Sons of Anarchy had various celebrity guests and cameos, but the most notable ones are those from musicians, especially as some of them had bigger roles than other celebrities – and here’s every one of them. Created by Kurt Sutter, Sons of Anarchy premiered on FX in 2008 and lived on for a total of seven seasons, coming to an end in 2014. The series was very well received throughout its whole run, with critics and viewers praising its story, themes, and the performances of the main cast, particularly that of Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller-Morrow, the matriarch of the club.
Sons of Anarchy tells the story of Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam), VP of the motorcycle club Sons of Anarchy in the town of Charming, California. The events of the series begin when Jax finds a manifesto written by his late father, John Teller, one of the founding members of the MC, and in which he shared his plans and vision for the club. These were very different from those of the current President (and Jax’s stepfather), Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman), prompting Jax to go on a personal journey that makes him question his path, role in the club, relationships, family, and more. Over the course of seven seasons, Sons of Anarchy introduced a variety of characters – from allies to enemies and even family members –, most of them played by well-known actors and even authors (as is the case of Stephen King’s cameo appearance) and musicians.
In fact, Sons of Anarchy counted on the presence of four musicians throughout its run, who played characters with different intentions and backgrounds and who impacted the title club in different ways. First was Henry Rollins, who joined Sons of Anarchy in season 2 as AJ Weston, one of the antagonists of the season. Weston was a high-ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist prison gang and crime syndicate involved in drug trafficking, murder for hire, inmate prostitution, and more. Weston was the right-hand man of Ethan Zobelle, the leader of the League of American Nationalists, and was a very violent man. Weston and company tried to threaten Clay and the club to no success, and so they kidnapped and raped Gemma. SAMCRO ultimately managed to get rid of Weston and Zobelle, with Jax killing Weston in a bathroom.
Next was Dave Navarro in Sons of Anarchy season 5, who appeared in a total of four episodes across seasons 5 and 6. Navarro played Arcadio Nerona, the cousin of Nero Padilla, and his biggest role in the series happened when his girlfriend’s son, Matthew Jennings, was responsible for his school’s shooting by using one of SAMCRO’s weapons. Arcadio was killed by Nero when he betrayed him and tried to escape with his girlfriend. The next musician to join Sons of Anarchy was Courtney Love, who arrived in Charming in season 7. Love’s role in the series was even smaller than the ones of Rollins and Navarro, as she played Abel Teller’s preschool teacher Ms. Harrison, and only appeared in four episodes. Ms. Harrison was the one who found out Abel was hurting himself and called child services.
Last but not least, Marilyn Manson appeared in Sons of Anarchy season 7, and unlike Love, he had a more prominent role in the story. Manson played Ron Tully, the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood in the Stockton area. Tully pretty much ruled the prison, as most guards were on his payroll, and he and Jax became allies when Jax beat an AB rat and brought two of his teeth to Tully, who then helped him get rid of Juice (Theo Rossi). All these musicians had ventured into acting before, and they most likely were fans of Sons of Anarchy when approached by the team or when asking for a role, as was the case of Manson.