| Christine Amphlett | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christine Joy Amphlett |
| Also known as | Chrissy Amphlett |
| Born | 25 October 1959 |
| Origin | Geelong, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Rock, New Wave |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, actress |
| Instruments | Singing |
| Years active | 1982-present |
| Labels | Chrysalis Records, Virgin Records, RCA Records |
| Associated acts | Divinyls |
Christine Joy Amphlett (born 25 October 1959 Geelong, Victoria, Australia) was the lead singer of Australian rock band Divinyls. She is also known as Chrissy Amphlett.
She grew up in Geelong as a singer and dancer. She left home as a teenager and travelled to England, France and Spain where she was imprisoned[1] for three months for singing on the streets.
In May 2001, Divinyls' "Science Fiction", written by Amphlett and lead guitarist Mark McEntee, was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.[2] Amphlett and McEntee barely spoke after the band had separated in 1996, but resumed contact when they were inducted in the 2006 ARIA Hall of Fame, eventually announcing a new tour and album.[3]
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Amphlett met Mark McEntee at a concert at the Sydney Opera House in 1980, and the pair formed the Divinyls shortly after. After several years of live gigs in Sydney, they recorded several songs to be used on the soundtrack of the film Monkey Grip.
Divinyls consisted of an ever-changing lineup around the core of Amphlett and McEntee, whose relationship was volatile throughout their career. Nonetheless, the band released six albums between 1982 and 1996, peaking in 1991 with the success of the single "I Touch Myself" which reached Number 1 in Australia, 10 in the UK and 4 in the US. Divinyls did not release another album for nearly six years, splitting up around the time of Underworld's release in Australia. Amphlett lived in New York City with her husband, concentrating on a solo career and writing her autobiography Pleasure and Pain: My Life.
Amphlett and McEntee barely spoke after the band split up, but resumed contact when they were inducted in the 2006 ARIA Hall of Fame, eventually announcing a new tour and album.[3]
Amphlett has also worked as an actress. She made her film debut in the 1982 film Monkey Grip, in which she had a supporting role as the temperamental lead singer of a rock band. (Jane clifton - later of "Neighbours" fame writes in her autobiography that Monkey Grip author Helen Garner wrote of Clifton in the book. The film's director preferred Amphlett in the clifton role because "Clifton was neither good looking enough or a good enough singer to play herself".
In 1988, Amphlett starred alongside Russell Crowe in the first Australian production of Will Russell's stage musical Blood Brothers.[4][5]
Amphlett was originally cast to play Judy Garland opposite Todd McKenney in the original touring production of The Boy from Oz, about the life of Peter Allen. However, Amphlett was replaced in the role by Isabel Keating when the show made its Broadway debut in 2003, but she resumed the role in the Australian tour.[6]
Amphlett grew up in Geelong and was a student at Belmont High School.
She is a cousin of Australian singer Little Pattie (Patricia Amphlett).[7]
Since 1999 Amphlett has been married to US drummer Charley Drayton who played drums on the Divinyls eponymous album and was the drummer in the reformed group. Prior to her marriage to Drayton, Amphlett had an affair with Mark McEntee.[6]
In an interview on the Nine Network program A Current Affair on 7 December 2007 Amphlett revealed she was battling multiple sclerosis.[8][9] She also announced that Divinyls are no longer together and that she has a new band in New York.
Amphlett performed Divinyls songs and others with a thirty piece orchestra for the "Australian Rock Symphony" through January 2010.
Amphlett revealed on 20 October 2010 that she has breast cancer. She was treated in New York where she lives with her husband. She said her sister is a breast cancer survivor.[10] On 24 January 2011 she claimed to be free of cancer.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25986945-5012974,00.html