role:: Guitar
Biography
John Christ (born John Wolfgang Knoll on February 19, 1965) is an American musician best known as the original guitarist for the metal band Danzig. He has been known for his bluesy hard rock sound and frequent use of the pinch harmonic. Christ was ranked 63rd in Guitar World’s list of ‘The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists’.
In 1987, Christ dropped out of college and moved to New Jersey to join Glenn Danzig’s band Samhain, which became the band Danzig later that same year. Upon his arrival in New Jersey, Christ would share an apartment with Samhain drummer London May, for whom Christ had performed his first band audition. When May left the band, Christ shared an apartment with new drummer Chuck Biscuits, where they came up with Christ’s original stage name “John Von Christ”, before it was shortened to avoid it clashing with bassist Eerie Von. Christ played guitar with Danzig from 1987 to July 1995, appearing on the albums Danzig, Lucifuge, How the Gods Kill and 4, and also the Thrall-Demonsweatlive EP. In 1990, Christ recorded guitar for the Samhain album Final Descent. Christ officially left Danzig on July 5, 1995, citing a breakdown in communication within the band as the reason behind his departure.
In 1997, Christ was part of the short lived band Juice 13, which also included Randy Castillo, former drummer for Ozzy Osbourne. Christ’s guitar work has been used by TV stations ABC and Nine Network. During his time with Nine Network, he provided backing guitar for performances by artists including Tom Jones and Lou Rawls. In 1999, Christ released his debut solo album Flesh Caffeine.
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