Henry Rollins' World: From Punk And Poetry To Movies And Madonna

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Henry Rollins in a spoken-word performance, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Moore Theatre; $15, 628-0888. -----------------------------------------------------------------

You can't ignore Henry Rollins.

For one thing, he's a big, imposing muscleman covered with scary-looking tattoos. He wears a buzz cut and a permanent scowl. He's the kind of guy you wouldn't want to mess with.

And he's all over the place. Not only does he have a thriving spoken-word career - he's probably the biggest name in the field - he's also lead singer of the Rollins Band, is developing into a credible film actor, runs several record companies, appears in TV and print ads, and owns a successful publishing house.

And he recently has been dating Madonna, which means the tabloids will soon be writing about him. Rollins is obviously smitten with the Material Girl, recently referring to her as "a modern-day Joan of Arc."

Like Madonna, Rollins is a fascinating figure, full of talent, drive and intelligence. If you've never experienced one of his spoken-word performances, he's also apt to surprise you.

While Rollins the punk rocker is known for his intense performances, which rage with anger and violence - sometimes including Rollins physically attacking hecklers who goad him too much - Rollins the spoken-word performer is surprisingly sensitive, and often very funny. He short-circuits your perception of him as a tough guy with moving displays of compassion, insight, self-awareness and psychic pain, as well as humor.

Rollins sometimes reads from his own works, including his fascinating memoir of life as a young punk rock singer in the 1980s, "Get In the Van: On the Road with Black Flag." But most often he just talks, telling long, detailed stories with funny and surprising twists and turns, offering his opinions on rock music (his put-downs of U2 are a riot), AIDS, sex, his own image and other subjects, and occasionally making up a poem. When he headlined MTV's spoken-word "Unplugged" broadcast, for instance, he offered a clever instant poem making fun of MTV, and of himself.

For a long time, Rollins was ignored by MTV and most other major media. But after Nirvana broke and punk became mainstream, MTV started playing the video for the Rollins Band's blistering "Liar." The band's live performance of the song, with Rollins in a tux and barefoot, was one of the highlights of last year's Grammy broadcast.

Rollins made his movie debut playing a cop in "The Chase" with Charlie Sheen. He also was in "Johnny Mnemonic" and currently can be seen in "Heat." His strong screen presence suggests he may star in his own film someday.

With Rick Rubin, he owns a re-issue label called Infinite Zero that has re-released albums by Devo, James Chance, Tom Verlaine, Gang of Four and others. Rollins' own 2.13CD label releases jazz, rock and spoken word titles. He won a Grammy for his audio recording of "Get In the Van."

His 2.13.61 Publications, named for his birthdate, has published several books of edgy prose and poetry, and a coffee table Led Zeppelin photo book.

And Rollins is seen in ads for the Gap and the Macintosh Powerbook computer.

Despite his long, successful pop-culture career, he still seems on the verge of something big. You're going to be hearing a lot more about Henry Rollins.