Greg Graffin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Greg Graffin
|
|
|---|---|
Graffin performing with Bad Religion in 2018
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gregory Walter Graffin |
| Born | November 6, 1964 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | |
Gregory Walter Graffin (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer. He is best known as the lead singer and only original member of the punk band Bad Religion. He helped start the band in 1980. Greg Graffin has also released three albums on his own.
Besides music, Graffin is also a scientist. He earned his PhD in zoology from Cornell University. He has taught science classes at both the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Cornell University.
Contents
Music Career
Starting Bad Religion
In 1980, when Greg Graffin was 15, he and some friends from high school formed the band Bad Religion. They started in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. The band quickly became well-known in the Los Angeles punk music scene.
They released two shorter albums (EPs) and two full albums. Around 1985, the band broke up for a short time.
Bad Religion's Comeback
Bad Religion got back together in 1986 with some new members. Greg Graffin was still the singer. Other members included Brett Gurewitz and Greg Hetson on guitars, Jay Bentley on bass, and Pete Finestone on drums.
In 1988, they released an album called Suffer. This album was a big comeback for Bad Religion. It also helped define the sound of Southern California punk music. Brett Gurewitz's record label, Epitaph Records, became very popular because of it.
Bad Religion is known for its smart and often political song lyrics. Their music is also fast-paced with strong harmony and melody. Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz are the main songwriters for the band. For a few years in the late 1990s, Graffin wrote most of the songs by himself. This was when Gurewitz had left the band to focus on his record label, Epitaph.
After working with a major record label, Atlantic Records, in the early 2000s, Bad Religion returned to Epitaph. Brett Gurewitz also rejoined the band. Since then, they have continued to write songs together. They have released several albums, including The Process of Belief (2002) and Age of Unreason (2019).
Greg Graffin's Solo Music
Greg Graffin also makes music on his own. In 1997, he released his first solo album, American Lesion. This album had softer, more folk-style songs. Many of these songs were written during a difficult time in his personal life.
In 2005, he recorded his second solo album, Cold as the Clay. This album mixed new songs by Graffin with old American folk songs from the 1700s and 1800s. Brett Gurewitz produced this album, and it came out in 2006.
Graffin released his third solo album, Millport, on March 10, 2017. He worked with Brett Gurewitz on this album too. It also featured musicians from the band Social Distortion.
Academic Life
Greg Graffin went to El Camino Real High School. He then studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). There, he earned degrees in Biology and Geology. In 2003, he earned his PhD in Zoology from Cornell University. His PhD paper was about how evolution and religion are viewed by famous scientists.
After getting his PhD, Graffin returned to UCLA to teach natural science classes. He also co-taught classes at Cornell University.
In 2011, a new type of extinct bird was named after him. It was called Qiliania graffini. This was to honor his work in evolutionary biology and how he inspires young scientists through his music.
Author and Educator
In 2008, Greg Graffin received an award for his work in cultural humanism.
He also wrote books. In 2006, a book was published that featured an email discussion between Graffin and a historian named Preston Jones. The book was called Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant? It discussed science, religion, and naturalism.
In 2009, Graffin announced he had co-written a book with author Steve Olson. The book, Anarchy Evolution, was released in 2010. In this book, Graffin explains that he is an atheist, meaning he doesn't believe in God. However, he prefers to call himself a naturalist. He explains that naturalism is a belief system where evidence, observation, and experimentation guide the search for truth.
He also worked on a TV show pilot called Punk Professor. In 2010, he said the show was waiting to be developed.
In 2012, Bad Religion performed at the Reason Rally in Washington, D.C. Greg Graffin sang the U.S. national anthem there.
Another book by Graffin, Population Wars, was released in September 2015. This book went deeper into the process of evolution. In an interview about the book, Graffin shared that he believes people can keep learning from their mistakes throughout their lives.
Discography
Bad Religion Albums
- How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (1982)
- Into the Unknown (1983)
- Suffer (1988)
- No Control (1989)
- Against the Grain (1990)
- Generator (1992)
- Recipe for Hate (1993)
- Stranger than Fiction (1994)
- The Gray Race (1996)
- No Substance (1998)
- The New America (2000)
- The Process of Belief (2002)
- The Empire Strikes First (2004)
- New Maps of Hell (2007)
- The Dissent of Man (2010)
- True North (2013)
- Age of Unreason (2019)
Solo Albums
- American Lesion (1997)
- Cold as the Clay (2006)
- Millport (2017)
Taxon Named in His Honor
- A type of catfish called Sturisoma graffini was named after him. This fish lives in the Madre de Dios River in Peru.
See also
In Spanish: Greg Graffin para niños
- List of celebrities with advanced degrees
