W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot 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 led by Tipper Gore, wife of then-Senator Al... Gore , 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, LiveIn the Raw. "I Wanna Be Somebody" is the most notorious single from W.A.S.P.'s debut album W.A.S.P. and It was ranked at #84 in VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs of All Time. In October 2007, W.A.S.P. embarked on The Crimson Idol Tour, to celebrate that album's 15th anniversary. It is the first time that the album, often regarded to be among the band's finest work, was performed in full from start to finish.
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| Career began: | 1982 |
| Members: | Lita Ford, Frankie Banali, Johnny Rod, Rik Fox, Steve Riley, Chris Holmes, Randy Piper, Tony Richards, Stet Howland, Darrell Roberts, Doug Blair, Bob Kulick, Steven Duren, Mike Dupke, Mike Duda |
| Hometown: | Los Angeles |
| Also known as: | Wasp, W.A.S.P, We Are Sex Perverts |