Mark Mothersbaugh

Coming to prominence in the late 1970s as a founder of post-punk, new wave, and electronic group Devo, Mark Mothersbaugh – born May 18, 1950, in Akron, Ohio - has become an influential performer, artist, musical visionary, and film composer over the course of his 45+ year career. As the most recognizable member of Devo – a musical project that he formed in 1973 with his brother Bob, the Casale brothers (Gerald and Bob) and Alan Myers – the band released a series of pioneering post-punk classics including their unique cover of The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1977) plus originals such as ‘Mongoloid” (1977) “Jocko Homo” (1978), and “The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise” (1979). The band achieved commercial success with the synth-heavy album Freedom of Choice (1980) alongside the massively successful single “Whip It.” Their catchy songs and mind-bending music videos made them a staple on MTV and on Top 40, college, and alternative radio stations for several years. The music industry changed and left Devo behind, causing the band to go on hiatus after their 1984 album Shout. They would reunite numerous times over the next four decades, although they’d never achieve the commercial highs that they had experienced in the early ‘80s. Since Devo’s initial break in the mid-1980s, Mark Mothersbaugh became an in-demand composer for film and television. His work includes soundtracks for four Wes Anderson films – Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) – as well as other films including Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987), Happy Gilmore (1996), Lords of Dogtown (2005), 21 Jump Street (2012), The Lego Movie (2014) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Mark Mothersbaugh also provided music for TV shows including Pee Wee’s Playhouse, Rugrats, Super Mario World, Eureka, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and many others. Mark Mothersbaugh has also used his talents to compose music for video games including Crash Bandicoot (1996), The Sims 2 (2004), Boom Blox (2008), Skate 3 (2010), and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, a collaboration with Japanese composer Wataru Hokoyama.

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