Fearless Vampire Killers: The Bad Brains Photographs

This collection includes Glen E. Friedman’s most iconic images of Bad Brains, as well as many never-before-seen photographs and endsheet art by Shepard Fairey

FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS uniquely features almost every single Glen E. Friedman photograph of the Bad Brains, considered by many music fans to be the greatest and most influential American punk rock band of all time. The photographs are from 1981 and 1982, when the band was at its most fiery musical heights. The book also includes an introduction by Friedman, a preface by HR (singer of Bad Brains), and an afterword by Zack de la Rocha (singer of Rage Against the Machine).

Some of these photographs will be recognized as iconic shots that have graced album, book, and magazine covers, while most of them have never been seen before. In his introduction to the volume, Friedman writes, “They were outsiders in the scenes they infiltrated and soon thereafter influenced . . . The Bad Brains were all Black! They showed other punk musicians that in fact you could be an incredible musician and be PUNK at the same time.”

Indeed, many bands beyond the realm of punk cite the Bad Brains as a seminal influence, including Beastie Boys, Living Colour, Jane’s Addiction, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name just a few. The artistry of Friedman’s Bad Brains photographs is unparalleled, and music lovers the world over will feast on Fearless Vampire Killers.

Hardcover. 128 pages.

About the Author

Glen E. Friedman, one of the most important photographers of his generation, is known for his influential and iconic images of rebellious artists from classic skateboarding, punk, and hip-hop cultures. As a true artist his process was much more incendiary than it was documentary. Friedman, first published at the age of fourteen, has produced over one hundred record covers, countless magazine pages, and almost a dozen books, including What I See: The Black Flag Photographs, Keep Your Eyes Open, DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys, The Idealist, Recognize, My Rules, and Together Forever: The Run-DMC and Beastie Boys Photographs. His work is now included in a number of notable international collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution. His latest work is Just a Minor Threat.