Dead Kennedys are an American hardcore punk band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk rock community, and were one of the first American hardcore bands to make a significant impact in the United Kingdom.

While they were one of the earliest, most popular and most influential of the American hardcore bands, their music was highly unique in the realm of punk rock in general, bearing traces of surf music, spaghetti western, psychedelic rock, garage rock and rockabilly. Jello Biafra's biting lyrics tackled the sociopolitical concerns of the Reagan era with a distinct sense of morbid humor and satire, following in the footsteps of such earlier rock satirists as Frank Zappa (particularly his 1960's work with The Mothers of Invention) and non-musical countercultural figures like Abbie Hoffman and Lenny Bruce.