GG Allin - Early Life

Early Life

Allin was born Jesus Christ Allin at Weeks Memorial Hospital in Lancaster, New Hampshire, the younger of two sons to Merle Colby Allin, Sr. and Arleta Gunther. He was given this name because his father told his wife that Jesus Christ himself had visited him, and told him that his newborn son would be a great man in the vein of the Messiah.

His older brother, Merle Colby Allin, Jr., was unable to pronounce "Jesus" properly and called him "Jeje", which became "GG". The family lived in a log cabin with no running water or electricity in northern New Hampshire. Allin's father, who forbade all conversation in the home after dark, was an unstable and antisocial man, though GG himself never publicly stated that this caused any of his later personal troubles.

In 1961, Arleta filed for divorce from Merle Sr., as his mental instability was worsening. GG Allin and his brother were from that time raised by their mother and stepfather, and settled in East St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1966. Arleta changed her younger son's legal name to Kevin Michael Allin on March 2, 1962 during his first year of schooling. Arleta had allowed his birth name to stand until this point, and finally changed it to give her son a chance of a mockery-free childhood.

Allin was a poor student at school, being placed in special education classes and having to repeat the third grade. According to his older brother, he experienced bullying by fellow students due to not fitting in. In his sophomore year of high school, he began attending school cross-dressed, which he said was inspired by the New York Dolls. When asked about his childhood, Allin said that it was "very chaotic. Full of chances and dangers. We sold drugs, stole, broke into houses, cars. Did whatever we wanted to for the most part - including all the bands we played in. People even hated us back then."