One of the most common reoccurring Beastie Boys messageboard threads seems to be: "What bands would you like to see on tour with the Beastie Boys?" Responses range from the obvious to the hilarious, but rarely if ever does Henry Rollins' name pop up. This is odd since other previous opening acts like Cypress Hill and Public Enemy are almost always mentioned. You may already be aware of the fact that Rollins opened for the Beastie Boys when they toured throughout Europe and South America in 1992, and has since given the Beastie Boys nothing but praise on his spoken word albums. So it would seem to make sense that there would be some crossover Rollins Band fans lurking on Beastie Boys messageboards.

In case you are curious, the Beastie Boys/Rollins connection dates back to the early days of New York Hardcore. You may even recall seeing Adam Horovitz perform wearing a Black Flag t-shirt in the popular Japan 1994-95 bootleg video. Adam and Henry were both fans of Black Flag and in a weird twist of fate, Henry ended up as the band's singer. As the story goes, one night when his heroes Black Flag came to town, Henry leaped up on stage and began singing with them. Shortly thereafter, when Flag vocalist Dez Cadena decided to switch to guitar, the band invited Henry to audition for the position of lead singer vocalist. Shortly thereafter, he became their new frontman. Sadly, Black Flag broke up in 1986, just as the Beastie Boys were rising to international stardom. Had Black Flag not broken up, it is very possible that they may have replaced Fishbone on the Licensed to Ill tour opening alongside of Murphy's Law.

The break up of Black Flag did not end Henry's career in music. On the contrary, he began working several solo projects which all seemed to blossom into successes for him. Just to name a few, Rollins has recorded several albums with the Rollins Band, written books and poetry, performed spoken-word tours, written magazine columns for Details Magazine, acted in several movies, appeared on syndicated radio programs, and who could forget his stint on MTV as a guest VJ. With a resume that diverse, who knows what to expect in the future from the man once known as Henry Garfield.