W.A.S.P. (band)

W.A.S.P.
W.A.S.P. performing live in Stavanger, Norway, in 2006.
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Heavy metal glam metal speed metal shock rock
Years active	1982–1989, 1991–1993, 1995–present
Labels	Demolition Capitol CMC International
Associated acts	London Keel King Kobra New York Dolls Sister L.A. Guns Quiet Riot
Website	www.waspnation.com
Members	Blackie Lawless Doug Blair Mike Duda

W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 by Blackie Lawless, who is the only remaining original member of the band. They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Dokken, Ratt, Quiet Riot, Guns N' Roses, Great White, Stryper, L.A. Guns, Leatherwolf and others. The band's popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy metal bands. W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock-themed image, lyrics and live performances. They have sold over 12 million copies of their albums.

The band was a prominent target in the mid-1980s of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), an organization that pushed for warning labels on recorded music. The band immortalized its fight with the PMRC on the song "Harder, Faster" from their 1987 live album, Live...In the Raw. "I Wanna Be Somebody" was the most successful single from W.A.S.P.'s debut album and it was ranked at No. 84 in VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs of All Time. Their most recent album, Golgotha, was released in 2015.

There has been much speculation over the origin of the band's name, and whether it actually stands for anything, since it is written as an acronym. One possible interpretation is "White Anglo-Saxon Protestants", being the original meaning of the acronym. The song "Show No Mercy", the B-side of the band's first single "Animal", contains the repeated lyric, "White Anglo-Saxon / A violent reaction".