X-Ray Spex front woman Poly Styrene has died. Styrene (real name Marianne Elliot-Said) had been battling cancer and passed away last night aged 53.
She fronted all-female punk act X-Ray Spex who were best known for their song 'Oh Bondage Up Yours!' Their landmark and only album 'Germ Free Adolescents', released in 1978, went on to become a primary influence on Britpop and Riot Grrrl and Styrene won acclaim for her dissections of gender politics, consumer culture and the obsessions of modern life.
“At the centre of it was Poly Styrene, a bi-racial feminist punk with the perfect voice to soundtrack rebellion,” said a statement released by her press officer this morning.
“Poly never sacrificed the intelligence or the fun in her music and style. Her trademark braces and dayglo clothes were a playful rejection of the status quo and of conformity and complacency.”
Styrene formed her band after watching the Sex Pistols perform on Hastings Pier on her 18th birthday. After X-Ray Spex split up she went on to record a more subtle and subdued solo album, Translucence, in 1980, before retreating from the music industry to join the Hare Krishnas.
She moved into a Krishna temple in Hertfordshire with her daughter, and struggled with bipolar disorder. Boy George - who once tried to break her out of the temple - was among those paying tribute on Twitter: "I was a fan of Poly before I got to know her, she was a Krishna follower too, oh bless you Polly you will be missed! Legend!"
Her last album 'Generation Indigo', released last month, was produced by Youth (The Verve, Killing Joke, Edwyn Collins).
