Random Punk Rockers Who Turned Into Total Dads (14 items)

• 

  (#1) Jim Lindberg

  • 53

  Singer Jim Lindberg formed the band Pennywise in 1988 at the height of the SoCal punk revival. Pennywise performed at small, grungy punk venues, including Black Flag's famous church, before hitting it big. In the band's heyday, police officers stopped nearly every show, and Lindberg said he wrote shorter songs so he could "get at least a dozen in" before the authorities ultimately broke up the party. 

  Lindberg continued to tour with the band in the '90s, but he briefly left after he got married, claiming the scene was getting too volatile. He has three daughters, and even though he still keeps his punk rock ethos intact, he has softened somewhat. In the documentary The Other F Word, he said, "I think a lot of guys on the scene are feeling the same thing. Before, I think, when we were younger, we were all very nihilistic and didn't care. Live for today, live fast.You know uh, do whatever you want. I don't think any of these guys expected to be around this long."

  "It's tough to be a punk rock hero and still be a good authority figure for your kids. It's almost impossible," Lindberg further laments. Still, he seems to be doing a good job of it. He tours to help support his family, and he takes along special Barbie dolls from his daughters while he's on the road. He also has all three of his daughters' names tattooed on his arms. 
• 

  (#2) Ron Reyes

  • 58

  Black Flag formed the mecca for SoCal punk music with The Church in Hermosa Beach. Ron Reyes rented a closet for $16 in the abandoned church, and he described the rehearsal space as "living in punk squalor." Reyes was all about the punk ethos until 1980, when he quit the scene in the middle of a set at the Fleetwood, claiming punk had become too volatile for his taste. 

  After getting married and having a child, Reyes tried to keep some of his punk mentality alive. "We tried to hang onto some of that [punk rock way of life]. Going out, going to gigs, getting a little bit wasted, and coming back and, like, you know, trying to breast-feed and change diapers. And it just doesn't work... for us, it was like, this isn't gonna work," he says in the documentary The Other F Word.

  He also noted that he's "a little bit more" like his dad than he ever thought. 
• 

  (#3) Tim McIlrath

  • 40

  Rise Against didn't form until the tail-end of the punk revival in 1999. Still, McIlrath and his bandmates weren't ones to shy away from the wild antics of the '80s punk scene. Many of their songs are politically charged, and their shows had a tendency to become aggressive. 

  McIlrath had children earlier on in his career than other punk rockers, and some of his songs are even about parenting, like "House on Fire." In the documentary The Other F Word, McIlrath spends time playing Rise Against songs with his daughter (who isn't familiar with all of the lyrics) and supports her musical endeavors. 

  He does admit, however, that parenting while in an active touring band was a difficult choice to make. "There are moments that you miss, that you sacrifice," he said in the documentary. 
• 

  (#4) Mark Hoppus

  • 46

  Anyone who grew up in the late '90s and early 2000s is all too familiar with Blink 182's cheeky antics onstage and in their videos. Bassist Mark Hoppus knew he had a reputation of being a punk goof, which he says was something of a blessing

  "The cool thing about what I do for a living is that the expectation of me as a father is so f*cking low," he laughed in The Other F Word. Hoppus has managed to continue touring with Blink 182 while still throwing some fatherly responsibility into the mix. 

  "It never dawned on me that at one point I'd be a father and have to buy the clean version of my albums to play in the car," he said, "Yeah. That's a pickle."
• 

  (#5) Flea

  • 56

  Flea said that Black Flag shows used to be incredibly volatile, "People would get beat up for hairing the wrong hair. And I don't mean punched, I mean hospitalized. And like, constant. It was like, ambulances taking people away from shows all the time." The Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist was as wild as everyone else on the scene, and he suffered with some dependencies throughout the band's early years.

  Flea is still a revered bassist, but he makes sure to carve out time for his kids. In The Other F Word, Flea teared up as he said, "My kids gave me life, you know."
• 

  (#6) Brett Gurewitz

  • 56

  "You might say, hey, maybe punk rock was never meant to grow up. But it did. So too bad... It's like we're in uncharted territory," Brett Gurewitz muses in the documentary The Other F Word. Before he was a father, Gurewitz and his band, Bad Religion, dabbled in the stereotypical rebel mentality of the punk scene and Gurewitz struggled with substance issues throughout the '90s.

  When he had a child, Gurewitz said his perspective changed. He told Spin:

  I definitely have a new perspective, but it’s been more of a gradual transition than a light bulb that came on at the big five-o. I look at things as a continuum. I’m not a big planner. I like to go with the flow and see what unfolds. But I will say that with the onset of senescence I’ve got a very different perspective, and one that I hadn’t anticipated. I’m enjoying my life, ya know?
• 

  (#7) Michael John Burkett

  • 52

  Fat Mike of NOFX has always been candid about both his troubled childhood and his promiscuous lifestyle as a teen and adult. He writes songs intoxicated, is open about his interest in BDSM, and has even introduced his daughter, Daria, to the punk lifestyle. And he's always planned it this way.

  "When my wife and I decided to have a kid, we made a sort of pact. Said we're not gonna change our life. We'll have a good time with the kid. We'll bring this child into our life," he said in The Other F Word. And it appears he is doing a decent job of balancing the two. He still tours and writes music after a night out, but he also takes the time to serve his daughter breakfast in bed when she is feeling extra sleepy.

