Lydia Lunch

Multimedia artist Lydia Lunch got her start in the No Wave scene of the late 1970s with Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, a stripped-down, spasmodically brutal outfit that -- along with DNA and James White & the Blacks -- was part of a little-heard but influential scene that impacted the rise of bands Sonic Youth, Live Skull and the Swans. Lunch has since gone on to become an instrumental figure in underground film, Spoken Word, and poetry circles. She's been a prolific collaborator throughout her long career, making records with everyone from Rowland S. Howard of the Birthday Party to esteemed southern novelist Hubert Selby, Jr. She remains active, recording and touring, most notably on the Spoken Word circuit.