Photo: HAL-Guandu / CC BY 3.0 de (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Moondog was credited as a street artist, poet and composer. Moondog was born on May 26, 1916 in Marysville, Kansas, United States. Death is recorded on September 8, 1999, at the age of 83. Schooling on record includes Hurley High School.
My Take
Moondog is one of those figures I find endlessly fascinating. Blind, largely self-taught, and famously standing on Manhattan streets dressed as a Viking, Louis Thomas Hardin turned outsider status into pure art. What moves me is how freely he absorbed jazz, classical, Native American and Latin American music, then invented his own instruments to express it. He answered to no convention but his own. Born in Kansas in 1916 and gone in 1999, he left behind a body of work that still feels quietly radical. I admire him deeply, not as a curiosity but as a genuine original.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Moondog
- Name (Japanese)
- ムーンドッグ
- Reading
- むーんどっぐ
- Born
- May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Dragon
- Origin
- Marysville, Kansas, United States
- Occupation
- street artist / poet / composer / jazz musician / singer
2. Background
- High school
- Hurley High School
3. Links
- Official sitehttps://moondog-music.com/
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondog
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%83%E3%82%B0
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134864
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-21
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Moondog born?
Born May 26, 1916.
When did Moondog die?
Died September 8, 1999, aged 83.
Where was Moondog from?
Moondog was from Marysville, Kansas, United States.
What did Moondog do?
Moondog worked as street artist, poet, composer, jazz musician, singer.
Street artist — see all → · Poet — see all → · More people from the United States →