Jane Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actress, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the new wave band The Go-Go's. She voices Dusk, the drummer and backup vocalist of the fictional rock band the Hex Girls. She also had a successful solo career.
The Go-Go's became one of the most successful American bands of the 1980s, helping popularize
new wave music
New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...
Vacation
A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or school or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for sp ...
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
. She and the band were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
in 2021.
Early life
Wiedlin was born in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Her father, Robert Arthur Wiedlin Sr., an oral surgeon of German and Swiss ancestry, was born in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Her mother, Betty Jane (née Herro), was of Lebanese heritage. Wiedlin's parents met while students at Marquette University in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
. She is one of five children, with a sister and three brothers, and grew up
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. During Wiedlin's early childhood, her family lived in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee. When she was six, her father took a job with the
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
at a VA hospital in Los Angeles, and the family then moved to the city.
Wiedlin has said, "I remember my childhood as extremely idyllic." She has mentioned her adolescence having
angst
Angst is a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity. ''Anguish'' is its Romance languages, Latinate cognate, equivalent, and the words ''anxious'' and ''anxiety'' are of similar origin.
Etymology
The word ''angst'' was introduced in ...
and hope by saying, "I was a depressed teenager. I thought life was completely pointless when I was in high school, but just a few short years later I was having the adventure of a lifetime in a successful rock band!" She attended William Howard Taft High School in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
from 1972 to 1976.
Career
The Go-Go's
According to Wiedlin, she was present "pretty much from the beginning" of the Los Angeles punk scene. While attending college in the Los Angeles area and studying fashion design, she worked at a fashion-design house where she wrote song lyrics and scribbled ideas for songs on clothing patterns. Under the moniker Jane Drano, she designed and sold punk-style clothing at Granny Takes a Trip, a store on Sunset Boulevard. She became part of the scene which spawned bands including X, the Germs, and The Weirdos.
Wiedlin and
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a sol ...
formed the Go-Go's as a punk band in 1978, with Margot Olaverra on bass and Elissa Bello on drums. In 1981, Wiedlin and Terry Hall of Fun Boy Three and
The Specials
The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' Hot 100 chart at No. 20, where it remained until 1982. After a series of reunions during the 1990s, Wiedlin, Carlisle, Caffey, Schock, and Valentine reunited in 2000 to record '' God Bless the Go-Go's'', their first studio album in 17 years. The album's title and concept came from Wiedlin. In 2010, the Go-Go's announced their "Happily Ever After" farewell tour, which was intended to begin in July. However, it was canceled after Wiedlin fell down a cliff during a nighttime hike and suffered ACL tears in both knees. The Go-Go's announced an 11-date reunion tour scheduled to begin in June 2020. It was postponed in May 2020 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 ...
.
In May 2021 it was announced that the Go-Go's would be inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
on October 30, 2021. The band continued touring into 2022, before announcing their break up. They did a one-off reunion in 2024 after being inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
Solo career
Wiedlin has released four solo albums: ''
Jane Wiedlin
Jane Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actress, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the new wave music, new wave band The Go-Go's. She voices Dusk, the drummer and ba ...
'' in 1985, '' Fur'' in 1988, '' Tangled'' in 1990, and ''Kissproof World'' in 2000. From 1995 to 1998, she was also a member of the band froSTed, which released one album, ''Cold'', in 1996. In 2017, Wiedlin teamed up with the American-born Italian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Pietro Straccia to form a new psychedelic/pop/harmony and guitar-driven duo called Elettrodomestico.
Acting career
Wiedlin's early acting credits include an ill-fated singing telegram girl in '' Clue'' (1985), a brief appearance as an officer seen on a Starfleet Command video screen in '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'' (1986), the White Fairy in Golan-Globus's ''
Sleeping Beauty
"Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...
'' (1987) and as
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
in '' Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989). Of her 1980s acting career, she said, "It turned out to be much harder than it looks, and as much as I enjoyed those experiences, I don't think I'm very good at it."
In 2001, she had a regular role in MTV's '' Spyder Games'', portraying the "ex-rock chick who runs the local coffee house" where the characters hang out. In 2005, she appeared as herself on the fourth season of VH1's '' The Surreal Life'', in which she talked about her interest in bdsm.Wiedlin reveals (and demonstrates) her BDSM predilections in the ''Surreal Life'' episode "I'm With Cupid". First aired February 20, 2005. Prod Code: SL406. She portrayed the role of Ursula in Steve Balderson's 2005 surrealist crime drama film ''
Firecracker
A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental to ...
