Michael Lee Ivins (born March 17, 1963 in Omaha, Nebraska) is the bassist and one of the founding members of The Flaming Lips.
Along with Mark Coyne and Wayne Coyne, he formed The Flaming Lips in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. According to Wayne, Michael was found as the bassist for the band because of his punk-rock look, and not because of his musical ability.[citation needed] In fact, Michael initially couldn't play bass, but he learned how to and has been the bassist for the band ever since. Michael developed an interest in the recording process and has helped engineer the Flaming Lips' studio recordings since 1994.
One of his lesser-known musical endeavors was acting as fill-in bassist for Youth of Today's 1988 United States and European tours.
He has maternal Jewish ancestry. He was known as a "goth" when he joined the Flaming Lips.
Ivins often wears a full-body skeleton suit commonly recognized as a halloween costume in tribute to John Entwistle (He wore this costume when The Flaming Lips performed at the 2008 VH1 Rock Honors, which paid tribute to The Who). He is also sometimes seen wearing a Detroit Red Wings hockey jersey.
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