Christopher John Holmes (born June 23, 1958) is an American heavy metal guitarist. He started his musical career in the

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

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.

Career

W.A.S.P.

Prior to meeting Blackie Lawless and Randy Piper, and joining W.A.S.P., Holmes played guitar with

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of 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. Between his stints in W.A.S.P., Holmes formed the band Psycho Squad, who recorded one demo called "Born, Work, Die" in 1991 with a line-up consisting of Holmes, singer Johnny Severe, ex-Against The Grain bassist Mike Kortz and ex-Citizen Kane drummer Chris Olson.

Randy Piper’s Animal

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. Holmes was only a touring guitarist and did not play on the "Violent New Breed" album or any other Randy Piper's Animal release.

After Animal

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."

Where Angels Suffer and solo career

In 2010, Holmes joined Where Angels Suffer with Randy Piper on guitar, Steve Unger (

Metal Church Metal Church is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1980. Originally based in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, they relocated to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly called themselves Shrapnel. Led ...

) on bass, Rich Lewis (Animal), on vocals, and Stet Howland on drums (

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born September 19, 1958) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, and then embarked on a successful glam metal solo career tha ...

, Killing Machine, Belladonna, Impellitteri,

Sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

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. The album also featured classic era

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

drummer "Philthy Animal" Taylor. 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 Holmes played his first concert in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, with his new band Mean Man. Two of the songs were filmed live and uploaded to the band's official YouTube channel. In September 2018, Holmes 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 Holmes has introduced new members to Mean Man: vocalist Oliver Tindall, bassist Lex Gifford and drummer Stephen Jackson. In 2021, a feature-length documentary titled ''Mean Man: The Story of Chris Holmes'', was released. The film details Holmes' current life while also telling the story of his rise to fame and dramatic fall due to substance abuse issues, ultimately leading to the loss of his W.A.S.P. publishing rights. In early 2022, Holmes was diagnosed with throat and neck cancer, with future plans on hold due to treatment.

Personal life

Chris Holmes has been married three times. His first marriage was to Kaylen Rodgers in 1985 and lasted until 1987. He dated

from 1987 and was married to her from 1990 to 1992. He is now married to Catherine Holmes, whom he wed in August 2012. In 2014, Chris Holmes and Catherine Holmes moved to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, but after living in

Porvoo Porvoo (; ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately , while the Porvoo sub-region, sub-re ...

for a few months they moved to France where Catherine's parents lived. The couple currently resides in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France.

Equipment

Guitars

* Jackson Custom Rhoads (Black with brass hardware). Used in the movie '' The Dungeonmaster''. Returned after Chris was offered an endorsement from Jackson/Charvel. * Jackson/Charvel Custom parts Star (Yellow, completely beaten-up). * Jackson Custom Star (White with red blood splatter). * Jackson Custom Rhoads (Black with white bevels, "I'm A Animal" painted in white on the back of the neck). * Jackson Custom Rhoads (White pearl with black bevels, with "Fuck Off N Die" painted in red on the back of the neck. This guitar was later sent back to Jackson's custom shop after the wing broke to get the wing cut shorter, as well as the slimmer neck and zebra/lion graphic added). Sold on eBay, currently residing in Finland. * Jackson Custom Star (Black with Harley Davidson graphic and yellow bevels). Sold on eBay. * Fender Stratocaster (Red with white pickguard). seen once on a TV Show. * Jackson Custom Star (Budweiser graphic and reverse Strathead-neck). Smashed by

. * Jackson Flying V (Natural). * Jackson Custom Kelly (previously with Headless Children graphic, with "Touch Me And Die" painted in yellow on the back of the neck, now black and white with California Highway Patrol decal which Chris claims to have stolen from the door of a police car). * Gibson Flying V (Black with white pickguard). * Ibanez Destroyer (Black). * Amfisound Custom (Pavement graphic). * Ibanez Destroyer (Red). In an interview, Holmes said that this guitar was borrowed by

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...

for the recording of the ''

Women and Children First "Women and children first", known to a lesser extent as the ''Birkenhead'' drill, is an unofficial code of conduct and gender role whereby the lives of women and children were to be saved first in a life-threatening situation, typically aband ...

'' album. The guitar can be seen in the Neil Zlozower "Women and Children First"

Sunset Sound Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it is a phenomenon th ...

studio photographs. Eddie had a similar Ibanez Destroyer that he modified after recording ''

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

'' into the Shark Destroyer. Eddie did not like the tone after the modification so he borrowed Chris Holmes's Ibanez Destroyer. Holmes' Red Ibanez Destroyer is distinctive because it was modified to have only a single volume control whereas usually there are two volume controls and one tone control. The Red Ibanez Destroyer is now in the possession of The Tone Zone's Doug Anderson as part of his collection of Van Halen memorabilia often referred to as "The Van Halen Museum".

References

External links

* * *
2013 Interview
at ''Uber Rock''

at ''Uber Rock''

at ''Uber Rock'' (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Chris American heavy metal guitarists Musicians from Pasadena, California L.A. Guns members W.A.S.P. members Living people 1958 births People from La Cañada Flintridge, California Guitarists from California American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Musicians from Glendale, California