Christine Joy Amphlett (; 25 October 1959 – 21 April 2013) was an Australian singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the frontwoman of the

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

Divinyls Divinyls () were an Australian rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school un ...

. She was notable for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive humour in lyrics, performances and media interviews. Amphlett, Jeremy Paul and guitarist

Mark McEntee Mark McEntee ( ; born 16 July 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the Australian rock band, Divinyls. Early life McEntee was born in Perth, Western Australia, and went to Christ Church Grammar Sc ...

formed Divinyls in Sydney in 1980. With Amphlett and McEntee as its core members, the band underwent various lineup changes before dissolving in 1996. The band's biggest-selling single, "

I Touch Myself "I Touch Myself" is a song recorded by Australian rock band Divinyls. It was written by the songwriting team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg along with Christine Amphlett and Mark McEntee of the Divinyls. It was released in November 1990 by V ...

" (1990), achieved a No. 1 ranking in Australia, No. 4 in the United States and No. 10 in the United Kingdom (UK). The band was inducted into the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA)

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

in 2006. On the stage, Amphlett, who was 17 years old, played Linda Lips in the R-rated adults only musical comedy ''

Let My People Come ''Let My People Come'' is a musical with book and music by Earl Wilson, Jr. and lyrics by Wilson and Phil Oesterman. Subtitled "A Sexual Musical", the sexually-explicit show originally ran from 1974 to 1976 at The Village Gate Theater in Greenwich ...

'' (1976), starred in the musical '' Blood Brothers'' (1988) and portrayed

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

in multiple productions of ''

The Boy from Oz ''The Boy from Oz'' is an Australian jukebox musical based on the life of singer and songwriter Peter Allen, featuring songs written by him. The book commissioned for the musical is by Nick Enright, based on Stephen MacLean's 1996 biography o ...

''. On the screen, she played a supporting role in '' Monkey Grip'' (1982).

Early life and education

Christine Joy Amphlett was born on 25 October 1959 in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Her mother was from a well-off Hawthorn family, while her father was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran whose mother was a German immigrant and his father a Melbourne chef. Amphlett was a first cousin of Australian singer

Little Pattie Patricia Thelma Thompson (née Amphlett) OAM (born 17 March 1949), known professionally as Little Pattie, is an Australian singer who started her career as a teenager in the early 1960s, recording surf pop, with her backing group The Statesmen. ...

(Patricia Amphlett). She worked as a child model from the age of three until 12, and later said, "I didn't come from a very wealthy family so that actually clothed me and allowed me to have things". Amphlett attended Belmont High School.

Music

Divinyls

Amphlett met

at a concert at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

in 1980 and they formed

with Jeremy Paul (

Air Supply Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975, consisting of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). With record sales of 100 million worldwide, they had a suc ...

). Having performed in Sydney for some time, they recorded several songs for the film '' Monkey Grip'', in which Amphlett also acted. Divinyls consisted of an ever-changing line-up formed around Amphlett and McEntee, whose relationship was always volatile. Nevertheless, the band released six albums between 1982 and 1996, peaking in 1991 with the success of their single "

", which reached #1 in Australia, #4 in the US and #10 in the UK. The band, which underwent various lineup changes, broke up in 1996. The band was inducted into the

(ARIA)

in 2006. Amphlett and McEntee barely spoke after the band broke up, but resumed contact when they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and eventually announced a new tour and album. The band recorded and released a single, " Don't Wanna Do This", and toured Australia, but the proposed reunion album was never made.

Other work

Amphlett performed Divinyls' and other songs with a 30-piece orchestra for the Australian Rock Symphony in January 2010. In 2011, she released the single "Summer Song" under the name The Tulips, a band consisting of Amphlett, Charley Drayton and Kraig Jarret Johnson. It was used in the soundtrack for the film '' The Music Never Stopped''.

Image

Known for her brash, sexualised persona, Amphlett employed subversive humour in performances, lyrics and media interviews.

Acting

At the age of 17 in 1976, Amphlett was part of the original cast of the Australian production of the Earl Wilson Jr. penned stage musical comedy ''

'', playing the role of Linda Lips. The adult-themed musical opened at the Total Theatre in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, running for nine months, before transferring to the Bijou Theatre in Sydney for an additional three months. Amphlett made her film debut in '' Monkey Grip'' (1982) in a supporting role as Angela, the temperamental lead singer of a rock band. In 1988, she starred opposite

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...

in the first Australian production of

Willy Russell William Russell (born 23 August 1946) is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are '' Educating Rita'', '' Shirley Valentine'', '' Blood Brothers'' and '' Our Day Out''. Early life Russell was born in Whiston, Lanc ...

's stage musical '' Blood Brothers''. Amphlett played

in the original touring production of ''

'', with

Todd McKenney Todd McKenney (born 31 May 1965) is an Australian dancer, theatre performer and TV personality. He got his big break on the Chanel 7 Series, Simon’s Battered Sav. He is best known as a judge on the Australian television talent show ''Dancing ...

playing the role of Peter Allen. When the highly successful show transferred to Broadway in the year 2000, Garland was played by American performer

Isabel Keating Isabel Keating (born May 1, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her performance as Judy Garland in the original Broadway production of '' The Boy from Oz'', which earned her a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award. E ...

and Allen by

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...

. On its return to Australia as an arena spectacular, Amphlett resumed playing the role.

