The Afghan Whigs

The Afghan Whigs are an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, originally active from 1986 to 2001. They have since reformed. At their peak, the group – with core members Greg Dulli (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick McCollum (lead guitar), and John Curley (bass), as well as various drummers (including Steve Earle and Michael Horrigan) – evolved into one of the leading groups of 1990s alternative rock, rising up around the grunge movement but ultimately transcending it. Evolving from a garage punk band in the vein of the Replacements, Dinosaur Jr., and Mudhoney to a literate, soul-inflected post-punk quartet, the Afghan Whigs would ultimately become one of the most critically acclaimed alternative bands of the early 1990s and one of the early pioneers from the American indie underground to exploit the support of major labels.

Called "more than just a footnote in the annals of the Nineties alternative scene" by Rolling Stone, Afghan Whigs albums like 1993’s Gentlemen would place on numerous critics’ polls as one of the greatest albums of the ‘90s. In the band’s fifteen-year career, lead singer Greg Dulli would also gain a reputation as one of the most notorious frontmen in rock, both for his provocative behavior and dark lyrical subject matter. While Dulli frequently claimed in interviews that the Afghan Whigs would never get back together following their dissolution in 2001, the group announced in 2012 that it would reunite for a series of major concerts.