Dicky Barrett | |
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![]() Barrett in 2008 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Richard Michael Barrett |
Born | Providence, Rhode Island | June 22, 1964
Origin | Boston, Massachusetts |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument | Vocals |
Years active | 1983–present |
Labels | |
Member of | The Defiant |
Formerly of |
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Website | www |
Richard Michael Barrett (born June 22, 1964), better known as Dicky Barrett, is an American singer who was the frontman of ska punk band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He was the announcer for Jimmy Kimmel Live! until 2022. Barrett is known for his distinctive, loud, gravelly voice.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones officially announced their breakup through their official website and social media feeds on January 27, 2022. Barrett revealed that the breakup occurred in part due to his views on the COVID-19 vaccine. Barrett went on to be the frontman for the punk band The Defiant.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Barrett attended Norwood Junior High School and Xaverian Brothers High School in Massachusetts. He left Xaverian Brothers High School and went on to Norwood Senior High Norwood, Massachusetts, and later Bunker Hill Community College where he met Bosstones drummer Joe Sirois. He now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. He has mentioned that he is an Irish Catholic. [1]
Prior to his association with the Bosstones, Barrett played in the local Boston area bands Cheapskates, Toxic Toast, and Impact Unit. Toxic Toast would later be immortalized in a Bosstones song of the same name on the group's 1994 album Question the Answers.
Barrett has spent the majority of his musical career playing with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He appeared on eight full-length albums, three EPs and a live album with the Bosstones, as well as touring continuously throughout the world, until the band's announcement of a hiatus in December 2003. The band's 1997 release, Let's Face It , would prove to be the band's biggest break, mostly due to the first single "The Impression That I Get," which charted at number one on the Billboard charts.
In 2003, Barrett began working on an untitled solo album. The album was said to be a radical departure from the ska-core sound made popular by the Bosstones. Barrett was quoted as saying that the album will be "more sombre, darker". [2] Fellow Bosstone, Lawrence Katz, was said to be assisting Barrett with the recording of the album. However, there has been no further mention of the album, and it's uncertain whether the album will be released.
Barrett appeared on two Brain Failure tracks, which are featured on their split entitled "Beijing to Boston" with Big D and the Kids Table.
Barrett had guest vocals on the Street Dogs song "Justifiable Fisticuffs" from their first album Savin Hill , the Gaslight Anthem song "The Patient Ferris Wheel" from their album The '59 Sound , "Charge into the Sun" from the Briggs' album Come All You Madmen , the Unseen's cover of "Paint It Black" from the album State of Discontent , H2O songs "Force Field" and "Faster Than the World" from their 1999 album F.T.T.W. , and Rancid's songs "Cash, Culture and Violence" and "Black Lung" on their album Life Won't Wait . He also made guest appearances on tracks from No Use for a Name, Clowns for Progress, the Stubborn All-Stars, and local Boston band Darkbuster.
Barrett announced that the 10th official Hometown Throwdown would occur between December 26–30, 2007 at Cambridge, Massachusetts' famed Middle East. Barrett also confirmed that the Bosstones would be joining him. He seemed unwilling to confirm any long-term plans for the band. Aside from the 10th Throwdown, he performed with the rest of the Bosstones on New Year's Eve 2007 in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Bosstones returned to the recording studio to record three new songs, which were included with unreleased material and vinyl B-sides on a collection titled Medium Rare released on December 18, 2007.
In January 2022, Rolling Stone reported that Barrett had produced a song and music video for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to promote an anti-vaccine rally. [3] Five days later, the Bosstones announced on Facebook and their website that they were breaking up. Though the band did not state the reason for the breakup, Rolling Stone speculated that it was related to Barrett's involvement in the song and video. [4] News of his involvement with Kennedy and the band's breakup came shortly after Barrett left Jimmy Kimmel Live! two weeks prior. [5] Barrett confirmed that the breakup occurred in part due to his views on the COVID-19 vaccine. [6]
On March 6, 2023, it was announced that Barrett had formed a new band with members of the Offspring, Street Dogs, Smash Mouth and the Briggs called The Defiant. The group released their debut album in October 2023. [7]
Barrett became the host of his own radio show, the "Mighty Morning Show" on Los Angeles radio's Indie 103.1 FM from 2005 until his firing on March 22, 2006, under mysterious circumstances. [8]
He was a regular on three of Boston's rock stations: WAAF, WBCN, and WFNX.
In 2005, it was rumored that Barrett would be Howard Stern's replacement at heritage rock station WBCN. [9]
On the April 13, 2009 episode of The Adam Carolla Podcast, Dicky Barrett was Adam's guest. Over the years, he has also been a regular guest on Adam's former show, Loveline.
He was a guest on Bill Simmons' The B.S. Report Podcast on December 8, 2009, with Cousin Sal and Super Dave Osborne.
Barrett first reached a national TV audience appearing in an ad for Converse shoes in 1991. [10] In the mid-1990s, Barrett appeared as a bus driver on the Nickelodeon show Bus No 9. In 1995, he appeared with the rest of the Bosstones in the film Clueless , playing at a fraternity party.
While with the Bosstones, Barrett performed on several television shows, including Saturday Night Live , The Jon Stewart Show , as well as Sesame Street's Elmopalooza.
Barrett portrays a prison inmate in the unreleased 1999 film Big Helium Dog .
In 2004, after the Bosstones went on hiatus, Barrett became the announcer for ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! . That year he also had a cameo role in the film Home of Phobia which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
Barrett has also done voice-over work for Minoriteam and appears in the documentary film American Hardcore . He has appeared on an episode of Criss Angel's Mind Freak . He also portrayed rock pioneer Bill Haley in the miniseries Shake, Rattle, and Roll: An American Love Story.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer ("Bosstone") Ben Carr remained constant members. The band's final line-up also included drummer Joe Sirois, saxophonist Leon Silva, guitarist Lawrence Katz, keyboardist John Goetchius, and trombonist Chris Rhodes.