Personal life

Chrissy Amphlett and

, being bandmates at the same time, were romantically involved from 1982 to 1993. They met in 1980 and began a relationship two years later when McEntee split up with his wife. Their relationship was highly volatile, marred by drug and alcohol use and physical fights. However, the band's manager,

Vince Lovegrove Vincent James Lovegrove (19 March 1947 – 24 March 2012) was an Australian musician, journalist, music manager, television producer and AIDS awareness pioneer. He was a member of 1960s rock 'n' roll band The Valentines, sharing vocals with B ...

, later stated that the nature of their "weird" relationship was the "magic of Divinyls". On 27 July 1999, Amphlett married American drummer

Charley Drayton Charley Drayton is an American multi-instrumentalist and producer, known primarily as a drummer. Artists he has recorded or performed with include The Cult, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancoc ...

,"Amphlett (Chrissy) Christina", ''Who's Who in Australia'', Crown Content, 2010. who played drums on the Divinyls' eponymous album and was the drummer in the reformed group. In an interview on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

program ''

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

'', on 7 December 2007, Amphlett revealed that she had

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. On 20 October 2010, she announced that she had

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

and was being treated in New York, where she lived with her husband. She also said that her sister was a breast cancer survivor. On 24 January 2011, she stated she was free of cancer.

Death and legacy

Amphlett died, aged 53, on 21 April 2013, at her home in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

after a long battle with breast cancer. Due to the

that Amphlett had concurrently, she reported that she was unable to receive radiation treatment or chemotherapy to treat the cancer. Following the announcement of Amphlett's death, numerous tributes were received from artists, performers, and musicians.

wrote: "RIP Chrissie Amphlett, heplayed my mum in ''Blood Brothers'', 1988." A Melbourne central city laneway has been named "Amphlett Lane" in Amphlett's honour, complete with a commemorative plaque and two artworks. In November 2018, Amphlett was posthumously inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame.

I Touch Myself Project

Amphlett's family and friends and Cancer Council NSW launched the breast cancer awareness project "I Touch Myself" in 2014, as a tribute to Amphlett. Part of the project included a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of "I Touch Myself" and features 10 female Australian artists (

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

Megan Washington Megan Alexanda Washington (born 7 January 1986) is an Australian musician, songwriter and voice actor who has worked mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music, her style shifted to indie pop and alternative rock. She has re ...

Sarah McLeod Sarah McLeod (born 18 July 1971) is a New Zealand film and television actress. Her most notable role was in the Peter Jackson films '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' ...

Katie Noonan Katie Anne Noonan (born 2 May 1977) is an Australian singer and songwriter. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, she was the singer in the bands George and Elixir; she has also performed with he ...

Sarah Blasko Sarah Elizabeth Blaskow (born 23 September 1976), known professionally as Sarah Blasko, is an Australian singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. From April 2002, Blasko developed her solo career after fronting Sydney-based band Acquie ...

Suze DeMarchi Suze DeMarchi (born 14 February 1964) is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the band Baby Animals (1989–1996, 2007–present). Early life DeMarchi was born in Perth, Western Australia to Walter and Shirley DeMarchi and ...

Deborah Conway Deborah Ann Conway (born 8 August 1959) is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actress. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their top-5 hit "Man Overboard". Conway pe ...

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the rock, soul, jazz and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her single " Bedroom Eyes" re ...

and

Connie Mitchell Connie Thembi Mitchell (born ), also known as Miss Connie, is a South African-born Australian singer. In 1995 she was a founding member of Primary. Briefly, in 2004, she was vocalist for Machine Gun Fellatio under the pseudonym Feyonce. Since ...

). The song was released in June 2014 and peaked at number 72 on the ARIA charts. Cancer Council NSW stated, "Through this campaign we are encouraging women to get to know their breasts better, to know what is normal for them and to participate in breast screening if they're in the right age range."

Awards

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. Divinyls were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. , - ,

ARIA Music Awards of 2006 The 20th annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Presenters on the night includ ...

, Divinyls (Chrissy Amphlett) ,

ARIA Hall of Fame Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has inducted artists into its annual ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone ceremo ...

Countdown Australian Music Awards

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

''. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. , - , 1982 , Chrissy Amphlett (Divinyls) , Most Popular Female , , - , 1984 , Christina Amphlett – "In My Life" (Divinyls) , Best Female Performance in a Video , , -

Helpmann Awards

The

Helpmann Awards The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical theatre ...

is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group ''Live Performance Australia'' since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. ! , - ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, Chrissy Amphlett – ''The Boy from Oz'' ,

Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical Sir Robert Murray Helpmann (né Helpman) (9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (no ...

, , , -

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were last awarded in 2016. ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. (wins only) , - , 2000 , Chrissy Amphlett , Supporting Musical Theatrical Performer of the Year , , -

Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , Chrissy Amphlett, , Hall of Fame , , , -

References

External links

*
Chrissie Amphlett "Temperamental"
at National Portrait Gallery (Australia) {{DEFAULTSORT:Amphlett, Chrissy 1959 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Australian actresses APRA Award winners Australian autobiographers Australian buskers Australian contraltos Australian expatriate actresses in the United States Australian people of German descent Australian women singer-songwriters Australian musical theatre actresses Australian new wave musicians Australian rock singers Australian women rock singers Deaths from breast cancer in New York (state) Deaths from multiple sclerosis People with multiple sclerosis Divinyls members Australian women autobiographers Musicians from Geelong 20th-century Australian women singers 21st-century Australian women singers Actresses from Geelong 20th-century Australian singer-songwriters 21st-century Australian singer-songwriters