John Cooper Clarke

John Cooper Clarke is an English poet and performance poet from Salford, United Kingdom. He is associated with post-punk, punk, spoken word, new wave and punk poetry, and is often described as a punk poet. He is also known as the Bard of Salford.

He first gains recognition in the late 1970s during the rise of punk. His recorded work mainly appears with musical backing from The Invisible Girls, a group featuring Martin Hannett, Pete Shelley, Bill Nelson and Steve Hopkins.

His best-known piece is "Evidently Chickentown", which reaches a wider audience through its use in the final season of The Sopranos and in the film Control.