Founding member, lead singer and key lyricist for seminal political punk rock group The Clash. A gifted songwriter (particularly in tandem with The Clash's Mick Jones), Strummer moved from subway busker to pub-rocker (e.g. his first group The 101'ers), and like so many others of his generation, discovered punk rock after seeing The Sex Pistols. He immediately formed The Clash, and within a year the group had carved out its place as "the only been that matters," a quote referring to their seemingly concrete political commitment.

After a couple of critically lauded albums (especially 1979's "London Calling"), the group hit financial paydirt and, in the process of "selling out," broke up by 1983. Following the group's disbandment, Strummer turned to film in the late 80s, providing scores for a couple of Alex Cox films, as well as acting. Although he had earlier appeared in a quasi-documentary on The Clash ("Rude Boy" 1980), and took a lead role in Cox's very unserious romp "Straight to Hell" (1987), it was his stilted, though not entirely off the mark performance in Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train" (1989) which marked his dramatic acting debut.