iFest Date/Time
Bud Light World Music Stage
May 7, 8pm
Genre
Alternative Pop/Reggae
Bio
Michael was born to an Irish-German-French mother and an African-American and American-Indian father in Oakland, California, then adopted by a Finnish-American couple who raised him along with their three biological children and another African-American son. While studying at the University of San Francisco, Franti formed the punk band The Beatnigs, and later the far more hip hop-inflected The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Through it all, Franti has crossed all sorts of musical and physical boundaries in order to make music for everybody.
In the mid-90s, Franti first formed Spearhead, and increasingly in recent years, he’s found his own voice musically and his own organic brand of popular success. Franti and Spearhead’s last album, 2008’s All Rebel Rockers - recorded in Jamaica with legendary producers and players Sly & Robbie - became the biggest hit of Franti’s career, hitting the Top 40 on the Billboard 200, and yielded his biggest hit, the Top 20 “Say Hey (I Love You).”
