Mark Mothersbaugh

Mark Mothersbaugh Biography

Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (born May 18, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, author and visual artist. Mothersbaugh's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, which released a Top 20 hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It". The band has maintained a cult following throughout its existence. Mothersbaugh is one of the main composers of Devo's music and made major lyrical contributions to the band's songs. He is one of only two members (along with bass player Gerald Casale) who have been with Devo throughout its entire history. In addition to his work with Devo, Mothersbaugh has made music for television series, films and video games via his production company, Mutato Muzika, most notably as the composer for the popular long-running animated series Rugrats for its entire 13-year run, as well as all three theatrical films. He has also had a solo career which has included four studio albums: Muzik for Insomniaks, Muzik for the Gallery, Joyeux Mutato and The Most Powerful Healing Muzik in the Entire World. In 2004, he was honored with the Richard Kirk award at the BMI Film and TV Awards for his significant contributions to film and television music. Additionally, Mothersbaugh was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Kent State University in 2008. His lifelong interest in creating multimedia art pieces has resulted in gallery exhibitions of items such as his "Beautiful Mutants" photograph series, postcard diaries, art rugs, sculptures and musical instruments created from salvaged organ pipes and bird vocalizations. He has married twice and is the father of two adopted children. At the age of seven, Mothersbaugh began wearing glasses to correct his severe myopia and astigmatism. Over the years, he took an interest in designing his own distinctive eyewear for use in Devo shows. He favored a particular set of stainless steel frames for regular use made by a Los Angeles shop called LA Eyeworks and says he purchased as many pairs as he could find because they tended to break or get stolen by fans. In a joint venture with eyewear manufacturer Shane Baum, Mothersbaugh has designed his own branded frames for sale, made of beryllium with a stainless steel chrome finish, in three different styles as of 2015. The Baumvision press release states that the unisex model "Francesca" is named for one of Mothersbaugh's pug dogs which is a simultaneous hermaphrodite that is also called Frank. He has been married twice. His first wife was actress Nancye Ferguson, who can be seen briefly performing with him in the 1999 superhero comedy film Mystery Men. His current wife is Anita Greenspan, who runs the film music managing company Greenspan Kohan Management with Neil Kohan. The couple has two daughters from China, adopted after Greenspan learned of the practice in that country of female children being abandoned because of their gender. Mothersbaugh is a collector and connoisseur of song poems and unusual or vintage musical devices. He is the owner of Raymond Scott's Electronium (although it is currently not functional).