Repost: Wish it wasn't on the occasion of her death that I first heard of her...

[the_future_modernes]

Rest in Peace, Arianna "Ari Up" Forster - 1962-2010

The Slits' Ari Up dies aged 48

The Slits' frontwomen Ari Up has died at the age of 48.

The singer - real name Arianna Forster - passed away yesterday (October 20).

News of her death was confirmed by the Sex Pistols and PiL frontman John Lydon, who is married to Forster's mother. He delivered the news about her death on his website.

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Forster formed The Slits in 1976 at the age of 14. They released two albums, 1979's 'Cut' and 1981's 'Return Of The Giant Slits', before splitting up.

She later went on to release a solo album called 'Dread More Dan Dead' in 2005, among other projects, before reforming The Slits later that year.MORE

The Slits - Typical Girls

All hail Ari Up: The rhythmic, primal influence of the Slits' 'Cut.'

Suggesting that one musician or band is “more punk” than another is a fool’s game, but in the world of rebel rock, Ari Up (born Arianna Forster), who died Wednesday at age 48 after a long fight with cancer, was, through her actions and words, punk in the purest definition of the word. She followed her muse without concern for the marketplace, and steadfastly railed against the status quo, be it the testosterone-fueled fury offered by her male counterparts in the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned, or the basic expectations of what a rock band is supposed to be.

The music the Slits created was so unlike the guitar-heavy rock made by their male peers that to call it punk somehow diminishes it. It sounded so different, and, as much as "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" or "The Clash" opened up new possibilities, those landmark records followed the basic rock and roll template. MORE

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The Slits at Vortex Club (Live / 1977)