Kinky Friedman, Country Musician, Satirist, and Politician, Dead at 79

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Kinky Friedman , who lived a colorful life as a country singer, satirist, and one-time Texas gubernatorial candidate, has died at the age of 79.

“Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & friends,” reads a social media statement announcing his death. “Kinkster endured tremendous pain & unthinkable loss in recent years but he never lost his fighting spirit and quick wit. Kinky will live on as his books are read and his songs are sung.”

Richard Samet Friedman was born to Jewish parents in Chicago on October 31st, 1944. The following year, his family moved to Texas after his father, S. Thomas Friedman, was discharged from the Air Force. When he was still young, Friedman’s parents opened a summer camp called Echo Hill.

Even as a child, Friedman was a natural entertainer, and began writing humorous songs while still in high school. He formed his first band, King Arthur & the Carrots, while studying at the University of Texas at Austin.

In 1973, he started a satirical band called Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys alongside childhood friend Jeff “Little Jewford” Shelby. Other members of the band included Billy Swan, Willie “The Singing Chinaman” Fong Young, Thomas “Wichita” Culpepper, and Kenneth “Snakebite” Jacobs.

The group’s best-known album, Sold American , featured provocative songs like “Ride ‘Em Jewboy,” a ballad about the Holocaust, and “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You.”

Friedman would soon become a cult figure in the country scene, counting Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan as among his closest friends. He went on tour with the latter artist from 1975-1976.

In the 1980s, Friedman began writing Raymond Chandler-inspired detective novels centering around a protagonist named Kinky Friedman, who viewed himself as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. Some of the biggest fans of his novels were Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Later on, Friedman became a columnist for Texas Monthly , writing about state politics and Texas history. He gained enough of a following to run for Governor of Texas as an independent candidate against Republican incumbent Rick Perry in 2006, finishing in fourth place with 12.6% of the vote.

Kinky Friedman, Country Musician, Satirist, and Politician, Dead at 79
Eddie Fu