Belinda Carlisle

Not to be confused with Brandi Carlile.

Belinda Carlisle
Carlisle in 1986
Born
Belinda Jo Carlisle

(1958-08-17) August 17, 1958 (age 66)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names
  • Belinda Jo
  • Dottie Danger
  • Belinda Jo Kurczeski
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actress
  • memoirist
Years active1977–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1986)​
Children1
Relatives
Musical career
Genres
Labels
Formerly of

Belinda Jo Carlisle (/ˈkɑːrlaɪl/ KAR-lyle; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time,[1] and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist.

Raised in Southern California, Carlisle became the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's after the band's formation in 1978. With their chart-topping debut studio album Beauty and the Beat in 1981, the group helped popularize new wave music in the United States. The Go-Go's were the first (and to date only) all-female band in history who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to achieve a No. 1 album. The Go-Go's have sold over seven million records worldwide.[2]

After the break-up of the Go-Go's in 1985, Carlisle went on to have a successful solo career with radio hits such as "Mad About You", "I Get Weak", "Circle in the Sand", "Leave a Light On", "Summer Rain", and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth". The Go-Go's reformed in 1999, and Carlisle performed with them until their disbandment in 2022, while also maintaining her solo career.

Carlisle's autobiography, Lips Unsealed, published in June 2010, was a New York Times Best Seller and received favorable reviews.[3] In 1999, Carlisle was ranked No. 76 with the Go-Go's in VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.[4] In 2011, Carlisle, as a member of the Go-Go's, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[5] She and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021,[6] and the California Hall of Fame in 2024.[7]

  1. ^ "The Go-Go's | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame". rockhall.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "Belinda Carlisle Biography". AskMen.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  3. ^ Eby, Margaret (June 2, 2010). ""Lips Unsealed": Belinda Carlisle comes clean". Salon. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  4. ^ 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. VH1. July 26, 1999. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  5. ^ "The Go-Go's". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  6. ^ "Go-Go's Inducted Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Ultimate Classic Rock. October 31, 2021. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  7. ^ "The Go-Gos, Ava DuVernay and los Lobos to be Inducted into California Hall of Fame". January 30, 2024.