Signe Toly Anderson

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Signe Toly Anderson (born September 15, 1941 in Seattle, Washington) is one of the founding members of Jefferson Airplane. She was raised in Portland, Oregan and Signe Toly was a locally known and well respected jazz and folk singer before joining the band after a trip to San Francisco. Soon after joining the Airplane, she married one of the Merry Pranksters, Jerry Anderson, a marraige that lasted from 1965-1974. She sang on the first Jefferson Airplane album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, most notably on the song "Chauffer Blues" but it was her departure in late 1966, following the birth of her first daughter, that brought Grace Slick, the lead vocalist of The Great Society, to the band. She distrusted the Airplane's original manager, Matthew Katz, and refused to sign a contract with him until he inserted a special escape clause which would free her from him if she left the band for any reason. Though the birth of her daughter was largely the cause of her departure, there were other factors, such as the other band members hostility to Jerry her husband (see the book "Got A Revolution - The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane") After leaving the Airplane she returned to Oregon where she sang for nine years with a ten-piece band. In 1997 she married Michael Alois Ettlin, a local building contractor, and retired from singing. In the mid-1970s she recovered from cancer. In more recent years she made guest appearances with the KBC and Jefferson Starship (Next Generation) bands. In the mid-1990s she suffered further serious health problems. Whilst she recovered from these ailments, her family faced serious financial problems from the costs involved. According to the Jefferson Airplane site, she recently was rediagnosed with cancer and is facing even further financial issues.