PIXIES

Pixies formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in January 1986, when Charles "Black Francis" Thompson IV and Joey Santiago decided to start a band. David Lovering joined on drums, and Kim Deal, answering a classified ad, came on as bassist — completing the quartet's original lineup.

The band recorded its "Purple Tape" demo at Fort Apache Studios, which became Come On Pilgrim (1987). Surfer Rosa (1988), produced by Steve Albini, cemented their signature sound and is widely regarded as a foundational work of alternative rock — though its most celebrated song, "Where Is My Mind?," was never released as a single at the time; its enormous later cultural presence is a delayed phenomenon, and the official video that exists for the song today is a lyric video, uploaded in 2022, since no narrative music video was ever filmed in 1988.

Doolittle (1989) — with "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and "Here Comes Your Man" — broadened their reach and is considered the peak of their classic era. Bossanova (1990) and Trompe le Monde (1991) completed the quartet's original discography.

The band split in 1993. They reunited in 2004 for a tour, without releasing new material for several years — Kim Deal remained the bassist until her departure in 2013.

Indie Cindy (2014) was the first studio album following the reunion, followed by Head Carrier (2016), Beneath the Eyrie (2019), and Doggerel (2022). Paz Lenchantin, a touring member since 2014, was the full-time bassist between 2016 and March 2024, when Emma Richardson (formerly of Band of Skulls) joined the band. That same year, they released The Night the Zombies Came (2024), their ninth studio album.

In 2026, Pixies embark on "P40," a world tour marking their 40th anniversary: a UK and European leg between May and July, including the band's first-ever headlining show at London's Royal Albert Hall (May 28, 2026), followed by a US leg from September 15 to 26, 2026, combining their own dates and festival appearances. In parallel, the band is running an archival reissue campaign, "Complete 'B' Sides: 1988-97 (Remastered)" — catalog work, not new original songs.