Jay Bentley

Jay Bentley

Jay Dee Bentley (born on June 6, 1964 in Wichita, Kansas) is the bassist and co-founding member of the punk rock group Bad Religion. He has played with the band through its whole existence with a small break between 1982 and 1986.

Bad Religion

Jay played in the band from 1980 to 1982, until quitting before the release of the band's 2nd album, Into the Unknown, in 1983. Jay was also a onetime member of such notable L.A. groups as Wasted Youth, T.S.O.L, The Circle Jerks and Cathedral Of Tears. He later rejoined Bad Religion in 1986 while the How Could Hell Be Any Worse? line-up – adding Circle Jerks' Greg Hetson as the band's second guitarist – was reuniting to record the first three reunion albums, Suffer, No Control and Against the Grain, which are often considered their best releases. Today, Bentley has continued touring and recording with Bad Religion.

Jay Bentley grew up in the San Fernando Valley suburb of Woodland Hills,CA. As with guitarist Brett Gurewitz and lead singer Greg Graffin, Jay was also a student of El Camino Real High School.

He has appeared on every Bad Religion release, with the exceptions of Into the Unknown (1983) and the Back to the Known (1984) EP. The band's most recent studio album, New Maps of Hell, was released in 2007. As of 2008, they are currently writing a follow-up album, which is due for release in 2010.

Don't f**k with Jay Bentley

Personal life

In 2005, he and his first wife, Michaela divorced after of 13 years of marriage. He has two sons: Miles (born 1991) and Hunter (born 1993). His youngest son Hunter at 16 is currently starting his hip hop career, playing on the Vans Warped Tour in July 2010 under the rap name Bentley. Today, Jay is a resident of Vancouver, British Columbia. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In the 80s, Bentley got into heroin. He was an addict for a number of years. In the 90s, he and fellow Bad Religion member Brett Gurewitz entered drug rehabilitation. While Bentley kicked the addiction, Gurewitz struggled getting sober for a few years after.

External links

• Jay Bentley Tribute
• 2008 Interview with Jay Bentley
• Interview with Jay Bentley 2007
• Interview with Jay Bentley from the Liberty Movement Zine