Wendy O. Williams | |
|---|---|
 Williams in 1979 | |
| Born | Wendy Orlean Williams May 28, 1949 Webster, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 6, 1998 (aged 48) Storrs, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Partner | Rod Swenson (1976–1998; her death) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1976–1990 |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | Plasmatics |
| Website | wendyowilliams |
| Signature | |
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Wendy Orlean Williams (May 28, 1949 – April 6, 1998) was an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the punk rock band Plasmatics. She was noted for her onstage theatrics, which included partial nudity, exploding equipment, firing a shotgun, and chainsawing guitars.[1] Performing her own stunts in videos,[2] she often sported a mohawk hairstyle. In 1985, during the height of her popularity as a solo artist, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Leaving home at 16, Williams hitchhiked to Colorado, earning money by crocheting string bikinis. She traveled to Florida and Europe landing various jobs such as lifeguard, stripper, macrobiotic cook, and server at Dunkin' Donuts. After arriving in New York City in 1976, she began performing in live sex shows, and in 1979 appeared in the pornographic film Candy Goes to Hollywood. That year manager Rod Swenson recruited her to the Plasmatics, and the two became romantically involved. The band quickly became known on the local underground scene, performing at clubs such as CBGB.
Three albums with Plasmatics later, Williams embarked on a solo career and released her debut album, WOW, in 1984. Albums Kommander of Kaos (1986) and Deffest! and Baddest! (1988) followed, before her retirement from the music industry. Williams made her non-adult film screen debut in Tom DeSimone's film Reform School Girls (1986), for which she recorded the title song. She also appeared in the 1989 comedy Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog, television series The New Adventures of Beans Baxter, and MacGyver. On April 6, 1998, Williams fatally shot herself near her home in Storrs, Connecticut. She had attempted suicide twice in the years leading up to her death; allegedly she had also been struggling with deep depression.
- ^ Baudelaire, Kate (September 6, 2018). "The Enduring Badness of Wendy O Williams". CVLT Nation. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ^ Cortina, Lene (September 24, 2018). "Wendy O. Williams – The Plasmatics". punkgirldiaries.com. Punk Girl Diaries. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
[...] the stage shows included chainsaws, explosions, nudity, theatrical blood, cross-dressing, and eventually car crashes and demolition. [...] In 1980, in front of a crowd of 12,000 people, Wendy drove a Cadillac onto an exploding stage at Pier 62 in NYC, leaping out just seconds before the car exploded and plunged into the Hudson River below. [...] in a film called Reform School Girls, where she breaks the window of a bus with her head [...] Wendy O. Williams was the shaving-foam wearing, chainsaw wielding, animal-loving vegetarian, porn star, stunt driver, contradiction.