There are more than one artist with this name, including:
1) Rough Trade was a Canadian rock band centred on singer Carole Pope and multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples (died 2025);
2) Rough Trade was a Norwegian punk band from Ålesund;
3) Rough Trade is a spoken word artist from Australia.

1) Rough Trade was a Canadian rock band centred on singer Carole Pope and multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples (died 2025) that gained success in the 70s and 80s. Their music is filled with themes of catastropic power and dimestore novel smut, entertainingly delivered by Pope's powerful voice.
The first iteration of the band was formed in 1968, in Toronto, when Carole Pope (vocals, guitars) and Kevan Staples (keyboards, guitars) began performing in a folk group known as "O".
In 1973, the band was renamed Rough Trade, and was joined by percussionist Chris Faulkner, bassist Bob Jennings, and drummer Donny McDougal. As would happen frequently going forward, the players supporting Pope and Staples were subject to sometimes wholesale change.
Rough Trade was the first rock band to record a direct to disc album with 1976's Rough Trade Live, which despite the title, was actually a studio recording.
The group's second album, Avoid Freud, was released in October 1980.
After the final break-up in 1988, Rough Trade performed several reunion shows, with varying personnel supporting Pope and Staples.

2) Rough Trade was a Norwegian punk band from Ålesund. They released a 7" in 1980, and have been featured on compilations such as "Anarki & kaos" and "Bloodstains Across Norway".

3) Rough Trade is a spoken word artist from Australia who focuses on homoerotic content. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.