Siouxsie | Artist
Susan Janet Ballion aka Siouxsie Sioux is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer born 1957 in Southwark, London. She came to prominence as leader and main lyricist of Siouxsie & the Banshees, and her second group, the Creatures, before continuing as a solo artist using just the name Siouxsie. The product of a Scottish mother and Belgian father who spent considerable time living and working in the jungles of the Belgian Congo, Siouxsie felt isolated and alienated growing up in suburban Chislehurst, Kent. At 17 she left school and immersed herself in the emerging fashion and music scenes of the time. In February 1976, Siouxsie and her friend Steven Severin went to see the Sex Pistols play in London and after chatting with the band, they decided to follow them regularly. In the following months, journalist Caroline Coon coined the term "Bromley Contingent" to describe this group of eccentric teenagers devoted to the Sex Pistols. Siouxsie became well known in the London club scene for her glam, fetish and bondage-inspired attire, which later became part of punk fashion. She also heavily influenced goth fashion with her signature cat-eye makeup, deep red lipstick, spiky dyed-black hair, and black clothing. Following the punk DIY ethos that the people in the audience could be the people on stage, Siouxsie and Severin decided to form a band. When a support slot at the 100 Club Punk Festival organised by Malcolm McLaren opened up, they decided to perform, although they didn't know any songs. On 20 September 1976, the band improvised 20 minutes of music while Siouxsie sang the "Lord's Prayer." For critic Jon Savage, Siouxsie was "unlike any female singer before or since, commanding yet aloof, entirely modern". Viv Albertine from the Slits said "Siouxsie just appeared fully made, fully in control, utterly confident. It totally blew me away. There she was doing something that I dared to dream but she took it and did it and it wiped the rest of the festival." Siouxsie then began focussing her energy on her own band, Siouxsie & the Banshees. That band became one of the most inventive and influential bands of the post-punk era, releasing 11 studio albums including several enduring classics. In 1981 Siouxsie teamed with Banshees drummer Peter Clarke aka Budgie to form new group The Creatures. Siouxsie and Budgie wre married over the period 1991-2007. In the mid 1990's Siouxsie began doing collaborations with prominent artists such as Morrissey, John Cale, Bernard Sumner, and Angelo Badalamenti, which was a precursor to her later work as solo artist. In 1992 film director Tim Burton requested she write a song for Batman Returns, and the Banshees composed the single "Face to Face." Her first solo album Mantaray received rave reviews upon release in September 2007, with Mojo declaring "a thirst for sonic adventure radiates from each track". Mantaray included three singles: "Into a Swan", "Here Comes That Day" and "About to Happen." Penning a retrospective of Siouxsie's work, journalist Paul Morley noted that her songs topics dealt with "mental illness, medical terrors, surreal diseases, depraved urges, sinister intensity, unearthly energy, sexual abuse, childhood disturbances, sordid mysteries, unbearable nervous anxiety, fairytale fears, urban discontent and the bleak dignity of solitude". Her childhood marked her profoundly and Siouxsie has quoted, "Damaged lives, damaged souls, damaged relationships. Most of the damage I sing about first happened when I was younger and I am still feeding off it and working it out." In 2022, Sky Arts ranked Siouxsie at number 14 in Britain's top 50 most influential artists of the last 50 years, and The Times called her "one of British pop's most charismatic and original artists."
Artist Website: en.wikipedia/Siouxsie_Sioux
Featured Albums: Siouxsie
Related Artists: Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Cure, The Creatures, The Sex Pistols
Collections: Women of Note
