Poly Styrene – an amazing role model
I was saddened to hear that Poly Styrene, founder and lead singer of the punk band X-Ray Spex had passed away.
Born Marian Joan Elliot-Said at Bromley, Kent on July 3 1957; she left behind a legacy to be proud of.
With so many people showing their support and love for her, I couldn’t help but think of what she had achieved crossing racial barriers and standing up to be counted in a male dominated scene.
A trained opera singer who dressed in an unusual and theatrical manner. Rather than use that trained voice she screamed in a punkish fashion, sounding like nothing else and totally doing it her way!
An important influence on the “Riot Grrrl” movement of the early 1990s, she is survived by her daughter, Celeste Bell-Dos Santos, the front woman for the Madrid-based group Debutant Disco.
