Who was the singer and songwriter of the punk band Dead Kennedys?

Jello Biafra was the singer and songwriter of the punk band Dead Kennedys.

Born Eric Reed Boucher, he adopted the stage name Jello Biafra and co-founded the Dead Kennedys in San Francisco in 1978. He performed with the band during its original period, which produced influential releases including Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables and In God We Trust, Inc.

Biafra became known for an intense vocal delivery and lyrics that used satire to address politics, censorship, war, and American popular culture. “California Über Alles” targeted California politics, while “Holiday in Cambodia” used deliberately extreme imagery to criticize privilege and complacency.

After the Dead Kennedys broke up in 1986, Biafra continued as a spoken-word performer and independent musician. He also became involved in political activism and ran for mayor of San Francisco in 1979. He is sometimes confused with later Dead Kennedys vocalists, but Biafra is specifically associated with the band’s original and most influential era.