A Jackknife to a Swan is the seventh studio album by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was released on July 9, 2002, by SideOneDummy Records. It was recorded over a few weeks in February 2002. This album marked the band's return to an indie label, and was the last album released by the group before their four-year hiatus between 2003 and 2007.
Pay Attention is the sixth studio album by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was released on May 2, 2000 by Island Records. The video for "So Sad to Say" premiered on MTV's 120 Minutes on April 25, 2000. In March and April 2001, the band held several shows in certain US cities as part of a multi-day club tour.
Let's Face It is the fifth studio album by American ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was released on March 11, 1997, by Mercury Records and Big Rig Records.
Don't Know How to Party is the third full-length album by the American ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, which was released in 1993. Don't Know How to Party was The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' major label debut on Mercury Records, their first venture away from their original label Taang! Records. The album reached #187 on the Billboard 200, and spawned several singles, including the Bosstones fan favorite—"Someday I Suppose". Lead singer Dicky Barret would later state that, "When we made `Don't Know How to Party', no one knew where [we] [were] coming from". Bassist Joe Gittleman stated that the album was "slower than [our] other records."
More Noise and Other Disturbances is the second studio album by the American band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was released in 1992 by Taang! Records. It was a hit on college radio. "Where'd You Go" was released as a single.
Devil's Night Out is the debut studio album by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was released in 1990 by Taang! Records. It was one of the first albums to mix ska and hardcore punk.
Darkbuster is a punk rock band hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, known largely for their songs about the joys of heavy drinking, which have earned them a strong following in the American Northeast. The band occasionally performs under the name of P Diddler And The Fearsome Foursome.
Spring Heeled Jack is a third wave ska band based out of New Haven, Connecticut. The band was formed by guitarist/vocalist Ron Ragona and drummer Dave Karcich in 1991. After a short breakup, Ragona and Karcich reformed the band with a new lineup. This lineup went on to record two albums before announcing a hiatus in 2000. While the band members moved on to perform in several new bands, their intention was to play the occasional reunion show. This plan would never come to fruition as a cerebral aneurysm would be cause for Karcich's death in 2002. In 2015, several band members returned to reform the band full-time. A third studio album, Sound Salvation, followed in 2017.
Peter Parada is an American musician who has been a member of several bands. Parada's drumming career began in 1995 when he joined L.A. band World In Pain on a recommendation from future Korn drummer Ray Luzier and then Steel Prophet in 1996 with whom he recorded one album a year later. Subsequently he joined Face to Face, Saves the Day and the Offspring, where he was a member from 2007 to 2021 and served as the band's second longest-serving drummer, behind Ron Welty. Parada was also associated with the metal band Engine and Rob Halford's solo project Halford, and briefly played drums in the punk band Alkaline Trio. He has also toured with My Chemical Romance, Devo and The Bronx. Parada joined YouTuber Tim Pool's band Timcast for their songs "Only Ever Wanted" and "Genocide" and in 2023 co-founded the band the Defiant.
Joe Sirois is an American drummer who is best known for having been a member of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He also played drums for the Boston-based band Street Dogs from 2004 to 2007.
Medium Rare is a compilation album by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, released on December 18, 2007, on Big Rig Records. It contains three new songs, nine previously unreleased tracks and some rare B-sides. This is also the band's first release since they went on hiatus in 2003.
Jason "King" Kendall is an American musician, product manager and videogame producer associated with three bands from Providence, Rhode Island. An online zine published by Harmonix Music Systems refers to Kendall as a "local legend."
Pin Points and Gin Joints is the eighth studio album by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, which was released on December 8, 2009. It is their first album of all new material since the release of A Jackknife to a Swan in 2002. Pin Points and Gin Joints was produced by Ted Hutt, notable for working with other bands such as The Bouncing Souls, Flogging Molly, and The Gaslight Anthem. Recording and writing sessions for the album lasted from November 2008 to July 2009.
Francis Potenza was an American police officer for the New York City Police Department and security guard. He later became a television actor for the late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He appeared as Jimmy Kimmel's "Uncle Frank" on the ABC show as a regular from 2003 until his death in 2011.
The Magic of Youth is the ninth studio album from Boston ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, released on December 6, 2011 on Big Rig Records. The album was released in whole mainland Europe on December 6 via Rude Records.
Hometown Throwdown was an annual music festival held in Greater Boston, hosted by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The festival featured local Boston-area acts, focusing on ska, punk and hardcore bands. The festival was traditionally held in December, usually the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve at clubs around Boston. The first Throwdown was held in July 27–31, 1994 at The Middle East in Cambridge. Starting in 1995, the festival moved to December. It ran annually until 2002, when the Bosstones went on hiatus. Both the band, and their festival, returned to active status in 2007, and it had been held annually until the 22nd, being held December 27–29, 2019 at the House of Blues in Boston.
While We're At It is the tenth studio album from Boston ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, released on June 15, 2018 on Big Rig Records. It marks the band's first studio album in seven years and is the final part of a musical trilogy that began with Pin Points and Gin Joints in 2009 followed by The Magic of Youth in 2011.
When God Was Great is the eleventh and final studio album by the Boston ska punk band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was released in 2021 on Hellcat, the band's only album with the label. The album was co-produced by Hellcat founder and Rancid member Tim Armstrong. The album was preceded by the singles and music videos for "The Final Parade", "I Don't Believe in Anything" and "The Killing of Georgie ".
The Defiant is an American punk rock supergroup consisting of vocalist Dicky Barrett, Pete Parada, Greg Camp, Johnny Rioux, and Joey La Rocca.
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