who was poly styrene?
Born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said on July 3rd 1957, Poly Styrene was "an English musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex". Poly's mother was Scottish-Irish and her father, Somali. She started her musical career when she was only 18, making a reggae single. She later put out an ad in the music papers for 'young punx who want to stick it together' to form a band. From there they released their debut single "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" in 1977. The band didn't stick together for long though, as in 1978 Poly was taken to the hospital and later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. After that Poly went on to release music solo. She eventually had her daughter, Celeste Bell and "moved into a Krishna temple in Hertfordshire". She continued releasing music until after releasing her album Generation Indigo she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Only a month later Poly lost her battle to cancer, and died in her sleep. She was a revolutionary figure in the punk-rock scene, and her influence can be heard greatly in 90's Riot Grrrl music as well as modern punk-rock.