W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned M?tley Cr?e, Ratt, Quiet Riot and others. The band's popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy metal bands. W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock themed
image, lyrics and live performances. They have sold over 12 million albums.

The band were a prominent target in the mid-1980s of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) led by Tipper Gore, wife of then-Senator Al Gore (D-TN), an organization that pushed for warning labels on recorded music. The band
immortalized its fight with the PMRC on the song "Harder, Faster" from their 1987 live album, Live...In the Raw.

Blackie Lawless remains the only member from the original line-up. They released their most recent album in October 2009, entitled style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Babylon.

In October 2007, W.A.S.P. embarked on The Crimson Idol Tour, to celebrate that album's 15th anniversary. It is the first time that the album, often regarded to be among the band's finest work, was to be played in full from start to finish. The tour kicked
off in Greece, in Thessaloniki at the Principal Club Theater on October 26, 2007. It was also announced that this tour would be W.A.S.P.'s last tour for some time. However, the band already confirmed some European festival appearances for summer 2009.

Band Name

There has been much speculation over the origin of the bands name, and if it stands for anything, since
it is written as an acronym. In an interview in the 1980s, the band claimed it stood for "We Are Sexual Perverts" or "We Are Sexual Prophets" It is not known whether this was a serious statement. It is believed by many that they said it for shock value. However, "We Are Sexual Perverts" is inscribed on the runoff vinyl of their debut album.

Alternatively, some people believe the initials W.A.S.P. stand for "We Are So Perfect" or even "We Are So Powerful". Another possible abbreviation is "White Anglo-Saxon Protestants", being the original meaning of the acronym. However, this is unlikely considering the fact that Blackie Lawless' mother is part Native American. It could be ironic, seeing as songs like "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" hardly fit into the usual picture of White Anglo-Saxon Protestantism. It has also been rumored that their name is an acronym for "We Are Satan's People" or even
"We Are Satan's Preachers". When asked about the band's name, Lawless has avoided giving a straight answer; in one interview he answered "We ain't sure, pal".

Blackie Lawless has told another story on how W.A.S.P. got their name. He said he and a friend were walking in the backyard and saw a wasp nest
on the ground under a tree and decided to call the bandWASP. The band later decided to add a period between each letter to make it stand out more when people saw it. A former member, Rik Fox has stated that he was the "friend" that coined the name WASP.

History

The original lineup of W.A.S.P. was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982 by Blackie Lawless, Rik Fox, Randy Piper and Tony Richards. The band became notorious for its raunchy and, at times, shocking live
shows. Lawless was known to tie semi-naked models to a torture rack, and to also hurl raw meat into the audience. The band's debut single, entitled Animal (Fuck Like a Beast), and its cover were equally controversial.

The first lineup didn't last for long,
as Rik Fox was let go and went on to join the band Steeler with (then unknown) vocalist Ron Keel and guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. He was replaced by Don Costa. Shortly afterward, Don Costa also left the band and his position on the bass was filled by Lawless. At the same time, guitarist Chris Holmes joined the band.

color="#660000">W.A.S.P. signed to Capitol Records for their debut album, W.A.S.P., released on August 17, 1984. The debut was at one time planned for release with the title Winged Assassins. The band's first single "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" was omitted from the album in the United States to prevent it from being banned from major chain stores.

"L.O.V.E. Machine" and "I Wanna Be Somebody" helped the album sell, and set the band up for "Blind in Texas", a song written in St. Paul, Minnesota, by Blackie Lawless. The song was released on their next album The Last Command on November 9, 1985. The Last Command is still W.A.S.P.'s highest charting album, peaking at #47 on the Billboard
album chart. "Blind in Texas" is perhaps their best known song, more than 20 years later. The Last Command was also the first album with new drummer Steve Riley. The former Keel drummer replaced Tony Richards at the beginning of the 1984-85 tour.

color="#660000">After The Last Command tour, guitarist Randy Piper quit the band. He auditioned for a spot in Alice Cooper's band and was accepted, but left after only a few weeks because Kane Roberts was to be the lead guitarist in the group, whereas Piper was not content with staying in the background. Former King Kobra bassist Johnny Rod joined W.A.S.P. as Lawless went back to playing rhythm guitar.

With the lineup changes made, they recorded their third album, titled Inside the Electric Circus. It was released on November 8, 1986. The album was a big hit with W.A.S.P. fans. Critics, on the other hand, dismissed it as "7th-grader rock". Songs like "Shoot from the Hip" and the minor hit single "9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y." helped the band live up to the reputation of one of the possible meanings of their
band name, "We Are Sexual Perverts". However, Blackie Lawless himself, known to be a harsh critic of his own work, cited in the albums re-release liner notes that Inside the Electric Circus was " tired record by a tired band". Ultimately it was an unfavorable critical review of the single "9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y." that convinced Lawless to take some time off and reconsider the band's creative direction.

W.A.S.P. became a very prominent target of the Parents Music Resource Center, an organization led by Tipper Gore and dedicated to opposing music with lyrics deemed violent or overtly sexual in content. This lowered the band's reputation to such a degree that concert halls were getting bomb threats, band members were receiving death threats by the hundreds, and singer Blackie Lawless was shot at
twice (though not hit). Interestingly, the publicity this controversy generated ultimately improved album sales. Lawless sued and won a case against the PMRC for copyright infringement.

In 1987 W.A.S.P. had their song "Scream Until You Like It" included on the soundtrack of the movieGhoulies 2. The same year, a few dates during the Inside The Electric Circus tour were recorded and on November 27, 1987, the Long Beach arena concert was released as the Live...In the Raw album. Unfortunately, by this time, Steve Riley had left W.A.S.P. to join L.A. Guns.

W.A.S.P.'s fifth album, The Headless Children, was released on April 15, 1989 and was their first album without any overtly sexually explicit songs included. It was also their first album to sell rather poorly, only reaching #48 on the Billboard 200 before quickly falling off the charts. However, it would be W.A.S.P.'s most critically acclaimed work up to that point and, according to a recent Lawless interview, it is now actually the highest
selling W.A.S.P. album to date. The drumming duties for the album were handled by former Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali. It featured two of the band's most highly acclaimed songs, the power ballad "Forever Free" and a cover of The Who's "The Real Me".

Chris Holmes left the band in August 1989, stating that he wanted to "have fun, you know". Lawless responded with a caustic remark about the fact that 'some guys want to stay at home and wear aprons,' hinting at the nature of Chris Holmes' relationship with his new wife Lita Ford. The band effectively disbanded a few months later with Blackie Lawless
embarking on a short lived solo career. Lawless was originally slated to play T-1000 in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but was later replaced by Robert Patrick after Arnold Schwarzenegger deemed Lawless "too tall". Blackie commenced work on his solo project, but under pressure from both promoters and fans, he released it as a W.A.S.P. album. Ironically, many critics feel that the resulting concept album, The Crimson Idol, has been the best W.A.S.P. output so far.