W.A.S.P.

W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982. The band is considered to be an integral part of the early Sunset Strip scene of hard rock and glam metal, and they became recognized for their shock rock-themed image, lyrics and live performances. The band has sold over 12 million records worldwide, with their first two full-length studio albums, W.A.S.P. (1984) and The Last Command (1985), being certified as gold by the RIAA.

W.A.S.P. was a target in the mid-1980s by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), an organization that pushed for warning labels on recorded music. The band immortalized its fight with the PMRC on the song "Harder, Faster" from their 1987 live album, Live... in the Raw. Their most popular songs include "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)", "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Wild Child", "Blind in Texas", "Forever Free", "The Headless Children", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)" and "The Idol", as well as their cover versions of Ray Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor" and The Who's "The Real Me". The band's most recent studio album, Golgotha, was released in 2015 and they are currently working on new material.

In 2020, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included W.A.S.P. in his list of "the 20 greatest hair metal bands of all time".