Kelley Deal is an American musician and singer. She has been lead guitarist and co-vocalist of the alternative rock bandThe Breeders since 1992, and has formed her own side-projects with bands such as R. Ring and The Kelley Deal 6000. She is the identical twin sister of The Breeders' lead singer Kim Deal.
Early life
Kelley Deal was born in Dayton, Ohio, United States, 11 minutes before her twin sister Kim Deal. The Deal twins grew up in Huber Heights, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. The sisters first played together in their late teens, Kim playing guitar and both sisters singing Hank Williams songs in biker bars. They both had an opportunity to join the Pixies in the mid-'80s, with Kim on bass and Kelley on drums; Kim followed through while Kelley opted to move to California. While Kim made her mark as an indie rock musician, Kelley worked in computer programming.
Musical career
In 1989, Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly formed the first incarnation of The Breeders. Kim invited Kelley to join the band for their debut album, Pod, but Kelley could not get time off from work.
The Breeders
In 1992, Kelley joined the band as third guitarist, even though she did not really know how to play. The Safari EP was the first recording on which she appeared. Guitarist Tanya Donelly left to form Belly a little after the release of Safari. Kim suggested Kelley should be the band's new drummer. After Kelley insisted on lead guitar, Kim gave her a crash course on all the songs in the band's set. Kelley picked up quickly and learned all the lead parts on Pod and the new parts on the album they were about to record, Last Splash. A new drummer from Dayton, Jim MacPherson, joined them. After Last Splash was released in 1993, the band toured, opening for Nirvana, and also got a slot on the Lollapalooza tour in 1994.
Other projects
After Last Splash, Kelley started The Kelley Deal 6000. The band released two albums on Eel's Nice Records label, Go To The Sugar Altar in 1996 and Boom! Boom! Boom! in 1997, and went on hiatus when The Breeders were reunited. Kelley also joined The Last Hard Men with Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach, Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jimmy Flemion of The Frogs. She played bass for them and they recorded an eponymous album in 1997, which was released in a limited edition on Eel's own label, Nice Records, and in 2001 on Spitfire Records. She teamed back up with her sister in the late 1990s and began recording new demos for the Breeders. With a new line up, they released Title TK in 2002. Title TK features three songs recorded in 1999, where the Deal sisters played all the instruments. In April 2008, The Breeders released Mountain Battles. All Nerve followed in 2018. She has been knitting in recent years. She specializes in knitted handbags, which she sells on her website, and appeared on the DIY Network knitting show Knitty Gritty, and in 2008 released a book of her knitting handbag patterns, Bags That Rock: Knitting on the Road with Kelley Deal. One of her patterns is included in the DIY Network's book Knitty Gritty Knits: 25 Fun & Fabulous Projects'. She co-wrote and played guitar on Magnetophone's "Kel's Vintage Thought". She has also performed duets with Kris Kristofferson and Supersuckers, and has also played in the band R. Ring. In January 2020, Deal joined the band Protomartyr as a touring member for their 2020 midwest tour. Deal has previously collaborated on the bands records, doing vocals on 'a couple' of songs.
Legal problems
In 1994, Kelley was arrested for heroin possession; she had been using since she was a teenager. She went through drug rehabilitation throughout the following year. A February 2018feature article in the New York Times stated that Kelley was then in her eighth year of sobriety.
