Late New Hampshire native Kevin Michael Allin, better known as GG Allin, would have turned 55 on Monday, Aug. 29. The notoriously outrageous punk rock icon was born in Lancaster, grew up in Vermont, and is buried in Littleton.

A singer, guitarist and drummer, Allin performed in several bands over the course of his career, most notably as front man of GG Allin and the Murder Junkies, which also featured his bassist brother Merle. He wrote hardcore punk and country songs, as well as spoken word performances.

Even more than his music, Allin is remembered for his wild stage antics. He typically played naked and often defecated onstage, sometimes flinging his waste into the audience. He also mutilated himself onstage, performed live sex acts, and frequently assaulted audience members. Sid Vicious seems tame by comparison.

Allin’s tours were often cut short by arrests or hospitalizations. He spent time  in prison for raping and torturing a woman, allegedly cutting her and drinking her blood (he claimed it was all consensual and that she did the same to him).

Allin died of a heroin overdose in 1993 at age 36. Fans have made an annual tradition of desecrating his grave on the anniversary of his death, a strange but fitting tribute to a man who made a career out of choking down society’s chronic anger and violence and belching it back out on stages across the nation.  

A healthy sampling of Allin’s life is on display in the 1994 documentary “Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies,” directed by Todd Phillips (who has gone on to direct such comedies as “Old School” and “The Hangover”). But I wouldn’t recommend watching it unless you fancy seeing Allin brawl naked with fans, consume a banana from the wrong end, guzzle fresh urine, and engage in other unsanitary behaviors.

The Murder Junkies, helmed by Merle Allin, are still occasionally active today and released a new CD, “Road Killer,” earlier this year.