Chrissie Amphlett (Divinyls) Has Died

[Australis]

Sad news today. Amphlett, 53, succumbed to breast cancer and MS in New York, surrounded by family and friends.

She was a great, dynamic, dangerous performer. We first saw her in s schoolgirl uniform and fishnets, performing 'Boys In Town' They had a string of hits between 1981 and their breakup in 1996.

Amphlett paved the way for female performers in so many ways, byt being unafraid to be 'out there', you never knew exactly what you were going to get at their gigs. I saw them live once... she threw a bucket of water at me. I dodged but I'm a big guy, and the poor bugger behind me never saw it coming.

Her voice was a powerful and amazing instrument, she could hold her own with any male rock singer. Trendsetter. Legend. Icon.

So a couple of songs. First, their breakthrough song:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMSyumchMWA[/yt]

And (and what better for this forum), in May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named "Science Fiction" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfrKejzTdLU[/yt]

She's gone. Too much. Too young.

 

[Davros]

RIP

 

[bbailey861]

Way too young. R.I.P.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

That's sad to hear. I used to love the Divinyls when I was a teenager. She had an amazing voice. RIP.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Been playing some of her old stuff from the early 90s for some odd reason all week. And now she's gone. Sad, sad, sad.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

A shame & far too young.

Sooooo hot in the I Touch Myself video, especially.

 

[auntiehill]

Very sad news indeed. She had one hell of a voice.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Aw, man, this is terrible. She was great. Sexy and clever, and an amazing singer. Such a terrible disease. I have a couple of friends and a sister who have had breast cancer over the past few years, and all have been pretty lucky. I wish she had been so lucky.

RIP.

 

[Orac Zen]

Amphlett paved the way for female performers in so many ways, byt being unafraid to be 'out there', you never knew exactly what you were going to get at their gigs.

When I saw Divinyls live some drunken arsehole in the crowd was giving her hell (my vocabulary of four-letter words expanded exponentially that night). Chrissy put up with it for a while, but when the fool bellied up to the stage with his umpteenth tinny and started in again she - without missing a note - calmly plucked the tinny from his hand and upended it all over him. It was priceless.

So was she. One of the greatest talents this country's ever produced as a singer, a writer and a performer.

RIP.

 

[Random_Spock]

So sad.