The Mentally Ill were an old punk band from Chicago during the late 70s and early 80s. They are most well-known for their legendary Gacy's Place 7" from 1979, considered to this day to be one of the best and most forgotten records of the early Chicago punk era. They released the less popular Sex Cells 7" a few years later and seemed to fade into obscurity. In the late 90s, The Mentally Ill came back and recorded a full length with Steve Albini. In 2004, Jello Biafra released the entire recording sessions of Gacy's Place plus some older demos as a CD on his Alternative Tentacles label.

On November 24th, 2007 The Mentally Ill played the final set at the You Weren't There after party at The Beat Kitchen. It was the first time The Mentally Ill had ever played live.

On May 23rd, 2008 Mentally Ill played their second show ever as part of the three day Totally Wired Festival in Chicago. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.