Siouxsie
(Rock - England)
With Siouxsie, it's a genuine icon who will straddle the stage at the Ardentes. Born to an English mother and a French-speaking Belgian father, the girl who was called at the time Susan Janet Ballion spent her childhood in the suburbs of London. At 18 she quit her parents' home to live in the city centre during the punk explosion. The rest is history: her first concert supporting The Sex Pistols with Sid Vicious on drums, the formation of her group Siouxsie and the Banshees, a spell with The Cure's Robert Smith on guitar, and most of all a series of singles «Hong Kong Garden», «Happy House», «Christine», «Spellbound», «Dear Prudence», «Peek-a-boo» and «Kiss Them For me» that mapped out the history of punk, post-punk and New Wave. To survive the 80s, Siouxsie became high priestess of a deep and literary informed style that quickly became christened Gothic. Today, after the last Banshees album in '95 and several albums by The Creatures, the group she formed with Banshees drummer Budgie, Siousxie decided to finally launch a solo career. The album's called Mantaray and its purpose is evident: to shatter the punk ice-queen image and usher in a more pop oriented interpretation. For the first time Siouxsie forgoes the eyeliner and frosty attitude to deliver this delicate overture to the world and open it up to her marvellous bittersweet melodies.
http://www.myspace.com/siouxsiemantaray