Laura Jane Grace

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Lead Singer, Against Me!

College & University
Musicians
Diversity⸒ Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Laura Jane Grace: Biography at a Glance

  • Lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!
  • Came out as a transgendered person in 2012 and revealed she would be transitioning to life as a woman
  • Against Me!’s third album, New Wave, was named the album of the year by Spin magazine
  • Author of the 2016 memoir “Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout”
  • Founded Total Treble recording studio and Total Treble Music record label

Biography

American musician Laura Jane Grace is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me! In 2012, she publicly came out as a transgendered person and announced she would be transitioning to life as a woman. Leaving the name Tom Gabel behind, Laura Jane Grace has become a public ally for the acceptance of transgendered people.

Grace formed Against Me! in 1997 when she was 17. After transforming into a traditional four-piece a few years later with the crucial addition of guitarist James Bowman, they quickly became a driving force in the punk scene--despite facing an abundance of unsolicited danger. Their first major label album, New Wave, debuted on the Billboard 200 and was named Spin’s "Album of the Year."

The band has released seven albums and toured all 50 states and 29 countries. In their 2014 album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues, Grace shared her lifelong struggle with gender dysphoria.

In 2011, Grace bought an abandoned post office in Elkton, Florida and converted it into a studio. Along with the recording studio, which she named Total Treble, she launched an accompanying record label, Total Treble Music. The label released its first album in 2012, Cheap Girls’ Giant Orange, which was also Grace’s first credit as a record producer.

Grace saw another career milestone in 2013, as she co-wrote “Soulmates to Strangers” with rock royalty Joan Jett for Jett’s Unvarnished album.

In late 2016, Grace released the memoir Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout. Tranny provides a searing account of her search for identity and her true self. That same year, Against Me! released their seventh studio album, Shape Shift with Me The band is set to tour behind the new record.

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The scheduled 60-minute performance ended up going 90 minutes and ended w/ a standing ovation from the fully packed room. This LJ solo show, where she talks and plays, is really great.

Lesley University
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