Ari Up

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Ari Up

Ari Up is the stage name for the lead vocalist of the influential English punk group, The Slits.

1 Career
2 See also
3 Reference
4 External link

[edit] Career

Ari Up (Arianna Forster) was born in England in 1962, the grand-daughter of a wealthy German newspaper proprietor. Ari's mother, Nora, was known in the music industry, as she was a friend of Jimi Hendrix, and dated Chris Spedding for three years. Nora would later date and marry the Sex Pistols lead singer, John Lydon. Their home was known to be something of a punk domain, where Nora would take in poor musicians. The constant presence of punk music led to Ari experimenting in it herself.

Ari Up was only fourteen when she formed The Slits with drummer Palmolive in 1976. Ari's love of reggae led The Slits into a "jungly", dub style. She was the most flamboyant member of the group. Her wild hair and crazy stage outfits became her trademarks. She can be seen briefly in The Clash movie "Rude Boy" with the band backstage.

After The Slits split in 1981, she moved to Jamaica to start a family. Later she lived in Belize and New York. She continued to make music, first with the New Age Steppers, then solo as Baby Ari, Madusa, and Ari Up. Recently she has also recorded techno-dancehall music with the German outfit Terranova.

Ari Up released her first full length solo album in 2005. It was entitled Dread More Dan Dead.

Despite growing up in England, Ari possesses a noticeable German accent.