Gary Floyd was a punk vocalist and the founder of groundbreaking band The Dicks, known for their confrontational anti-authoritarian approach, as spearheaded by Floyd’s in-your-face sexuality and disdain for those in power.
- Died: May 2, 2024 (Who else died on May 2?)
- Details of death: Died of congestive heart failure at the age of 71.
- We invite you to share condolences for Gary Floyd in our Guest Book.
Gary Floyd’s legacy
Gary Floyd did not initially want to be in a band. Born in Arkansas but later moving to East Texas, Floyd’s band, The Dicks, at first only existed on posters put up throughout the Austin area. There was no band. When asked to play a show in 1980, however, he drafted a few friends – Buxf Parrott, Pat Deason, and Glen Taylor – and The Dicks became a real act. From the start, they were brash and confrontational. The openly gay Floyd often performed in drag, and the band’s lyrics were openly communist and harshly anti-authoritarian.
Floyd moved to San Francisco in 1983 and created a new lineup for The Dicks when he did. What did not change were the band’s barbs at police, neo-Nazis, and figures of the Reagan era, nor did they decrease their outspoken stances against hate and homophobia. The group broke up in 1986, but Floyd continued performing with acts such as Sister Double Happiness, The Gary Floyd Band, Black Kali Ma, and Buddha Brothers.
He began staging reunion shows with The Dicks in 2004, largely around the Austin area. The documentary “The Dicks from Texas” was released in 2015, chronicling Floyd’s life and times with the band. He’d also become an author the year prior, penning “Please Bee Nice: My Life Up ’Til Now: A Gary Floyd Memoir.”
On being an openly gay communist in the punk scene:
“Right off the bat, we were going to be different than your regular punk band. We also said we were communists, we were drag queens … we were twisting some heads, for sure.”— Interview with KQED, 2016
Tributes to Gary Floyd
Full obituary: Pitchfork
