Black Flag

Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was founded as Panic by guitarist Greg Ginn, and singer Keith Morris. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of the pioneers of post-hardcore. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013, however due to a legal dispute two versions of Black Flag were formed, one under the Black Flag name featuring Ginn and a revolving door of touring musicians and the other, FLAG, featuring Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson among other ex-Black Flag members. This resulted in a highly public lawsuit between Ginn and FLAG, ultimately ending with both versions to exist and tour. The second Black Flag reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in nearly three decades, What The... (2013). Ginn announced Black Flag's third reunion in January 2019.

Black Flag's sound mixed the raw simplicity of the Ramones with a style of atonal guitar soloing compared to that of the New York Dolls' lead guitarist Johnny Thunders, and, in later years, frequent tempo shifts. The lyrics were written mostly by Ginn, and like other punk bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Black Flag voiced an anti-authoritarian and nonconformist message, in songs punctuated with descriptions of social isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia. These themes were explored further when Henry Rollins joined the band as lead singer in 1981. Most of the band's material was released on Ginn's independent record label SST Records.

Over the course of the 1980s, Black Flag's sound, as well as their notoriety, evolved. In addition to being central to the creation of hardcore punk, they were innovators in the first wave of American West Coast punk rock and are considered a key influence on punk subculture in the United States and abroad. Along with being among the earliest punk rock groups to incorporate elements and the influence of heavy metal melodies and rhythm, there were often overt free jazz and contemporary classical elements in their sound, especially in Ginn's guitar playing, and the band interspersed records and performances with instrumentals throughout their career. They also played longer, slower, and more complex songs at a time when other bands in their milieu performed a raw, fast, three-chord format.