Biography Jimmy Pop

Jimmy Pop (sometimes Jimmy Pop Corn Ali) (born James Moyer Franks, August 27, 1972 in Trappe, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, main songwriter, and founding member of the band Bloodhound Gang.

After graduating from Perkiomen Valley High School in 1990, he studied mass communication and history at Yale University, where he met The Bloodhound Gang bassist Jared "Evil Jared Hasselhoff" Hennegan. He also founded the Jimmy Franks Recording Company, a label on which The Bloodhound Gang releases albums, as well as other bands such as Helltrain, Isabelle's Gift, and, more famously, HIM. He was also a contributing writer to American pop-culture satire publication POPsmear throughout the 1990s. He was offered a position as an intern on the Howard Stern Show, but had to turn it down after getting signed to his first record contract (with the Bloodhound Gang).

Jimmy Pop's humor focuses heavily on sex. Jimmy Pop's style of humor relies on a blend of shock value with pop culture references. His live humor represents this as well, including things such as wearing a Backstreet Boys shirt onstage, and putting out a cigarette on his tongue. He also has been known to tear off Evil Jared Hasselhoff's shirt at random intervals, once actually attempting to bite off the shirt.

Jimmy Pop is the public face of the Bloodhound Gang, and is the member most commonly interviewed. Unlike the others (most notably DJ Q-Ball), Jimmy usually takes the actual output of the band very seriously, and does not joke about leaving or breaking up. He is the only original member remaining in the group.

According to an article by David Friedman, Jimmy Pop is not Jewish. "I have the blood in me, but I'm not considered part of the tribe. When my family came over here, on my father's side they were all rabbis. They changed their name from Hershell to Hershey and one of their younger grandchildren or whatever became the Hershey Bar guy. I never got any money out of it... I have American Indian in me and lots of German, which works really well with the Jew. It's just a big mixed bag. Somewhere along the line, my parents were raised Lutheran and as soon as I didn't have to go anymore, I wasn't into it. So I wasn't raised Jewish, but being in the music business, of course, I have Jewish managers. So I'm always up for the holidays."

He currently plays Gibson Les Paul guitars and Marshall amps and bass guitar. He used to play a custom guitar (made by a former Paul Reed Smith employee; it was actually Lüpüs' guitar, and is no longer used) through an Orange amplifier. He previously used Gretsch guitars before he used Les Pauls. He started playing guitar live for the tours supporting Hooray for Boobies, and does not play them on the albums. Other guitars he could be seen using is a Fernandes Native for the music video for "The Ballad of Chasey Lain", and a Taylor acoustic for the music video for "Fire Water Burn".

Jimmy Pop is also a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, and is often seen wearing a Phillies hat. He is also noted for his Philadelphia accent (particularly the "Philadelphia A"), which can be heard in most (if not all) Bloodhound Gang songs. He is also known for singing in a deep monotone in many Bloodhound Gang songs.

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