Wendy O. Williams

Wendy Orlean Williams 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. Performing her own stunts in videos, 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. Williams left home at 16 and 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 called Candy Goes to Hollywood. That same year, manager Rod Swenson recruited her to be a member of the Plasmatics. The two became romantically involved. The band quickly became known on the local underground scene, performing at music venues such as CBGBs. After three albums with the Plasmatics, Williams embarked on a solo career and released her debut album, WOW, in 1984. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_O...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)