Jane Wiedlin

Jane Wiedlin (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; 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 with songs including "We Got the Beat", "Our Lips Are Sealed", and "Vacation". As a solo artist, Wiedlin's "Rush Hour" peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. As an actress, she had roles as the singing telegram girl in Clue (1985) and as Joan of Arc in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).

As a member of the Go-Go's, Wiedlin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Early life

Wiedlin was born in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her father, Robert Arthur Wiedlin Sr., an oral surgeon of German and Swiss ancestry, was born in Chicago. Her mother, Betty Jane (née Herro),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was of Lebanese heritage. Wiedlin's parents met while students at Marquette University in Milwaukee. She is one of five children, with a sister and three brothers, and grew up Catholic. 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 at a VA hospital in Los Angeles, and the family then moved to the city.<ref name=albertoni>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Wiedlin has said, "I remember my childhood as extremely idyllic." She has mentioned her adolescence having angst 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 from 1972 to 1976.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Career

The Go-Go's

According to Wiedlin, she was present "pretty much from the beginning"<ref name="baginterview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="baginterview"/> She became part of the scene which spawned bands including X, the Germs, and the Weirdos.<ref name="gogobio"/>

Wiedlin and Belinda Carlisle formed the Go-Go's as a punk band in 1978, with Margot Olaverra on bass and Elissa Bello on drums.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1981, Wiedlin and Terry Hall of Fun Boy Three and the Specials co-wrote "Our Lips Are Sealed".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 20, where it remained until 1982.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="rolling" /> In 2010, the Go-Go's announced their "Happily Ever After" farewell tour, which was intended to begin in July.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, it was canceled after Wiedlin fell down a cliff during a nighttime hike and suffered ACL tears in both knees.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In May 2021 it was announced that the Go-Go's would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The band continued touring into 2022, before announcing their break up.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They did a one-off reunion in 2024 after being inducted into the California Hall of Fame.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Solo career

File:Janewiedlin.jpg

Wiedlin performing at the Philadelphia Bourse in 1988

Wiedlin has released four solo albums: Jane Wiedlin in 1985, Fur in 1988, Tangled in 1990, and Kissproof World in 2000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 (1987) and as Joan of Arc in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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."<ref name="stuck">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="rolling">Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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.<ref name=":0">Wiedlin reveals (and demonstrates) her BDSM predilections in the Surreal Life episode "I'm With Cupid". First aired February 20, 2005. Prod Code: SL406.</ref> She portrayed the role of Ursula in Steve Balderson's 2005 surrealist crime drama film Firecracker, which Roger Ebert listed among the year's best films.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She worked a further three times with director Balderson, in Stuck! (2009), an homage to film noir women in prison dramas,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Casserole Club (2011), about married swingers in 1960s Palm Springs, and Culture Shock (2013), a crime spoof set in London.<ref name="dailybloid/interview/steve-balderson">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

She played Tess in the 2011 independent movie I Want to Get Married,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 franchise.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Clue	Singing Telegram Girl
1986	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home	Alien Communications Officer
1987	Sleeping Beauty	White Fairy
1989	Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure	Joan of Arc
1999	Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost	Dusk (voice)	citation	CitationClass=web }} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
2000	Angels!	Agent 77
2003	Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire	Dusk (voice)	<ref name="btva" />
2005	Firecracker	Ursula
2009	Stuck!	Princess
2010	Demonic Toys 2	Baby Whoopsie (voice)	<ref name="btva" />
2011	The Casserole Club	Marjorie Lavon
2011	I Want to Get Married	Tess
2012	Culture Shock	Baby Boo Boo
2016	HoneyBee	Mrs. Humphrey
2021	The Sparks Brothers	Herself	Documentary

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	The New Batman Adventures	Miranda Kane, Shannon (voice)	2 episodes<ref name="btva" />
1999	Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain	Vanity White (voice)	4 episodes<ref name="btva" />
1999–2002	Mission Hill	Gwen (voice)	7 episodes
2000	The Wild Thornberrys	Phaedra (voice)	2 episodes<ref name="btva" />
2000	Behind the Music	Herself	Episode: "The Go-Go's"
2002–2003	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Dusk, Backup Singer (voice)	2 episodes
2003	As Told by Ginger	Hope Rogers (voice)	Episode: "No Hope for Courtney"<ref name="btva" />
2003	Duck Dodgers	Cassiopeia (voice)	Episode: "They Stole Dodgers' Brain"<ref name="btva" />
2005	Rugrats Pre-School Daze	Willy (voice)	3 episodes<ref name="btva" />
2005	The Surreal Life	Herself	<ref name=":0" />
2010–2013	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated	Dusk (voice)	2 episodes
2012	Behind the Music: Remastered	Herself	Episode: "The Go-Go's"
2020	Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?	Dusk (voice)	Episode: "I Put a Hex On You!"

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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 by Austin Young for the "Heaven Bound" art show.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A number of her songs were featured in the 2018 debut of the Broadway musical Head Over Heels, with a story suggested by Philip Sidney's Arcadia set to the songs of the Go-Go's and Belinda Carlisle.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Personal life

A long-time animal rights activist, Wiedlin has worked with PETA since 1989 when she performed as part of a "Rock Against Fur" concert in New York City.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She is a friend of PETA executive Dan Mathews.<ref name="rolling"/> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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. She later had what she called a "short but dramatic romance" with Terry Hall of the Specials during a 1980 British tour. Hall later sent her some lyrics prompted by their relationship, inspiring Wiedlin to write "Our Lips Are Sealed",<ref name="stuck" /> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Wiedlin is bisexual.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Wiedlin and Ged Malone were married on 25 July 1987 and divorced in 1999.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She then married David Trotter on 8 June 2004; they divorced in 2005.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Wiedlin became engaged to her boyfriend Terence Lundy in October 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They married in February 2023.Template:Cn She announced their divorce in April 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As an adult, Wiedlin has lived in various places: Mendocino County, California, Costa Rica, Panama, Wisconsin, San Francisco, and Hawaii.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In December 2023, in an exposé by Rolling Stone, 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.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	CAN <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	UK <ref name="UK">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Jane Wiedlin	Release date: October 1985 Label: IRS	127	—	—
Fur	Release date: 1988 Label: EMI, Manhattan	105	88	48
Tangled	Release date: 1990 Label: EMI USA	—	—	—
Kissproof World	Release date: October 31, 2000 Label: Painful Discs	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Title	Album details
The Very Best of Jane Wiedlin: From Cool Places to Worlds on Fire	Release date: 1993 Label: Alliance, EMI

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions					Album
		US <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	US Dance <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	CAN	NZ <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>	UK <ref name="UK" />
"Blue Kiss"	1985	77	30	62	—	—	Jane Wiedlin
"Rush Hour"	1988	9	—	13	31	12	Fur
"Inside a Dream"		57	—	—	—	64
"World on Fire"	1990	—	—	—	—	—	Tangled
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Featured singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		US	US Dance
"Cool Places" Template:Small	1983	49	13	In Outer Space

Other releases

• 1990 Pretty Woman soundtrack (EMI, re-released 2006, with bonus disc) – "Tangled"
• 1996 Cold (Geffen Records) – 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
• 2017 Elettrodomestico (If You're a Boy or a Girl)

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