User:Gleb95/List of Ministry band members

Ministry is an American industrial metal band, founded in 1981 by Al Jourgensen in Chicago, Illinois. Following its inception, the band has gone through multiple lineup changes, with Jourgensen remaining the only constant as the band's main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist.

The band's first lineup was assembled in November 1981, and comprised vocalist and guitarist Jourgensen, keyboardists John Davis and Robert Roberts, bassist Marty Sorenson (formerly of Special Affect, Jourgensen's previous band), and drummer/percussionist Stephen “Stevo” George. Initially, Jourgensen didn't want to perform vocals, but embarked on after he had auditioned twelve singers “who all sucked;” also Jourgensen's friend Paul Taylor was invited to play keyboards, but he got sick and proposed to approach Roberts instead. With the aforementioned line-up, the band had recorded their debut single, “I’m Falling / Cold Life,” and made their live debut on December 31, 1981 in a Chicago-based club Misfits; during mid-1982, Ministry had toured through the East Coast and Mid-West.

In May 1983, Ministry's debut studio album, With Sympathy, was released by Arista Records. The album featured a sheer number of contributors beside the core line-up, including bassists and Brad Hallen; however, only Jourgensen and George were credited as the band's members and later referenced to as such in several publications.