  He does have some hesitation with how to explain pieces of his lifestyle choices to his daughter, though:

  Our [substance] use and our [other preferences]... it's all out there for the public to see. The two dominatrices [tattoos] on my arm? The one tied up with a ball and gag? I don't know. How do you explain that to a 4-year-old?
• 

  (#8) Lars Frederiksen

  • 47

  Lars Frederiksen has always written self-described angry music, no matter his age. When he was younger and Rancid was at its peak, they struggled with staying true to their punk roots and selling out to a larger record label, but managed to do so without losing fans. 

  Fatherhood changed some things for Frederiksen. "I get up a lot earlier now," he joked in the documentary The Other F Word. He also said he questions some of the decisions he made in his youth and how they affect his parenting, saying: 

  Sometimes you think, "Oh, shi*t. Should I have tattooed my forehead?" You know. But that lasts about two seconds. Because, to be honest, I am who I am. And hopefully I will instill in my son that you respect people based on their merit, not on the way that they look.
• 

  (#9) Art Alexakis

  • 56

  Everclear singer Art Alexakis has been candid about the lack of support he had from his father growing up, saying that it influenced both his music and his parenting tactics. 

  "I didn't have a male role model. Male role models in my life were my dad, who left, right? Didn't pay child support, didn't own up to his responsibilities," he laments in the documentary The Other F Word.  Fatherhood initially freaked Alexakis out. He said: 

  When my daughter Anna was born, she was born in the early afternoon, I remember sitting down on the couch in our apartment, and feeling this weight, this physical presence like I had never felt. It just felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I had no idea how to do this. I could barely take care of myself.

  But it seems he has a solid handle on fatherhood. He sings songs like "The Wheels on the Bus" with his daughter in the car, and he has turned into that parent that, "If a kid's running loose at an airport, I'll pick 'em up."
• 

  (#10) Jack Grisham

  • 57

  True Sounds Of Liberty, or TSOL, came up in the late '70s with the rest of the SoCal punk scene founders Black Flag and Bad Religion. The TSOL band members weren't afraid of anything, and they allegedly would rob graves and even reportedly stole all of their music equipment.

  Jack Grisham has long given up these illicit activities, but he still keeps the punk alive with his clothing choices. "I went to volunteer at the school one time, and I had no idea I was wearing a shirt that said 'F*ck the police' on it. Like I was just that clueless," he said in The Other F Word.

  His daughter, Anna, said it was embarrassing, adding, "You're in the principal's office with a shirt with profanity."
• 

  (#11) Duane Peters

  • 57

  With a nickname like "The Master of Disaster," it's a wonder U.S. Bombs's Duane Peters settled down somewhat after his punk years to become a father. The skater was one of the first to embrace punk culture, and he occasionally dips back into his anarchist past and stirs up trouble on social media.

  Peters tries to balance his punk attitude and fatherhood, saying in the documentary The Other F Word, "I don't want to be one of those guys where you're pointing the hose at the kids goin' 'Get the hell of my yard.' No way. I try to be a good dad."

  He still has moments of rebellion. For instance, he has a fake seatbelt that he buckles to set as a good example for his kids. "I'm still a rebel," he laughed.
• 

  (#12) Gerald Caiafa

  • 59

  The Misfits have never been ones to shy away from overly theatrical antics and shenanigans. The band, including singer Jerry Only, have even been taken in by authorities for the likes of grave robbing. The band is still touring with full makeup, but that doesn't mean Only hasn't made time for his kids. 

  In fact, in 2014, he was named "Dad of the Year" at his daughter's school. He threw a pizza party for the then-second-grader's class, and he has moved her around schools in order to help her with her academic success.
• 

  (#13) John Lydon

  • 63

  The Sex Pistols are synonymous with the British and New York punk movements of the late 1970s, but it is often bassist Sid Vicious who gets the majority of attention. John Lydon, AKA Johnny Rotten, also had his fair share of wild adventures. The band's short-lived reign involved loads of fights during shows, substance misuse, and destruction of their record label's office. 

  While he and his wife, Nora, never had biological children, Lydon did have stepchildren whom he cherished. He told The Guardian:

  In 2000 Nora’s teenage twin grandsons came to live with us. Their mother, Ariane, better known as Ari Up from the punk band the Slits, had been bringing them up in Kingston, Jamaica, and let them run free. They couldn’t read, write or form proper sentences. One day Ari said she couldn’t cope with them any more. I suggested they came to us because I wasn’t having them abandoned. They gave us hell, but I loved having kids around.
• 

  (#14) Tony Hajjar

  • 44

  Drummer Tony Hajjar of At The Drive In joined the band in 1996, and they were ready to fight anyone and everyone. 

  "We were these 21-year-olds when we started this band with a lot of sh*t going on in our lives," Hajjar told The Guardian. "I definitely had anger issues; people were dealing with a million things and we didn’t know how to talk."

  Hajjar now has three kids, and he says being a father is "so much bigger than rock 'n roll." He and his wife, a speech therapist, run a nonprofit called Smile for children with speech impediments.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking