Black Francis

Black Francis is an American singer-songwriter, lead-vocalist, and rhythm-guitarist of the American alternative-rock band Pixies whose four-decade music career has produced one of the foundational documents of late-1980s and 1990s American alternative-rock music — particularly his 1989 second Pixies album Doolittle. He was born Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV on April 6, 1965, in Boston, Massachusetts, into a working-class American Pentecostal-Christian family. His father Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson III was a Massachusetts-area Pentecostal-Christian-evangelism business operator, and his mother Maria Thompson was a homemaker.

His education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1984–1986; without earning a degree, after he left to begin his professional music career) launched his early-career path. His 1986 founding of Pixies in Boston, Massachusetts — alongside bassist Kim Deal, lead-guitarist Joey Santiago, and drummer David Lovering — launched his late-1980s American alternative-rock-genre public profile.

His 1987 first commercial Pixies EP Come On Pilgrim — released October 1987 by 4AD Records — launched his early-career American alternative-rock-genre public profile. His 1988 first commercial Pixies album Surfer Rosa — released March 21, 1988 by 4AD Records — produced his late-1980s American alternative-rock-genre public profile through his song "Where Is My Mind?"

His April 17, 1989 second commercial Pixies album Doolittle — released by 4AD Records and Elektra Records — sold over one million American copies and produced his late-1980s American alternative-rock commercial breakthrough through the singles "Here Comes Your Man" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven." The 1989 album has been continuously cited as one of the foundational documents of late-1980s and 1990s American alternative-rock music.

His subsequent commercial Pixies career has produced multiple commercial Pixies albums across 1989–1993 (the original Pixies break-up era) — particularly the 1990 third commercial album Bossanova and the 1991 fourth commercial album Trompe le Monde. The 1993 abrupt fax-announced Pixies break-up preceded the 2004 Pixies reunion tour and the subsequent 2014 fifth commercial Pixies album Indie Cindy. His parallel solo career under the stage names Frank Black (1993–2007) and Black Francis (2007–present) has produced over 15 commercial solo albums. He has been continuously single across his career, although he has had multiple long-term relationships and four children.

His name Black began as a personally-adopted stage-name alias. Black has been a rare but enduring American unisex name across the late 20th century.