X-Ray Spex Singer Poly Styrene Dies at 53

The X-Ray Spex former frontwoman was one of the first female punk icons, and her unconventional style was highly influential. ...

By Betsey Denberg

April 26, 2011

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The X-Ray Spex former frontwoman was one of the first female punk icons, and her unconventional style was highly influential.

Poly Styrene started the band after seeing the Sex Pistols on her 18th birthday and left her imprint in punk-rock history with the song "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" "Little girls should be seen and not heard," Styrene would say to introduce the track. X-Ray Spex released one album, Germ Free Adolescents, in 1978 before Poly left the group.

Despite undergoing treatment, the singer continued to work on her latest solo album, Generation Indigo, and in a March interview was described as "ironically upbeat" in spite of her health condition. Generation Indigo was released this morning.

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