Fred Schneider was born in Newark, New Jersey. He is best known as the male lead vocalist of the rock band The B-52s, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well-known for his sprechgesang and is openly gay.

He has released two solo albums, Fred Schneider & the Shake Society (1991) and Just Fred (1996), the latter produced by Steve Albini. He also appeared in The Flintstones (1994) and his voice in The Rugrats Movie (1998).