Dead_Kennedys The Dead Kennedys were an American punk band from the first wave of American punk rock, formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. Pioneers of hardcore punk during the 1980s, the band gained a large underground following in the international punk music scene.The music of the Dead Kennedys mixes the more experimental elements of British 1970s punk with the raw energy of the 1980s American hardcore punk scene.