Frederick William Schneider III (born July 1, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and frontman of the rock band the B-52's, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well known for his sprechgesang, which he developed from reciting poetry over guitars.

Early life

Frederick William Schneider III was born on July 1, 1951, in Newark, New Jersey, and lived in Long Branch, New Jersey, after moving there from Belleville, New Jersey. He has said that his musical influences included "Halloween songs and nutty Christmas songs", along with Motown. After graduating from Shore Regional High School, he attended the University of Georgia, where he wrote a book of poetry for a class project. After college, he was a janitor as well as a Meals on Wheels driver. At the time the B-52's formed, he had very little musical experience.

The B-52's

The B-52's got their start in 1976 when founders Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, and Schneider played an impromptu number after drinking at a Chinese restaurant in Athens, Georgia. The band played their first real gig in 1977 at a Valentine's Day party for their friends. The band's first single was "Rock Lobster" which was recorded for DB Records in 1978. It was an underground success, and sold over 20,000 copies in total. In 1979, the B-52's signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records for South America, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. They also signed with Island Records for Europe and Asia. After the death of Ricky Wilson in 1985, the band went on hiatus. They reformed in 1989 and went on to mainstream success.

Other music ventures

Schneider has released two solo albums: Fred Schneider and the Shake Society (1984, reissued in 1991 as Fred Schneider) and Just Fred (1996), the former of which spawned the single and video "Monster", which featured Pierson on backing vocals. He also worked on a side project called the Superions, who released a self-titled EP and the album Destination... Christmas! in 2010. In February 2011, the band announced they were working on a full-length album, which was eventually released in 2017 under the title The Vertical Mind.

Radio

Until late 2008, Schneider hosted a show called Party Out of Bounds that aired on Friday nights, 9pm to 12 am (ET), on Sirius 33 First Wave. On the show, Schneider played a mix of new wave-era dance, remixes and rarities, interspersed with anecdotes and humor.

Personal life

, Schneider was living on Long Island, New York. On the February 22, 2010, broadcast of The Howard Stern Show, Schneider discussed his experience of coming out as gay to his mother. Schneider said that his mother always knew more about him than he knew about himself, and that he came out of the closet while she was vacuuming. His mother replied, "Oh I know, Freddie", and continued vacuuming. Schneider's reaction was, "It's like, well, OK. I guess I'll go back outside and smoke some pot." Schneider is a lifelong vegetarian and in 2014 appeared in a PETA ad campaign discouraging people from eating lobsters. In May 2023, Schneider received an honorary doctorate degree from Five Towns College in Dix Hills, New York, for his contributions to the music industry.

Discography

Studio albums with the B-52's

Solo studio albums

Studio albums with the Superions

Collaborations

Other works

Film

Television

Books