Frank Black (born April 6, 1965) (a.k.a. Black Francis, née Charles Thompson) was born in Boston, Massachusetts – but was raised in California.
His father was a bar owner and a restaurateur trying to learn his trade in Los Angeles. Black was raised on whatever records he could find in thrift stores – 60s pop, Christian rock (especially Larry Norman), Bob Seger, Cat Stevens, things like that. His mother stole his father’s tip money when Black was a child and bought a classical guitar with it – after bouncing around the family for a couple of years, Black got ahold of it at age 11.

When Black was around age 13, his family delved into a sect of Southern Pentecostal Christianity affiliated with the Assemblies of God USA. They were a deeply evangelical church – the type that regularly speaks in tongues and performs faith healing. It’s during this period that Black grew to love the darker, fire-and-brimstone side of Christianity.

Black’s family moved back and forth from California to New England frequently when he was young, eventually settling back in Massachusetts when Black was a senior in high school (around the time he won “Teenager of the Year” from the Kiwanis Club). Here, he really began writing songs – several of these would later become well-known Pixies songs.

In 1983, Black enrolled in the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he studied anthropology. While playing guitar with his roommate one night, he met fellow student Joey Santiago. They hit it off and later that year, rented a professor’s house with a couple of classmates and lived together. They’d listen to records together – Black would put on XTC, Iggy Pop or the Violent Femmes; Santiago would play 70s punk or David Bowie. They’d rehearse as a band with friends, but their studies always ended up getting in the way.

Black dropped out of college at the start of his junior year and moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico for six months. He reportedly lived with a psychotic roommate there – accordingly, he spent a great deal of his time out jogging on the beach and playing pool in bars while he got drunk. After a while, he grew away from Puerto Rico – and impatient to start a band. He sent Santiago an invitation through the mail to drop out with him and start a band – and he agreed.

That band became the Pixies, who have enjoyed massive critical and commercial success over the past 30 years of their existence. However, Black grew frustrated with his standing in the band – feeling overshadowed by Kim Deal in particular – so he broke up the band over the air on BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Then he called Santiago to tell him the news – and he notified Kim Deal and David Lovering by fax.

His first solo record, in the works since 1992, was released that year. During his years with the Pixies, he performed under the stage name Black Francis – a suggestion from his father. However, for this new phase of his career, he changed it to Frank Black. His first couple of records received some critical success, but true commercial success often eluded him during his post-Pixies years.

In 1997, he formed Frank Black and the Catholics, a stripped-down, back-to-basics rock band. Their first, self-titled album, was the first record ever offered on the popular downloading site eMusic – as a result, it’s often called the first album legally made available for download. They released five more albums before going defunct when the Pixies reunited in 2003.

Black currently tours and records with the Pixies, who have been active without hiatus since 2013.

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