David Pirner

Dave Pirner
Dave Pirner in 2010
Background information
Birth name	David Anthony Pirner
Born	(1964-04-16) April 16, 1964 (age 53) Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States
Genres	Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	vocals, guitar, trumpet, drums, percussion, keyboard, harmonica, saxophone
Years active	1981–present
Labels	A&M, Columbia
Associated acts	Soul Asylum, Within Temptation

David Anthony "Dave" Pirner (born April 16, 1964) is an American songwriter, singer, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the alternative rock band Soul Asylum.

Pirner was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin. By the time he was seventeen, Pirner was living and working in Minneapolis. He taught himself how to play the drums. By age 20, Pirner started his career drumming with a punk band called Loud Fast Rules as part of the Minneapolis scene, together with Karl Mueller (bass) and Dan Murphy (guitar). When Pirner switched to singing and playing rhythm guitar, Pat Morley joined on drums. Morley was later replaced by Grant Young, and the band changed their name to Soul Asylum. After touring the United States for a number of years they gathered a cult following of fans, but did not quite reach commercial visibility. Pirner at the time was the band's songwriter and he produced the album, Coup De Grace, by the Minneapolis metal band the Coup de Grace in 1990.

The band achieved commercial success and visibility on MTV and VH1 with the 1992 single "Runaway Train", followed by another hit song, "Black Gold"; both from their album Grave Dancers Union. As Soul Asylum grew in popularity, Pirner was seen guesting on albums of differing genres, including artists like Paul Westerberg, Jason Karaban, Mike Watt, The Autumn Defense and Victoria Williams. His disheveled appearance and blonde matted dreadlocks made an unmistakable impression on fans and critics alike, making Pirner easily recognized and associating the band with the grunge scene.