Michael Alig

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Michael Alig (born South Bend, Indiana, April 29, 1966) was a founding member of the notorious Club Kids, a group of young clubgoers led by Alig in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1996 Alig was convicted of the murder of an on/off lover in a confrontation over a drug debt.

1 Underground club scene
2 Murder of Angel Melendez
3 Party Monster film
4 External links

[edit] Underground club scene

Alig was mentored by socialite James St. James and club owner Peter Gatien, while rising in popularity and prominence in the national underground club scene. Alig was also influential in the early promotion of DJ Keoki (whom he briefly dated). Other protegés included 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 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."

[edit] Murder of Angel Melendez

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.

Melendez was so angry at Alig that he began to strangle him. Then Freeze beat him over the head with a hammer. Alig claims that he injected Melendez with Drano, and Freeze claims that he actually poured Drano down Melendez's throat while his mouth was duct taped shut. About a week later, the body began to rot, so Alig and Freeze hatched a plan to "clean up the mess." Alig went into the bathroom with a knife, and cut off Melendez's legs. They then put the body in a cardboard box and threw it into the Hudson River. Alig "jokingly" mentioned the murder while filming a documentary, presumably to shake off rumors of the yet unproven incident. 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. Alig was eligible for parole in November 2006, but was denied. He will be up again in September 2008.

He is currently at work on an autobiography entitled Alig-ula.

[edit] Party Monster film

The events of Alig's years as a club promoter up to his arrest were portrayed 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' memoir, Disco Bloodbath.

In June 2000, David M. Lambert of the British artists collective the satori group visited Alig at Clinton Correctional Facility in New York. 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.