page_title: Ministry (band)
hierarchical_section_title: Ministry (band)
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Concert du groupe américain Ministry au Hellfest 2017, Clisson, Loire-Atlantique. English: Ministry show at 2017 Hellfest, France.
context_page_description: Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1981 by producer, singer and instrumentalist Al Jourgensen. Originally a synth-pop outfit, Ministry evolved into one of the pioneers of industrial metal in the late 1980s. The band's lineup has changed frequently, leaving Jourgensen as the sole original member left in Ministry. Musicians who have contributed to the band's studio or live activities include vocalists Nivek Ogre, Chris Connelly, Gibby Haynes and Burton C. Bell, guitarists Mike Scaccia and Tommy Victor, bassists Paul Barker, Paul Raven, Jason Christopher, Tony Campos and Paul D'Amour, drummers Bill Rieflin, Martin Atkins, Rey Washam and Roy Mayorga, keyboardist John Bechdel, and rappers and producers DJ Swamp and Arabian Prince.
  Ministry attained commercial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with three of their studio albums: The Land of Rape and Honey, The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste and Psalm 69. The first two were certified gold while Psalm 69 was certified platinum by the RIAA.
context_section_description: Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1981 by producer, singer and instrumentalist Al Jourgensen. Originally a synth-pop outfit, Ministry evolved into one of the pioneers of industrial metal in the late 1980s. The band's lineup has changed frequently, leaving Jourgensen as the sole original member left in Ministry. Musicians who have contributed to the band's studio or live activities include vocalists Nivek Ogre, Chris Connelly, Gibby Haynes and Burton C. Bell, guitarists Mike Scaccia and Tommy Victor, bassists Paul Barker, Paul Raven, Jason Christopher, Tony Campos and Paul D'Amour, drummers Bill Rieflin, Martin Atkins, Rey Washam and Roy Mayorga, keyboardist John Bechdel, and rappers and producers DJ Swamp and Arabian Prince.
  Ministry attained commercial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with three of their studio albums: The Land of Rape and Honey (1988), The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989) and Psalm 69 (1992). The first two were certified gold while Psalm 69 was certified platinum by the RIAA. The 1996 follow-up album, Filth Pig, which was a stylistic departure for the band, earned Ministry its highest chart position on the Billboard 200 at number nineteen, although it was met with mixed reception by critics and less commercial success. The band's success dwindled sharply after Filth Pig, and the band was dropped from Warner Bros. after the release of the follow-up album Dark Side of the Spoon (1999).
  Following Paul Barker's departure after Animositisomina in 2004, Ministry returned to their thrash/industrial style of Psalm 69 and released three albums critical of then-President of the United States, George W. Bush, dubbed the "Bush Trilogy": Houses of the Molé (2004) , Rio Grande Blood (2006) and The Last Sucker (2007). Although The Last Sucker was initially intended to be the band's final album, Ministry reformed in 2011 and released Relapse in the following year. On December 23, 2012, longtime guitar contributor Mike Scaccia died of a heart attack, and he was posthumously featured in the next Ministry album, From Beer to Eternity, which was again supposed to be their last album, as Jourgensen thought his death was the end of the band. Despite this, Ministry released another album, AmeriKKKant, in 2018, and they are currently in the process of making a follow-up record.
  The band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards and has performed at several music festivals, including the second annual Lollapalooza tour in 1992, co-headlining Big Day Out in 1995 and performing at Wacken Open Air thrice (in 2006, 2012 and 2016).
caption: Ministry at Hellfest in 2017. From left to right: Al Jourgensen, Jason Christopher and Cesar Soto. Keyboardist John Bechdel is in the background.
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