Vixen biography
Vixen is an all-female American hard rock band. Hailed as "the female Bon Jovi", the band achieved commercial success during the late 1980s and early 1990s as part of the Los Angeles, California glam metal scene.
History
Early years
Vixen was formed in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1980 by guitarist Jan Kuehnemund while still at high school. They were the first all female rock band from the Twin Cities (TíȘtes Noires was the first all female rock band from Minneapolis a year or two later).
Alex Henderson, writing for Allmusic, says they started in 1981 in Los Angeles. In 1984, an early version of the band with Kuehnemund, singer Janet Gardner and bassist Pia Maiocco (who later married guitarist Steve Vai) appeared in the movie Hardbodies, as the on-screen band Diaper Rash. In 1985, the band moved to Los Angeles, California to be part of the L.A. rock scene.
Commercial success
Lineup changes happened during the following years until the "classic lineup" of Janet Gardner (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar), Share Pedersen (bass), and Roxy Petrucci (drums) was formed. This lineup of Vixen was interviewed in 1987 along with many other rock artists of the day by Penelope Spheeris for her film
The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years.
In 1988 the band was signed to EMI, and they began recording their debut album Vixen, which was released in September 1988. Singer-songwriter Richard Marx co-wrote and arranged their signature hit, "Edge of a Broken Heart", as well as performing keyboards and producing the song. Rumor was he was asked to assist the all-female band by EMI to produce their first major hit, to compete with the all-female band the Bangles. Richard Marx had nothing to do with their follow-up CD, since he was becoming more of a mainline singer than songwriter. Vixen spent the next year touring the world, supporting acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, and Bon Jovi, as well as headlining their own shows. The band returned to the studio in late 1989/early 1990 to record their follow-up album, Rev It Up, which was released in July 1990. A year of touring followed, including headlining their own shows and supporting acts such as KISS and Deep Purple. In mid-1991, the group disbanded due to musical differences.
First reunion
In 1997, drummer Roxy Petrucci reformed Vixen, with Janet Gardner (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gina Stile (lead guitar), and Rana Ross (bass). This lineup toured the United States in 1997, and in 1998 Gardner, Stile, and Petrucci recorded the album
Tangerine. After the release of the new album, Roxy's sister Maxine Petrucci was brought in to play bass on a U.S. tour of 1998, but they were sued for copyright infringement by Kuehnemund.
In 1999, Share Pedersen joined her husband's band, the Dogs D'Amour, who were reforming after a long hiatus. She appeared on their 2000 album, Happy Ever After, playing bass, keyboards, and, backing vocals. Share and her husband, Bam, also have their own band, Bubble, which is very popular in L.A..
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