singer-songwriter
, spoken word artist, writer
, comedian
, publisher, actor
, and radio DJ.
After performing for the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert
in 1980, Rollins fronted the California
hardcore punk
band Black Flag
from August 1981 until mid-1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins soon established the record label
and publishing company 2.13.61
to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band
, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 until 2003, and during 2006.
Since Black Flag, Rollins has embarked on projects covering a variety of media.
"It is no surprise to me that hardly anyone tells the truth about how they feel. The smart ones keep themselves to themselves for good reason. Why would you want to tell anyone anything that's dear to you? Even when you like them and want nothing more than to be closer than close to them? It's so painful to be next to someone you feel strongly about and know you can't say the things you want to."
"I must tell you that I was always afraid of the fury with which I loved you. It overwhelmed me. I thought it beyond comprehension, therefore my silence."
"I will never say the things that I want to say to you. I know the damage it would do. I love you more than I hate my loneliness and pain."
"They say true love only comes around once and you have to hold out and be strong until then. I have been waiting. I have been searching. I am a man under the moon, walking the streets of earth until dawn. There's got to be someone for me. It's not too much to ask. Just someone to be with. Someone to love. Someone to give everything to. Someone."
"Thank you for touching me. Some of the only moments worth living were spent with you. Not you especially, the collective you."
"If I was a woman these days, I'd be killing motherfuckers. My handgun would never cool and my hands would be covered in testicular blood. I would have a horrible reputation with a lot of men because I would be calling them on their weak bullshit left and right."
"Basically, men are afraid of women and can't handle the fact that they came out of the same thing they spend the rest of their lives trying to get back into."
"If I was gay, there would be no closet, you would never see the closet I came out of. Why? I would have burned it for kindling by the time I was 12. Because I know with all certainty in my mind, there is nothing wrong with being gay, and you know it."
"You always know the mark of a coward. A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of freedom and defends it for others."
"Don't hide behind the Constitution or the Bible. If you're against gay marriage, just be honest, put a scarlet 'H' on your shirt, and say, 'I am a homophobe!'"