Toyah is the stage name of Toyah Ann Willcox, an English singer and actress from King’s Heath, Birmingham. Born in 1958, she trains at the Old Rep Drama School in Birmingham after attending Edgbaston C of E College, where she gains a GCE pass in music. Her father runs successful joinery businesses.

Music career

Toyah first becomes widely known during the punk rock period, with appearances in Derek Jarman’s film Jubilee and in Quadrophenia helping establish her public image. Fronting the band Toyah, she releases six UK singles before breaking through in 1981 with “It’s A Mystery” and “I Want To Be Free”, both of which also succeed internationally. Her career spans more than thirty years and includes 13 UK Top 40 singles and 22 studio albums. She is one of the early acts to appear regularly in the UK Singles Chart with EPs.

In 1982 she is voted Best Female Singer at the British Rock and Pop Awards, later known as the BRIT Awards. In 1986 she marries guitarist Robert Fripp. That same year she sings lead on Tony Banks’ track “Lion of Symmetry”. In 1987 she reaches the UK top fifty with her version of “Echo Beach”.

Acting and television

Alongside music, Toyah works extensively in theatre, film and television. She appears in more than forty stage plays and ten feature films, and takes roles in productions such as Quatermass and Shakespeare plays. She also presents and voices a range of television programmes, including Brum, Watchdog, Songs of Praise, Holiday and Good Sex Guide Late. Her voice work includes the children’s programmes Teletubbies and Brum.

In 1999 she stars in the children’s series Barmy Aunt Boomerang. She also appears in the reality television series I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and I’m Famous and Frightened!. In 2003 she plays the title role in Calamity Jane at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London’s West End.

Writing and later work

Toyah writes two books, including her autobiography Living Out Loud in 2000 and Diary of a Facelift in 2005, which focuses on her experience of cosmetic surgery. She also appears on radio, including the BBC Radio 4 series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in 2002. She continues to perform with her band and releases a live DVD in 2005, while also appearing in theatre productions including Vampire’s Rock across the UK.