Mike Doughty

Known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Soul Coughing, American singer-songwriter and author Michael Ross Doughty (June 10, 1970), aka Mike Doughty, is undoubtedly one of the most prolific artists of his generation. Born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, Mike Doughty spent most of his childhood in military bases around the United States and relocated to New York City at age 19 to study poetry at The New School. He formed the alternative rock band Soul Coughing in 1992 while working as a doorman at the avant-garde club The Knitting Factory and released three critically-acclaimed albums: Ruby Vroom (1994), Irresistible Bliss (1996), and El Oso (1998). His alcoholism and drug addiction precipitated the band’s breakup in 2000, after which he was dropped by Warner Brothers. In the following years, Mike Doughty toured the US playing acoustic shows and issued a string of self-released albums that have since attained cult status, including 2000’s Skittish and the 2003 EP Rockity Roll. A fortunate encounter backstage with musician and fan Dave Matthews in 2004 resulted in Haughty Melodic (2005), released via Matthews’ label ATO Records. Two of the album’s singles, “Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well” and “I Hear the Bells” were featured on episodes of the TV series Grey’s Anatomy and Veronica Mars. In the following years, Mike Doughty published his memoirs under the title The Book of Drugs (2012), created the rock opera Revelation (2014), and dropped the album Stellar Motel (2015), his first collection of original material since 2011’s Yes and Also Yes. Subsequently, he returned with the project Ghost of Vroom, who released their first full-length Ghost of Vroom 1 in 2021.