John Hinckley Jr, best known for his 1981 attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, is releasing a folk album.
“Redemption,” a collection of songs that tell “the story of man coming to grips with his past, and choosing love moving forward to overcome it” have dropped on a new LP from Asbestos Records. It’s the first physical collection of music from Hinckley, though he has been releasing songs on Spotify for the past two years. Among those singles are “Memories I Don’t Want to Last” and “Finally Living Free.”
Prior to that, Hinkley would post his music online anonymously, due to a court order. In 2020, however, a judge in Washington D.C. Ruled he could publicly display his music and artwork using his name, at the urging of Hinckley’s treatment team.
Since then, he has built a moderately successful YouTube channel, with over 32,000 followers and more than 40 videos of him singing original songs and covers of everyone from Bob Dylan to Elvis Presley. The album’s release comes roughly one year after Hinckley was forced to cancel a series of planned concerts due to security concerns.
Hinkley, now 68 years old, was found not guilty by reason of insanity after shooting Reagan in 1981 and has been living in Virginia under restrictions since 2016. Last year, though, he was granted an unconditional release, with a federal judge saying he posed no threat to himself or others.
His music, he says, is from the heart, with a focus on building one’s self up.
“Anyone who’s heard my songs knows that they are trying to be kind of upbeat and inspirational,” he said in a 2022 interview. “When I listen to bands like Nirvana or something like that, where there’s just so much angst going on in the song, I really don’t want to hear that too much, ’cause that just kind of brings me down. So I like songs that are more positive.”