Belinda Carlisle gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist.
48 Facts About Belinda Carlisle
2.
The Go-Go's reformed in 1999, and Belinda Carlisle continues to perform with them regularly while maintaining her solo career.
3.
Belinda Carlisle's autobiography, Lips Unsealed, published in June 2010, was a New York Times Best Seller and received favorable reviews.
4.
Belinda Jo Carlisle was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on August 17,1958 to Harold Carlisle, a gas station employee, and his wife, Joanne, a homemaker.
5.
Belinda Carlisle's mother met her father, who was 20 years her senior, at age 18, and Carlisle was born nine months later.
6.
Belinda Carlisle was named after her mother's favorite film, Johnny Belinda.
7.
Belinda Carlisle was the first of seven siblings; she has three brothers and three sisters.
8.
When she was five years old, Belinda Carlisle's father abandoned their family, and she has stated that she spent most of her childhood impoverished.
9.
Belinda Carlisle's mother later remarried Walt Kurczeski, who Carlisle says was an alcoholic, and with whom she had a tumultuous relationship.
10.
Belinda Carlisle took on his last name during her high school years.
11.
The family moved frequently during her childhood, from Simi Valley to Reseda, before settling in Burbank when Belinda Carlisle was seven years old.
12.
At age ten, Belinda Carlisle began to express interest in music, and recalled the Beach Boys, Cat Stevens, the Stylistics, and the Animals as being early musical influences.
13.
The family relocated again during Belinda Carlisle's adolescence, this time to Thousand Oaks, California; she attended Colina Junior High School in Thousand Oaks, where she was a 3rd-string guard on the boys' basketball team, and later Newbury Park High School, where she was a cheerleader.
14.
Belinda Carlisle took night classes attending beauty college, but dropped out in the first year.
15.
At the age of 19, Belinda Carlisle left home to pursue a career in music.
16.
Belinda Carlisle was recruited into the band by Lorna Doom, whom she had met in an art class while a student at Newbury Park High School.
17.
Belinda Carlisle does appear on one recording introducing the band at a 1977 performance at the Whisky a Go Go, heard on the live album Germicide.
18.
Around this time, Belinda Carlisle provided some backing vocals for Black Randy and the Metrosquad.
19.
All five women were largely untrained musicians, and Belinda Carlisle recalls having to use tape as fret markers during their initial songwriting: "[Charlotte] had to show us how to plug in our amps," she said.
20.
In 1984, Belinda Carlisle made a foray into acting in the movie Swing Shift, appearing as a band singer alongside Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
21.
The Go-Go's broke up in 1985, and Belinda Carlisle embarked on a solo career.
22.
In 1991, Belinda Carlisle released her fourth solo studio album, Live Your Life Be Free.
23.
The album marked somewhat of a return to 1960s-influenced music for Belinda Carlisle and included songs mainly written and produced by Rick Nowels but two songs co-written by Belinda Carlisle.
24.
Belinda Carlisle co-produced and co-wrote much of the album, collaborating heavily with friend and ex-Go-Go member Charlotte Caffey.
25.
Also in 1993, Belinda Carlisle provided guest vocals on the Lemonheads sixth studio album Come on Feel the Lemonheads.
26.
Belinda Carlisle returned to the recording studio, and resumed working again with Rick Nowels.
27.
In 1999, Belinda Carlisle released a greatest hits album in the UK, a double-disc on the Virgin label, collectively titled A Place on Earth: The Greatest Hits.
28.
Around the time of the Go-Go's definitive reunion tour, Belinda Carlisle appeared nude for the cover feature and a full pictorial of the August 2001 edition of Playboy.
29.
In 2007, Belinda Carlisle released her seventh album, Voila, which was her first full-length solo studio album in more than ten years.
30.
In early 2009, Belinda Carlisle was on the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, paired with Jonathan Roberts.
31.
In October 2009, Belinda Carlisle took over the role of Velma Von Tussle in London's West End production of Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
32.
Belinda Carlisle remained with the show until late January 2010 and was replaced by Siobhan McCarthy.
33.
Between 2011 and 2012, Belinda Carlisle embarked on a United States tour with the Go-Go's, which included concerts at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in August 2011 and the Hollywood Bowl in September 2012.
34.
Belinda Carlisle confirmed in a radio interview in August 2015 that she had completed work on a new studio album, earmarked for release in January 2016.
35.
In late 2016, the Go-Go's completed an international tour with Best Coast as a supporting act, which Belinda Carlisle stated would likely be their last tour together.
36.
On March 16,2023, Belinda Carlisle released "Big Big Love", the first single from Kismet, a five track EP, penned by Diane Warren.
37.
Belinda Carlisle announced her intention to follow-up the release with a brand new English language pop music studio album, produced by Gabe Lopez.
38.
Belinda Carlisle has been noted by critics for her dynamic soprano vocal range.
39.
Belinda Carlisle has been alternately described by critics as a "punk diva" and "pop princess".
40.
Belinda Carlisle had a two-year relationship with Bill Bateman, drummer for the Blasters, in the early 1980s.
41.
Belinda Carlisle broke up abruptly with Bateman because she had taken up with Mike Marshall of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
42.
Belinda Carlisle's cocaine use was a negative influence on these relationships.
43.
In 1986, Belinda Carlisle married political operative and film producer Morgan Mason, son of actor James Mason and actress Pamela Mason.
44.
Belinda Carlisle made appearances in Carlisle's music videos "Mad About You" and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth".
45.
Additionally, Belinda Carlisle admitted to using LSD, quaaludes, and MDA regularly as both a teenager and adult.
46.
In 2005, at the height of her drug abuse, Belinda Carlisle spent three days isolated in a London hotel room binging cocaine.
47.
Belinda Carlisle has credited the practice with helping her maintain sobriety.
48.
In 2014, Belinda Carlisle co-founded Animal People Alliance, a nonprofit organization based in Calcutta, India, that raises funds and trains and employs impoverished women to care for street animals.