Frank Black is American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965). After releasing three albums with this name, he formed the band Frank Black and the Catholics. He returned to using the name Black Francis, the name he uses as vocalist of the Pixies, in 2007. Lead songwriter and vocalist of the now reunited Pixies, Frank Black adopted a reversal of his former alias, Black Francis, and embarked on his solo career after the 1992 breakup of Pixies.