Greg Ginn  Gregory Regis "Greg" Ginn (born June 8, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer, best known for being the leader of and primary songwriter for the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976–86, and again in 2003. The band announced another reunion on January 25, 2013. He was born in Tucson, Arizona. Since breaking up Black Flag, Ginn has recorded a few solo albums, and has performed with such bands as October Faction, Gone, Confront James, Mojack, and others. He also owns the Texas-based independent record label, SST, originally begun as an electronics company called Solid State Tuners when he was 12 years old and an amateur radio operator (in Hermosa Beach, California). Ginn was 99th on "Rolling Stone"'s list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Ginn is the older brother of artist Raymond Ginn, who goes by the pseudonym of Raymond Pettibon. Ginn became a vegetarian at 17 years old in 1971 and has been a vegan since 1998. Many artists have cited Ginn as an influence or have expressed their admiration for him, including Buzz Osborne of Melvins, Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, William DuVall of Alice in Chains, Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Kurt Ballou of Converge, Justin Sane of Anti-Flag, RM Hubbert, Bill Kelliher of Mastodon, Zach Blair of Rise Against, Weasel Walter, Andrew Williams of Every Time I Die, Laurent Barnard of Gallows, and Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos. Black Flag is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag briefly reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. Black Flag's sound mixed the raw simplicity of the Ramones with atonal guitar solos and frequent tempo shifts. The lyrics were written mostly by Ginn, and like other punk rock bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Black Flag voiced an anti-authoritarian and non-conformist message, in songs punctuated with descriptions of social isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia. These themes were explored further when Henry Rollins joined the band as lead singer in 1981.