Born April 3, 1962, in Stoneham, Massachusetts, singer and guitarist Mike Ness serves as frontman for the long-running punk outfit Social Distortion. He spent most of his upbringing in Orange County, California, where his parents expelled him from their home upon turning 15; the ensuing period found him cycling through jail terms while sampling various narcotics. Following the 1979 launch of Social D, his substance issues intensified, and the 1983 release of the enduring Mommy's Little Monster coincided with a self-destructive phase—documented in the 1985 film Another State of Mind—that nearly dissolved the group. Once sober, Ness reassembled Social D to issue the roots-inflected Prison Bound in 1988, then guided the band through its 1990 major-label self-titled effort, which yielded the single “Ball and Chain.” After Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell appeared in 1992, the unit entered a lengthy break before returning with White Light, White Heat, White Trash in 1996. Ness stepped out on his own in 1999 via the solo album Cheating at Solitaire, issuing the covers set Under the Influences before year’s end.
