Frank Black

Since the ’80s, Frank Black’s work with Pixies and as a solo artist has turned the idea of pop music inside out and on its head. Born Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV in Boston in 1965, he formed Pixies in 1986 with his former university roommate Joey Santiago; the band was rounded out by bassist Kim Deal and drummer David Lovering shortly after. Having dubbed himself Black Francis, he led the quartet on a wild journey through his psyche, marked by yelped lyrics and unusual arrangements. In 1992, after rechristening himself Frank Black, he recorded his first solo single, a cover of the Beach Boys rarity “Hang On to Your Ego”; it had a gritty arrangement yet revealed how Black could make straightforward, candy-sweet pop. His self-titled solo debut came out in 1993, distilling his knowledge of rock history through his weirder-than-weird aesthetic; Teenager of the Year followed in 1994, its 22 tracks showing Black’s defiantly unorthodox approach toward finding pop bliss. Between 1998 and 2003, Black fronted Frank Black & The Catholics, who released a series of albums recorded live to two-track, including the 2002 diptych Black Letter Days and Devil’s Workshop. He went back to releasing solo albums as Frank Black in 2004, the same year Pixies reunited for a world tour; in 2007 his solo work went to being released under the name Black Francis, and Pixies began releasing new EPs and albums in 2013.