Susan Mae Elizabeth Medley, is an American musician, artist, and actress from

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, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She is best known as the lead guitarist for

Dead Sara Dead Sara is an American rock band from Los Angeles, consisting of Emily Armstrong (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Siouxsie Medley (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Sean Friday (drums, backing vocals), best known for their single "Weatherman" f ...

, a band she founded with

Emily Armstrong Emily Marcia Armstrong (born May 6, 1986) is an American singer and guitarist. The co-founder of Dead Sara, she became the lead singer of Linkin Park when the band regrouped in September 2024, seven years after the death of their long-time lead ...

in 2005.

Early years

Born in

to Stan Medley and Sandra Sherman, Medley was raised by her father after her parents separated. Medley's interest in music began at age 9 when she started practicing on a

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...

owned by her nanny, Dexy Valentine of the band Magic Wands. She then used two years’ worth of saved allowances to purchase her own guitar, a Fender Squier, at age 11. Medley started acting at age 12 when she won a part in an international commercial. The commercial played mostly in Europe and Medley became a

SAG SAG, SAg or sag may refer to: Land formations * Sag (geology), or ''trough'', a depressed, persistent, low area * Sag pond, a body of water collected in the lowest parts of a depression People * Ivan Sag (1949–2013), American linguist ...

actress as a result. She was pursuing an acting career until she met

in 2002 and the two began writing songs together.

Dead Sara

Medley and Armstrong first performed live in March 2005 at The Mint nightclub in Los Angeles, under the name Epiphany. Later that year they changed their band's name to

as a reference to the

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

song "Sara" and its lyric "...said Sara", sometimes heard as "dead Sara". Armstrong and Medley have cited

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album ...

, who wrote "Sara", as a primary influence. Dead Sara has since released three full-length albums and several EPs, most recently ''

Temporary Things Taking Up Space ''Temporary Things Taking Up Space'' is the third EP by the American rock band Dead Sara, released on June 8, 2018, under their new label Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American r ...

'' in 2018.

Accolades

In 2012, Medley was the only woman among the 10 finalists for the ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' rock guitarist of the year award. As of 2017, Medley is the only female guitarist ever named as a guitarist of the year finalist in the ''Loudwire'' annual awards. Medley composed the artwork for the Dead Sara single "Heart Shaped Box", which

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

commissioned for the cover of its ''

Infamous Second Son ''Infamous Second Son'' is a 2014 action-adventure video game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The third installment in the ''Infamous'' series, it serves as a standalone ...

'' video game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medley, Siouxsie 1986 births American lead guitarists Living people Musicians from Los Angeles