Henry Rollins Removes Morrissey From ‘Kill List,’ Keeps Others
Henry Rollins is perpetually candid and outspoken — see his recent statements on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton or telling Rolling Stone he didn’t like the music we covered — and his recent interview with the Guardian is no exception. Amid talk of penguins (“They basically crap where they stand together … I think that basically describes Congress in America”), a fossil being named after him, his physique, depression and his hate of Monsanto, the wide-ranging interview got down to the business of Rollins’ “kill list,” which at one point appeared to include former Smiths leader Morrissey.
While Rollins once said that he’d like to make a house record from the sound of Morrissey being burned to death, his new, nuanced stance finds the singer tempering his past comments.
“Well, I like the guy,” Rollins said. “I think he’s very intelligent and has real good taste in music. It’s nothing I’d say on stage now because I think it’s poorly meant, but that’s why we humans are allowed to subtly evolve here and there.”
That said, the punk rock vet confessed there are a few people he’d like to see dead. “There are definitely some people I wouldn’t mind seeing burned to death – I absolutely have a kill list,” he admitted. “But not good old Morrissey. I think the world is a much better place with him in it.”
As for who specifically sits on his kill list, Rollins didn’t name names except to say they’re “just people who need to get got.” There are, however, certain individuals he thinks deserve some harm to varying degrees. “There are different grades. There are a few people who could do with losing a hand. And I’d happily carry the petrol can, the cleaver, whatever it takes,” he said. “As far as the kill list goes, though, there are two who’ve REALLY gotta go. Every day I don’t get them I consider a partial failure.”
Rollins is in the U.K. for his Charmingly Obstinate tour, which launches on Monday in Bristol.