Poly Styrene

British punk musician (1957–2011) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Poly Styrene
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Poly Styrene (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011),[1][2] was a British musician. She was best known as the singer in the early punk rock band X-Ray Spex.

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Early life

She was born in 1957 in Bromley, Kent, and raised in Brixton, London.[3] Her mother raised her alone.[4] Her father was a Somali aristocrat.[5][6] She ran away from home as a teenager and lived in empty houses.[4] She saw the Sex Pistols perform on her birthday in 1975.[7] That gave her the idea to start her own punk band X-Ray Spex. She was an unusual music start because she wore braces, was mixed race, and dressed differently.[8]

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Personal life

Poly Styrene's real name was Marianne Joan Elliott-Said. She lived in St Leonards, East Sussex.[5] She joined the Hare Krishna movement in 1983.[9]

In 1991, Poly Styrene was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[3] She had breast cancer which metastasised to her spine. She died of breast cancer on 25 April 2011 at the age of 53.[1][2][10]

List of solo recordings

Albums

  • Translucence (United Artists, 1980)
  • Flower Aeroplane (2004)[11]
  • Generation Indigo (Future Noise Music, 2011)

EPs

  • Gods & Goddesses (Awesome, 1986)

Singles

  • "Silly Billy"/"What A Way"—as Mari Elliot (GTO, 1976)
  • "Talk In Toytown"/"Sub Tropical" (United Artists, 1980)
  • "City Of Christmas Ghosts"—Goldblade featuring Poly Styrene (Damaged Goods, 2008)
  • "Black Christmas" (2010)[12]
  • "Virtual Boyfriend" (2011)[13]
  • "Ghoulish" (2011)

References

Other websites

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