Wayne Coyne

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Wayne Coyne

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Img_capt = Wayne Coyne, 2006
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Wayne Michael Coyne
Born = Birth date and age|1961|1|13|mf=y
Origin = Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.
Instrument = Vocals, guitar
Genre = Alternative rock
Occupation = Musician, songwriter, actor, director
Years_active = 1983-present
Label = Warner Bros. Records
Associated_acts = The Flaming Lips
URL = http://www.flaminglips.com

Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips.

Early life

Wayne Coyne was born on January 13, 1961, the fifth of six children of Thomas and Dolores Coyne. [DeRogatis, p. 2] Relatively uninterested in school, Coyne preferred music, painting, and football to his assignments. His brothers and other friends played in a backyard football team named the "Fearless Freaks." [The Fearless Freaks by Bradley Beesley] He continued making art for many years, and designed many of the early graphics for The Flaming Lips himself (in recent times, he has also provided the artwork for both "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" and "At War with the Mystics").

Coyne worked as a fry cook at a Long John Silver's restaurant for 11 years [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7572601 Creating Our Own Happiness by Wayne Coyne] ] , and was awarded a special badge to honor his service. [Rolling Stone Issue 1004/1005, "Okies From Outer Space" by Mark Binelli] Although he had been toying with an acoustic guitar since he was fourteen, it was this job which enabled him to purchase an electric guitar, a Les Paul, which he did after eight months of employment. Wayne was a senior in high school at the time. [Staring at Sound by Jim DeRogatis]

With the Flaming Lips

Coyne formed the Flaming Lips in 1983 with brother Mark singing lead and Michael Ivins on bass guitar. Mark later left the band, and Wayne assumed vocal duties.

During large-crowd festival performances, Wayne makes his entrance by descending from space in a bubble, and floating across the audience to the stage. Coyne has also been known to pour fake blood down his face via a hidden tube during live shows, usually during the track "The Spark that Bled" which features lyrics about getting shot in the head without realizing it.

Other projects/appearances

Recently, he has dabbled in film making and screen writing, with his debut movie, Christmas on Mars, which features Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, and was debuted May 25, 2008 at the Sasquatch Music Festival at The Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington.

*Bradley Beesley directed a 2005 film about Coyne and the Flaming Lips, "The Fearless Freaks," which features much footage of Coyne's early life, as well as his narration about his experiences in the band.

*In 2003, Coyne provided lead vocals on The Golden Path by The Chemical Brothers. This track was released on the "Singles 93-03" album (CD1, Track 13).

*In 2005, Coyne recorded "Marching the Hate Machine (Into the Sun)" with the electronic-duo Thievery Corporation on their album The Cosmic Game.

*On May 24, 2006, a video of Coyne was shown at the graduation ceremony at his old high school, the Classen School of Advanced Studies in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In the video he spoke of not being a high school graduate, working at Long John Silver's, selling pot out of his apartment, and the value of life experience. [cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1532605/20060526/flaming_lips.jhtml |title=Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne Delivers Bizarre High School Graduation Address |accessdate=2007-02-12 |author=James Montgomery |date=2006-05-26 |publisher=MTV.com]

*In 2006, Coyne appeared in a Swedish music program called 'Musikministeriet' [ [http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=55021&from=program_ao Musikministeriet info on SVT] ] ('The Ministry Of Music'). He was featured in every episode, beginning and ending each one with a few eloquent words about that particular episode's theme, and his opinions about it.

*Coyne and The Flaming Lips guest starred in an episode of the television show Charmed.

*Coyne has been known to crowd surf in a large, clear plastic sphere he dubbed the "space bubble." This was shown on the xkcd comic "Hamster Ball Heist". [cite web|url=http://xkcd.com/211/']

References

*DeRogatis, Jim. "Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips". (New York) Broadway Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7679-2140-4.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.flaminglips.com/content/band/people/wayne01.php Official bio from The Flaming Lips website]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441758/ IMDB on Fearless Freaks]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SzWtkMVBRI 2006 OKC Classen Commencement Speech Part 1] on YouTube
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT0qENSrDO4 2006 OKC Classen Commencement Speech Part 2] on YouTube
* [http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jun/06/space_case_wayne_coyne_transports_flaming_lips_ext/ 2008 Wayne Coyne interview] with Jon Niccum

Persondata
NAME=Coyne, Wayne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Coyne, Wayne Michael
SHORT DESCRIPTION=lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips
DATE OF BIRTH=January 13, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=