Rob Zombie

Background

Robert Bartleh Cummings, professionally known as Rob Zombie, was born on January 12, 1965. He is an American singer, songwriter, and filmmaker, best known for his music in his heavy metal band, White Zombie. Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, he has always been fascinated with horror films — which does not come as a surprise to his fans. He attended Haverhill High School and graduated in 1983. After high school, he attended Pratt Institute where he met his future bandmate and girlfriend, Sean Yseult. His experience in television production began during his years at Pratt Institute, when he was a production assistant for the television series “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” until the formation of his metal band with Yseult. Although they broke up after several years together, the pair continued to work in White Zombie together.

The band released their first studio album through their own record label, Silent Explosion, called “Soul-Crusher” in 1987, and their second album, “Make Them Die Slowly” in 1989. Their first two albums did not perform well until they signed with Geffen Records, through which they released their third and fourth album. In 1992, their third album, “La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One,” was released but did not reach the ‘Billboard 200’ chart until a year later. In 1995, White Zombie released their fourth and final album, “Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head,” which was their biggest commercial success as it reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200. They sold over two million copies in the U.S. After their fourth album, White Zombie parted ways.

He embarked on his career as a solo artist and released his first album in 1998, “Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting inside the Spookshow International,” which was an immediate success. The album reached number five on the Billboard 200, selling over 120,000 copies within the first week. Zombie, being a horror enthusiast, revealed that his first album was influenced by a few of his favorite classic horror films. In the same year, he founded his own record label called Zombie-A-Go-Go Records and released albums for The Bomboras instrumental band and the Ghastly Ones rock band within the same year of the label’s founding. Following the success of his first album, he released his first remix album in 1999 called “American Made Music to Strip By” and made the top 40 of the Billboard 200 in its first week. He began working with Universal Studios on his directorial debut in 1999 for the release of his first horror film, “House of 1000 Corpses,” a black comedy horror film that was only released in 2003.

In 2000, at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, his song ‘Superbeast,’ from his “Hellbilly Deluxe” album, received a nomination for ‘Best Metal Performance.’ He released his second album, “The Sinister Urge,” which entered the top 10 in the U.S. during the first week. In 2003, he released a compilation album called “Past, Present, and Future,” which comprised a variety of singles from his solo album, “White Zombie,” and other new releases. The album reached number 11 on the ‘Billboard 200.’ During the same year, he released his first comic book series called “Spookshow International.” In 2005, he released the sequel to “House of 1000 Corpses” called “The Devil’s Rejects,” along with several comics about the film in the same year. In 2006, he released his third album, “Educated Horses,” which also successfully entered the top 10 on the Billboard 200.

Soon after, Zombie focused his career on film and released his third movie in 2007, which was a remake of the 1978 horror film, “Halloween,” which became his highest-grossing film to date. His sequel, “Halloween Two” was released in 2009. Four years after the release of his third album, he released his fourth album, “Hellbilly Deluxe Two,” which reached the top 10 albums in the U.S. Shortly after, he embarked on his first world tour, the “Hellbilly Deluxe 2 World Tour.” He continued to successfully direct films and release more studio albums, with his most recent album, “The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy,” released in 2021.