John “Stabb” Schroeder (born July 12 1961, also known by the pseudonyms Stabb and John Stabb) is an American vocalist from Rockville, MD in the Washington DC metro area.  Most know him from the time he served fronting the heavily influential 80s punk band Government Issue.  After the breakup of Government Issue in 1989, Stabb played with several Washington, D.C.-area bands in the 1990s including Stain, Emma Peel, Weatherhead, and Betty Blue.   In 2000, he formed The Factory Incident. Currently, Stabb sings for the Washington, DC based band History Repeated.

John Stabb’s inclusion in films such as “Salad Days: A Decade Of Punk In Washington, DC” documentary, as well as praise from the likes of Ian Mackaye, Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, and Dave Smalley stand as a testament to Stabb and his wonderfully outrageous performance style. Recently, he’s been hard at work on his memoirs “Hear the Scream” which chronicles his troubled childhood, Government Issue‘s incredible (and sometimes chaotic!) 9 year span, and more recent life events.

John Stabb was diagnosed with malignant stomach cancer after a series of hospital visits at the end of January 2016.  Stabb, who has been singing in the post-punk band History Repeated, announced to the audience the night of the band’s Jan. 19th show in DC that he had appendicitis and would need to go to the ER after their set. After a misdiagnosis, he was back home on the 22nd, but was rushed back to the hospital on the 29th, where doctors performed emergency surgery to remove two tumors from his GI track.  Stabb was quoted telling the doctors at the time: “Just take care of this shit. We’ve got things to do.”

You can donate to help cover his mounting medical costs here.  Also in the works, a benefit show with a very special lineup (soon to be announced at johnstabb.com) slated for early May.

– D.B.