Jon Spencer (born February 5, 1965) is an American singer, composer and guitarist. He has been involved in multiple musical acts, such as

Pussy Galore Pussy Galore is a fictional character in the 1959 Ian Fleming James Bond novel '' Goldfinger'' and the 1964 film of the same name. In the film, she is played by Honor Blackman. The character returns in the 2015 Bond continuation novel '' Tri ...

Boss Hog Boss Hog is an American punk blues band including the husband and wife duo of Jon Spencer (guitar) and Cristina Martinez (vocals) along with Jens Jurgensen (bass), Hollis Queens (drums) and Mickey Finn (keyboard). The band achieved some noto ...

Heavy Trash Heavy Trash is an American rockabilly band based in New York City, formed by Jon Spencer of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Matt Verta-Ray (formerly of New York bands Madder Rose and Speedball Baby). The band's music draws from an eclect ...

and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

History

Jon Spencer was born on 5 February 1965 in Hanover, New Hampshire, to a university professor and a cardiology technician. He attended

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, where he was part of the noise rock band Shithaus, which included future

Cop Shoot Cop Cop Shoot Cop was a noise rock group founded in New York City in 1987. They disbanded in 1996. The band were frequently classified as industrial rock, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed: having a distinctive instrumental l ...

vocalist Tod Ashley. The band was short lived and had a musical style reminiscent of the industrial music of

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, ...

. He moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and formed

, who quickly relocated to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He is also known for bringing attention to and popularizing the blues artist R. L. Burnside, who started touring and working with The Blues Explosion in the mid-1990s after playing and living in obscurity for three decades. In 2022, he announced the end of the

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was an American three-piece rock band from New York City, formed in 1991. The group consisted of Judah Bauer on guitar, backing vocals, harmonica and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spen ...

and the debut of his new band, Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers, which includes

Quasi ''Quasi'' may refer to: *Quasi (band), American indie rock band * ''Quasi'' (film), 2023 American film *Quasi, a musical term meaning "almost" * ''Quasi'' (fly), a genus of insect * ''Quasi'' (sculpture), an artwork in Wellington, New Zealand *"Q ...

's Sam Coomes and

Janet Weiss Janet Lee Weiss (born September 24, 1965) is an American rock drummer, a member of Quasi (band), Quasi and former member of Sleater-Kinney. She was the drummer for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, leaving after the album ''Mirror Traffic'', and co ...

. He joined up with bassist Kendall Wind and drummer Macky Spider Bowman of The Bobby Lees in 2023 and released ''Sick Of Being Sick!'' in 2024.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Jon 1965 births American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock singers American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters Noise rock musicians Living people Singers from New Hampshire American noise musicians Musicians from Hanover, New Hampshire Pussy Galore (band) members Guitarists from New Hampshire 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Brown University alumni