Brett W. Gurewitz (born May 12, 1962),
nicknamed Mr. Brett, is the guitarist and a songwriter of Bad
Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph
Records (which has handled many Bad Religion releases) and sister-labels ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Fat Possum Records, and Hellcat
Records. He
has produced albums for Bad Religion as well as Epitaph Records labelmates NOFX, Rancid,
and Pennywise, among others. Gurewitz also had a
project called Error, which also featured Atticus
Ross, Leopold Ross, and Greg
Puciato.
Gurewitz joined Bad Religion in 1979 at the age of 17, when he, Greg
Graffin, Jay Bentley and Jay
Ziskrout agreed to form a band. After releasing two albums and one EP,
Gurewitz left Bad Religion in 1983, but rejoined three years later when the How Could Hell Be Any Worse?
line-up (adding guitarist Greg Hetson as the second guitarist) was reuniting, and
recorded five more albums with the band before they signed to Atlantic
Records in 1993.
Their Atlantic debut, Stranger Than Fiction
(1994), was a breakthrough success, scoring their biggest hits "21st Century (Digital Boy)" and
"Infected". However, he was overwhelmed by
Epitaph's new popularity (including the unexpected success of the label's
then-current acts The Offspring and Rancid)
and decided to quit Bad Religion once again in 1994. Gurewitz continued working
at Epitaph after his departure from Bad Religion, and released the "Hate You"
single in 1996 with his one-off project Daredevils. During that time, he entered a period
of drug addiction.
By 1999, Gurewitz had successfully completed drug rehabilitation and reconciled with Graffin
to co-write a song "Believe It", which appears on Bad Religion's 2000
album The New America. He eventually rejoined the
band in 2001 to write and record the album The Process of Belief (2002). He remains
with the band today, but only occasionally joins them live, such as when they
are performing near his hometown or for televised appearances. Bad Religion has
since released three more albums: The Empire Strikes First (2004), New
Maps of Hell (2007) and The Dissent of Man (2010).