Early life

He is the older brother of Powerman 5000 vocalist Spider One (Michael Cummings).From a young age Zombie and his younger brother, Michael, immersed themselves in a heavy mixture of classic monsters, pro-wrestling, EC Comics, 1960s counter-culture, gore movies and the weirder, more esoteric corners of the American artistic map. Both became interested in design, but Michael dropped out of art school to pursue an interest in music. Rob, however, moved to New York to pursue a career in publishing at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.

Formation of White Zombie

Major label years

Solo artist

Video director

As befits his strong grasp of graphics and visuals, Rob Zombie took immediate control of White Zombie’s videos. Again, he re-enforced the cartoon spookiness and psychotropic horror imagery of the band, starting with the desert-set "Thunder Kiss '65". Featuring Day of the Dead-style devils, Frankenstein’s monster and Go-Go dancers, it became an instant cult classic. Zombie did not direct the follow-up promo for La Sexorcisto’s "Black Sunshine", but since then has directed every video for his songs. All have referenced his interests and influence – from the 60’s sci-fi of "More Human Than Human" to the Dr Caligari stylings of "Living Dead Girl" and the obvious A Clockwork Orange homage of "Never Gonna Stop". In this time Sheri Moon has become the female face of Rob Zombie’s work, appearing in a total of 15 of his promos.

Movie director

Comic writer

Increasingly, Rob has placed his musical career on hiatus and concentrated not simply on movies, but extending the HOTC franchise. His first big project was to launch a spin-off comic through Crossgen Comics, entitled Spookshow International. A horror anthology set in the HOTC continuity and written solely by Zombie, the stories initially concentrated on the further adventures of the Firefly family. As the title has progressed, Zombie has moved away from this core conceit. By issue 7, the main storyline centred around masked Mexican wrestler El Superbeasto and his regularly naked one-eyed super-spy sister Suzi X. There has also been a toy range, released through NECA toys.

Radio DJ

Rob Zombie was one of a number of celebrity DJs on Los Angeles radio station Indie 103.1. His show, called Spookshow International and hosted by himself and Sheri Zombie, aired Mondays from 7pm-9pm, and featured a surprisingly eclectic mix of music.

Horror film references

Rob Zombie uses many samples from horror movies in his music. These include:

Studio albums

1. August 25, 1998 Hellbilly Deluxe (Zombie, Riggs, Blasko, Tempesta) #5 US (3x Platinum), #2 Canada
2. November 13, 2001 The Sinister Urge (Zombie, Riggs, Blasko, Tempesta) #8 US (Platinum)
3. March 28, 2006 Educated Horses (Zombie, 5, Blasko, Clufetos) #5 US

Other albums

• American Made Music to Strip By (1999, compilation, includes re-mixes) #38 US
• House of 1000 Corpses (2003, soundtrack)
• Past, Present & Future (2003, compilation) #11 US (Gold)
• The Devil's Rejects (2005, soundtrack)
• 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection: The Best of Rob Zombie (2006, compilation)

1. ^ Rob Zombie's year of birth is sometimes stated as 1966, but he gave his age as 41 during a May 2006]] Howard Stern appearance.[1]
2. ^ Steve Newton, "The Devil's Music", Straight, 3 August 2006.