American Crow

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Joe Poole's musical career began in 1992 when he played guitar in his first band Mizery, later renamed Psycho Opera. Soon after, he became vocalist for Maniac Spider Trash, fronting the band from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, he formed Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 with Doug McCollum and Robby McGalliard. With the release of the band's first album, The Late Late Late Show, the members revealed their new stage names—Wednesday 13, Sicko Zero, and Seaweed. As a 3-piece band, Wednesday 13 handled song writing, vocals, and guitar work. By 2002, Wednesday 13 had four studio albums and a number of singles under his belt, including contributions to tribute albums for Alice Cooper and Sweet. Because Wednesday 13 had written and produced every album by Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13, he caught the attention of Joey Jordison from Slipknot. Jordison contacted Wednesday 13 about joining Murderdolls in 2002.

In Their Own Story

In February 2010, while on a solo tour in Australia, Poole told Drum Media, 'We're possibly going to do another Wednesday record, record it in the summer and have it out around Halloween. We're in talks right now to do another Murderdolls album. So right now I don't know which of the two is going to happen, of course if Murderdolls is possible then we have to do that, it's gotta be the number one priority.' In March 2010, Jordison told Kerrang! magazine that Murderdolls had reunited to work with producer Chris Harris. Jordison said, 'It's been an ongoing conversation between Wednesday and I from 2006 until now. We were bored with everything out there, and thought we had something to piss people off and shake things up.' Murderdolls released their second album, Women and Children Last, on August 31, 2010. In March 2013, Wednesday 13 announced in an interview that the Murderdolls had split up for good in 2011.

Reader's Guide

Wednesday 13's solo career began after the Murderdolls went on hiatus in 2004. He went on a solo tour of the United Kingdom in March, called the Graveyard A Go-Go tour. He returned to North Carolina in June 2004 and began to put together a more permanent band to perform under the Wednesday 13 name. In 2005, after touring, he released his first solo album Transylvania 90210, and made a music video for the track 'I Walked with a Zombie', depicting the band members in footage from the original Night of the Living Dead horror movie. He left Roadrunner Records before signing a new deal with Rykodisc, with whom he released Fang Bang on September 12, 2006. Skeletons was released in the US on April 29, 2008, available exclusively through Hot Topic locations. On November 14, 2008, he released his first live album, Fuck It, We'll Do It Live. His seventh album, Condolences, was released on June 2, 2017, after signing with Nuclear Blast. This was followed by Necrophaze on September 27, 2019. On 7 October 2022, he released his ninth studio album, Horifier, after signing with Napalm Records. In 2025, Wednesday 13 embarked on the No Such Thing as Monsters tour across the US, and announced a tenth studio album: Mid Death Crisis. This album was fully released on the 25th April 2025 continuing with the Napalm Records label.

Did You Know?

• Joseph Michael Poole was born on August 12, 1976.
• His first band was called Mizery, later renamed Psycho Opera, formed in 1992.
• The Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 released their first album, The Late Late Late Show, after members adopted stage names Wednesday 13, Sicko Zero, and Seaweed.
• Murderdolls' album Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls reached No. 40 on the UK album chart.
• Wednesday 13's first solo album, Transylvania 90210, was released in 2005.