Danzig consists of Glenn Danzig (vocals), Joey Castillo (drums), Josh Lazie (bass).
Danzig is an American band which fuses dark lyrics and imagery with Hard rock/ heavy metal music. The band serves as a musical outlet for singer/composer, Glenn Danzig. It can be seen as the third stage in Glenn Danzig's musical career, preceded by the Horror punk band The Misfits, and the Deathrock band, Samhain.
On July 14th, 1986, Samhain performed what was to be their final show, at The Ritz in New York City. In attendance was Rick Rubin, who was scouting for potential bands to sign to his record label, Def Jam. Upon viewing Samhain's performance, Rubin was impressed with Glenn Danzig's powerful stage persona and vocal abilities. He approached him after the show and propositioned him. At first, he wished only to sign Danzig, with the intent of making him the vocalist for a heavy metal supergroup that Rubin envisioned. However, Danzig refused to sign to Rubin's label without Samhain's bassist, Eerie Von, who Glenn had become great friends with. Rubin agreed to sign Samhain, and he began making suggestions for the new direction he felt the band should be taken in. Rubin felt the music should be stripped down, and that Glenn's vocal talents should become the focal point for the band.
In 1987, the band evolved into a solid heavy metal act, with the addition of John Christ on guitar and Chuck Biscuits (ex- Black Flag) on drums. In order to avoid a potential lawsuit over royalties from past Samhain members, and also due to the change in musical direction, Glenn decided to change the name of the band to Danzig.
1988 saw the release of Danzig's first album, simply titled " Danzig". The album featured a polished production by Rick Rubin, with heavy, blues based guitar riffs, and Glenn's powerful and melodic vocal performance, a harsh contrast to the gritty, raw sounding production of Samhain's albums. The album was released to lukewarm reviews, but is now considered by many heavy metal publications to be among the best hard rock albums of all time.