Biography

James William Lindberg (born July 26, 1965) is an American singer and guitarist. Active since the 1980s, when he played in local bands in his early career, he is best known as the songwriter and lead singer of the punk rock band Pennywise, which he fronted from 1988 to 2009, and has again since 2012. He also founded The Black Pacific, who released a debut album in 2010.

Lindberg became Pennywise's main lyricist after the death of bassist Jason Thirsk, who was responsible for encouraging the band's message of positive mental attitude and self-reliance. A UCLA English major graduate, Lindberg often cited American transcendentalist philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau as major influences on his lyrics. With titles such as "My Own Way", "It's Up to You", "Date With Destiny", and "My Own Country", Lindberg's lyrics often reflected the transcendentalist credo to live life by one's own rules and not adhere to the materialistic constraints of society or authority.