Nona Hendryx

Born: October 9, 1944, Trenton, New Jersey. Got her start recording in 1962 with Patti LaBelle, Sarah Dash and Cindy Birdsong in the vocalgroup Patti LaBelle And The Bluebells. When Birdsong left for Supremes the other three members changed the group's name to LaBelle, transforming themselves into futuristic disco-funk divas. Nona Hendryx wrote a number of songs for the band before their breakup in 1976 and she went on to pursue a solo career with her self-titled debut album the next year. She has worked with such diverse collaborators as Prince, Laura Nyro, Allen Toussaint, Talking Heads, Bill Laswell, and Bootsy Collins and many others.