Henry Rollins and Charles Manson were pen pals

Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins has revealed that he exchanged letters with the serial killer Charles Manson.

Rollins told NME.COM that the pair wrote to each other a few times in the '80s after Manson took a shining to Rollins after seeing him on MTV.

Rollins explained the strange pen pal team up, saying: "He wrote me a letter out of the blue once and he said, 'I saw you on MTV and I thought you were pretty cool'.

"So we corresponded a few times in 1984; I'd just tell him about what we were doing with our new record and he'd send back semi-lucid responses.

"He made references to The Beach Boys stealing his ideas, which sounded like sour grapes, and told me to tell everybody else to take care of wildlife. That must have been the old hippy in him talking."

Rollins outlined that he was very young when he started corresponding with Manson - who was sentenced to life in 1971 for the infamous Manson Family Murders which took place two years earlier.

"At the time I was very young and having him write me letters made me feel very intense and heavy," he said. "I'd always know I'd have a letter in my PO Box from him because the woman behind the counter at the post office would give you this awful look.

"His letters would always have swastikas on them so they were easy to spot."

Henry Rollins tickets:

• Jan 13, 2010 20:00 at O2 Academy Glasgow, Glasgow - Buy from Seetickets
• Jan 16, 2010 19:00 at The Lowry, Salford Quays - Buy from Seetickets
• Jan 18, 2010 19:30 at Norwich U.e.a., Norwich - Buy from Seetickets

More Henry Rollins tickets