Buzz Osborne | |
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Buzz Osborne performing with Melvins in 2006
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Background information | |
Birth name | Roger Osborne |
Also known as | King Buzzo |
Born | March 25, 1964 |
Origin | Montesano, Washington, United States |
Genres | Sludge metal, experimental rock, doom metal, noise rock, hardcore punk, avant-garde, alternative metal |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, producer |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums |
Years active | 1983–present |
Labels | Alchemy, Alternative Tentacles, Amphetamine Reptile, Boner, C/Z, Hydrahead, Ipecac, Man's Ruin, Slap-a-Ham, Sympathy for the Record Industry |
Associated acts | Melvins, Fantômas, Venomous Concept, Fecal Matter, Zu |
Notable instruments | |
Gibson Les Paul Custom Electrical Guitar Company Aluminum Guitar |
Roger "Buzz" Osborne, also known as King Buzzo (born March 25, 1964), is the American guitarist/vocalist/songwriter and technically the only remaining founding member of the Melvins (drummer Dale Crover is often regarded as a founding member, but he joined after the band was formed, though before they had yet recorded an album). He's also collaborated with various other artists such as Cows and Tool. Osborne is additionally a founding member/guitarist for both the groups Fantômas and Venomous Concept. He was a high school friend of Kurt Cobain and the bassist for Cobain's first band, Fecal Matter. In 2017 he played as part of Crystal Fairy with Terri Gender Bender, Dale Crover and Omar Rodrigez Lopez.
Osborne first started listening to the music of Aerosmith and Ted Nugent around the age of 12, then became greatly interested in punk rock in a few years' time. In the early 1980s Osborne founded the Melvins with Matt Lukin and Mike Dillard who all attended Montesano High School (Wheeler Building) in Montesano, Washington, where he graduated in 1982. In the beginning the Melvins played The Who and Jimi Hendrix covers but began playing fast hardcore punk after Osborne was introduced to bands such as Black Flag, Flipper, and Millions of Dead Cops by a friend from out of state. When Dillard left the band in 1984, Dale Crover was recruited out of an Iron Maiden-cover band, and the band's rehearsals moved to a back room of Crover's parents house in Aberdeen, Washington. They began to play slower and "heavier" songs.