The Audio Club, Syndicate, Safety Suit, Brooks Buford, Emphatic, BC Jean, Kristin Chenoweth, Bowling for Soup, Capra, Simple Plan, Future Boy, Wes Carr, Fighting with Wire, The Rouge, David Cook, Beasto Blanco, Fugufish, The 3 Dudes, Annie-Rose and The All New Josie and the Pussycats.[citation needed]
In March 2011, while being associate producer, guitar player, bass player, programmer, mixer and engineer on the new Alice Cooper Welcome 2 My Nightmare record, Alice asked Henriksen to play guitar in his live band, which Henriksen continues to be a member of.[5] He can also be seen playing bass guitar in the "Heaven in This Hell" video by fellow Cooper bandmate Orianthi.[6]
On October 31, 2014, Henriksen released the digital single "Give'm Hell" off his solo album Tommy! Tommy!! Tommy!!!, out on the Blue Martin/K-tel label in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.[7] A promotional video for "Give 'Em Hell" was shot around Zurich, Switzerland.[8] A limited edition vinyl version of the album was released in 2015 on Bellyache Records.[9]
Henriksen is also a member of the Cooper-fronted rock supergroup Hollywood Vampires, appearing on the band's eponymous 2015 debut studio album[10] and playing rhythm guitar at the band's Rock in Rio show on September 24, 2015, as well as warm-up shows at The Roxy on September 16 and 17.[11] Henriksen played with the Hollywood Vampires during their February 2016 Grammy Award Performance.
In March 2017, Henriksen digitally released his latest solo album, StarStruck, on his own label Dis Vicious Music;[12] a limited edition vinyl release followed in late May via Bellyache Records. Henriksen also had a significant role in the making of the Alice Cooper album, Paranormal, co-producing, playing guitar, and co-writing 3 songs.[13]
In December 2022, Henriksen released the first track to his new project, Crossbone Skully, known as a legendary Harley-riding party animal and ghoulish rock & roll hero, armed with supernatural powers and a busted-up spaceship, trekking back to earth to find the planet in chaos. Crossbone Skully is recruited by a band of space warriors, The Misfits of the Universe (Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, Nikki Sixx, Kane Roberts & Sheryl Cooper), to defeat the all-powerful Sorcerer (Johnny Depp[14]). Crossbone Skully released their first track, Evil World Machine on December 5, 2022. Following forward he pursued to release The Boom Went The Boom (feat. Phil Collen) on October 6, 2023, and his most recent release, I'm Unbreakable on November 17, 2023.