'', which
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
listed among the year's best films. She worked a further three times with director Balderson, in ''Stuck!'' (2009), an homage to
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
women in prison dramas. '' The Casserole Club'' (2011), about married swingers in 1960s Palm Springs, and ''Culture Shock'' (2013), a crime spoof set in London.
She played Tess in the 2011 independent movie ''I Want to Get Married'', and played a math teacher in the 2016 horror film ''HoneyBee''. She has provided voices for characters in television and film animation, such as Miranda Kane and Shannon in '' The New Batman Adventures'', Gwen in '' Mission Hill'', and Dusk of the Hex Girls in the ''
Scooby-Doo
''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...
'' franchise.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other work
In 2000, Wiedlin and fellow Go-Go's member Charlotte Caffey co-wrote Keith Urban's first number one song, " But for the Grace of God". Wiedlin contributed quotations to ''Girls Against Girls'' by author Bonnie Burton. Wiedlin was a contributing writer to the Los Angeles punk rock books ''Under the Big Black Sun'' (2016) and ''More Fun in the New World'' (2019) by John Doe and Tom DeSavia.
In April 2009, Wiedlin was photographed as
Bettie Page
Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up model, pin-up photos.Austin Young for the "Heaven Bound" art show. A number of her songs were featured in the 2018 debut of the Broadway
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
''Head Over Heels'', with a story suggested by
Philip Sidney
Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) was an English poet, courtier, scholar and soldier who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan age.
His works include a sonnet sequence, ' ...
's ''Arcadia'' set to the songs of the Go-Go's and
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a sol ...
.
Personal life
A long-time
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
activist, Wiedlin has worked with PETA since 1989 when she performed as part of a "Rock Against Fur" concert in New York City. She is a friend of PETA executive Dan Mathews. Wiedlin has discussed her struggles with depression and mental health, and how it affected her at several stages of her life: a suicide attempt in high school, and the effects fame (and a lack of healthy coping mechanisms) had on her wellbeing.
During Wiedlin's time in the Los Angeles punk scene, her first real boyfriend was Terry Bag (Terry Graham) of the punk band the Bags and later The Gun Club. She later had what she called a "short but dramatic romance" with Terry Hall of
the Specials
The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...
during a 1980 British tour. Hall later sent her some lyrics prompted by their relationship, inspiring Wiedlin to write "Our Lips Are Sealed", a song on which Hall has co-writer credit and recorded with his own band, Fun Boy Three. In the 2020 documentary ''The Go-Go's'', bandmate Gina Schock said that she and Wiedlin were "girlfriends" for a time until Wiedlin broke up with her. Wiedlin also had a brief relationship with Russell Mael of the band Sparks. Wiedlin is
bisexual
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
.
In addition to acting and singing, Wiedlin is an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, a mail-order religious organization that offers anyone semi-immediate, no-cost ordination as a ULC minister. Wiedlin identifies herself as "Reverend Sister Go-Go", primarily officiating at weddings.
Wiedlin and Ged Malone were married from 1987 to 1999. She was married to David Trotter from 2004 to 2005. Wiedlin got engaged to her boyfriend Terence Lundy in October 2022. They were married in February 2023. She announced their divorce in April 2024. As an adult Wiedlin has lived in various places:
Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...
, Costa Rica, Panama, Wisconsin, San Francisco, and Hawaii. In December 2023, in an exposé by ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'', Wiedlin alleged that rock DJ Rodney Bingenheimer sexually assaulted her at his English Disco nightclub in Los Angeles when she was around 15 in about 1974.
Geffen Records
Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...
) – As froSTed
* 2001 '' Josie and the Pussycats Original Soundtrack'' – Contributor on "You Don't See" and "Come On"
* 2002 ''The Specials vs. the Untouchables: Ska's Greatest Stars'' (Big Eye Music) – Rearrangement of "Our Lips Are Sealed" with the Specials
* 2006 ''80's New Wave Hits'' (Big Eye Music) – Rearrangement of "Our Lips Are Sealed" with
the Specials
The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...
* 2017 ''Elettrodomestico'' (''If You're a Boy or a Girl'')