Joe Cole: The tragic murder that changed Henry Rollins’ life
Since the 1980s, Henry Rollins has been a vital figure in the hardcore punk scene. As the story goes for many punk musicians, Rollins discovered the Sex Pistols and a switch flipped. He realised that music could be used to channel anger and discontent, subsequently immersing himself in all things punk.
Rollins formed State of Alert with the remaining members of the Extorts after their frontman, Lyle Prelar, joined Minor Threat. However, the following year, Rollins, a massive fan of Black Flag, was invited by the band to become their new lead singer. His intense stage presence, often getting into fights with crowd members, made him the perfect choice. Rollins enjoyed success with Black Flag for several years until their change of musical direction led to tensions in the band and within the audience.
In 1986, Black Flag disbanded, and Rollins moved on to solo work, as well as forming the Rollins Band. Yet, just a few years later, a major tragedy would change Rollins’ life forever. It was 1991, and Rollins was living in a house with his best friend and Black Flag roadie Joe Cole in Venice Beach, California. On December 19th, the pair went to see Hole (who Cole had previously worked for as a roadie) at Whisky a Go Go. On their return home, two men accosted the pair outside, demanding they give them their money.
However, Rollins and Cole had just $50 in their pockets. Annoyed, the men, wielding guns, demanded they go into their home and retrieve more money. Rollins remembers: “The guy who was on me said, ‘If you yell or if you scream, I’m going to blow your head off.’ And I said, ‘Okay’.”
As Rollins went inside, Cole was shot in the head, dying instantly. Miraculously, Rollins managed to run out the back of his house and call the police. Although he survived the terrible ordeal, Rollins lost his best friend to a senseless act of violence, which remains unsolved. In 1996, the musician even appeared on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, hoping to uncover more information on who killed Cole.
A year after the incident, Rollins revealed to The Los Angeles Times: “I dug up all the earth where his head fell – he was shot in the face – and I’ve got all the dirt here, and so Joe Cole’s in the house. I say good morning to him every day. I got his phone, too, so I got a direct line to him. So that feels good.”
Cole’s father, the actor Dennis Cole, subsequently became an activist against violence following the death of his son. He explained: “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him. And we’ve always shared things… and it’s like I have no one to call up and say, ‘Hey Joe, guess what happened?’ And he would do the same thing with me. And it’s like a part of your heart was just taken and pulled out.”
Since his passing, Rollins has remembered his friend through various songs and spoken word pieces. Moreover, Sonic Youth dedicated two songs to Cole, ‘100%’ and ‘JC’, on their album Dirty. The band were close friends of Cole’s, and the murder also greatly affected them. Bassist Kim Gordon once shared: “When Henry called to tell me about Joe. I burst into tears. I didn’t get over it for a couple of years, to be honest.”
While the motive and suspect behind Cole’s murder remains unclear, Rollins has since revealed that he predicted that something terrible would happen to them due to the sketchy nature of the area where they lived. A few days before the incident, Rollins had written in his journal that the house was “going to get popped” after Rick Rubin visited in his Rolls Royce.
The murder of Cole was a true tragedy that deeply affected Rollins, and you only have to listen to the artist’s spoken word pieces, such as ‘The Story of Two Boys’, to understand how much Cole’s murder devastated him.
