2009 Pop Conference Bios/Abstracts

Nona Hendryx

Nona Hendryx has been revolutionizing this year''s "Dance Music Sex Romance" theme for almost fifty years. A charter member of R&B legends Pattie Labelle and the Bluebelles in the 1960s, Hendryx took the lead, as songwriter and conceptualist, when that pivotal girl group morphed into the seventies glam pioneers Labelle. Labelle, known best for the huge hit "Lady Marmalade," presented a theatrical mix of soul, rock, and avant-garde impulses that would prove a key influence on David Bowie''s Ziggy Stardust era and George Clinton''s P-Funk, as well as setting the stage for such contemporary perfomers as Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndgeocello, and Janelle Monae. As University of Washington African American Studies professor Sonnet Retman has written, "Labelle not only drew upon the ''raunchy'', ''streetwise'' politics of artists like Nina Simone and Etta James but also the swagger of British rock bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Who." Hendryx''s subsequent work, including solo albums, a stint with the Talking Heads, and collaborations with Yoko Ono, Bill Laswell, and many others, has continued to embody her quest for what she calls "transformation": bringing underground, African American, and pop musicality together under the same groove.Panel(s):
Keynote: A Conversation with Nona Hendryx
Thursday, April 16, 2009, 7:30 - 9:00