Biography of the Day - Michael Alig

Michael Alig born in South Bend, Indiana on April 29, 1966 was a founding member of the notorious Club Kids, a group of young clubgoers led by Alig and James St. James in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Alig learned from mentors, including James St. James, while rising in popularity and prominence in the national underground club scene. Alig was also influential in the early promotion of DJ Keoki, Jennytalia, Freeze, Richie Rich, and many other Club Kid personalities. The Club Kids' outrageousness resulted in their appearing on the news and the television talk show circuit.

Alig's most notorious parties were held at The Limelight, owned by Peter Gatien and designed by Ari Bahat. The Limelight was closed by the police, but subsequently reopened several times during the 1990s. In September 2003, it reopened under the name "Avalon."

Increasingly affected by substance abuse, Alig and his friend Robert "Freeze" Riggs murdered "Angel" Melendez over a long-standing drug debt. A chronology of the murder follows.

Angel was so angry at Alig that he began to strangle him. Then Freeze beat Angel over the head with a hammer. The rest of Angel's murder is debated, because Alig claims that Angel was injected with Drano, and Freeze claims that it was the act of pouring Drano down Angel's throat while his mouth was duct taped shut. About a week later, the smell of the body was becoming a bit apparent, so Alig and Freeze hatched a plan to "clean up the mess." Alig went into the bathroom with a knife, and proceeded to cut off Angel's legs. They then put the body in a cardboard box and threw it into the Hudson River. Alig bragged about the murder while filming a documentary. The media presumed it was a publicity stunt until Melendez's body washed ashore. In December, 1996, Alig was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for Melendez's murder. He is currently at work on an autobiography entitled Alig-ula.

The events of Alig's years as a club promoter up to his arrest were examined in the 1998 documentary Party Monster, and recreated in a 2003 film of the same name starring Macaulay Culkin as Alig and Seth Green as St. James. The events are also covered in St. James's memoir, Disco Bloodbath.

In June 2000, David M. Lambert of the British artists collective the satori group visited Alig at Clinton Correctional Facility, NY. He made recordings that were used in the creation of 'a terrible beauty featuring Michael Alig', a nine track music CD using samples from the documentary Party Monster, original lyrics and Alig's vocals, among other content.

Alig was eligible for parole in November 2006, but was denied. He will be up again in September 2008.

Thank you Frank for the submission.