Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 2004), and drummer John Sparrow (joined 2005).

The Story Behind the Name In fact, it came from a bit of local slang. Back in the early '80s, Milwaukee kids used the word “femme” as a slang term for guys who were a bit on the nerdy or wimpy side—not exactly what you'd expect from a group that would go on to pioneer a rebellious mix of folk-punk.

Gordon Gano was born on 7 June 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

In 2007, the Violent Femmes broke up (for the second time). The band broke up because Gordon Gano allowed the song (for which he had sole writing credit) "Blister In The Sun" to be used in a commercial campaign for the fast food franchise Wendy's to promote their new menu items like the fish sandwich and chili.