Kinky Friedman (1944–2024,) born Richard Samet Friedman, was an American country singer-songwriter, novelist, humorist, and political satirist known for his irreverent wit and genre-bending career. A self-styled “Jewish cowboy,” he became a cult figure whose songs and commentary provoked both laughter and outrage, securing his place as one of Texas’s most unconventional cultural voices.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Austin, Texas, Friedman studied psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, earning his bachelor’s degree before joining the Peace Corps. He served in Borneo, an experience he later revisited in essays and interviews. After returning to the United States, he began pursuing music full-time.
In the early 1970s, Friedman rose to prominence as the frontman of Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, a country-rock band known for sharp humor, satirical storytelling, and boundary-pushing lyrics. His album Sold American (1973) helped establish him as a provocative and witty performer.
By the mid-1980s, Friedman shifted toward writing, launching a successful mystery-novel series with Greenwich Killing Time (1986.) He followed with When the Cat’s Away (1993,) Armadillos & Old Lace (1994,) and The Mile High Club (1998,) becoming a bestselling author celebrated for blending humor, noir, and Texas eccentricity. His nonfiction included Kinky Friedman’s Guide to Texas Etiquette (2001) and the memoir Heroes of a Texas Childhood (2005.)
Friedman’s life and career have been chronicled in journalist Mary Lou Sullivan’s Kinky Friedman: The Man, the Myth, and the Legend (1999.) His public persona expanded through political activism, including his 2006 run for governor of Texas.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Kinky Friedman
You gotta find what you like and let it kill you.
—Kinky Friedman
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