Vixen (band)

Vixen
Vixen live 2014, v. l. From right: Share Ross, Janet Gardner, Roxy Petrucci, Gina Stile
General information
Genre (s)	Hard rock , glam metal , in the past: pop rock
founding	1980, 1997, 2001
resolution	1991, 1998
Website	http://www.vixenofficial.com/
Founding members
singing	Noelle Bucci (until 1983)
Electric guitar	Jan Kuehnemund (until 1991, 2001-2013; † 2013)
Electric bass	Gayle Erickson-DeMatoff (until 1983)
Drums	Laurie Hedlund (until 1986)
Keyboard	Cindy Boettcher (until 1983; † 2014)
Current occupation
singing	Lorraine Lewis (since 2019)
Electric guitar	Britt Lightning (since 2017)
Electric bass	Share Ross (1987–1991, 2004, since 2012)
Drums	Roxy Petrucci (1986–1991, 1997–1998, 2001, 2004, since 2012)
former members
Vocals, electric guitar	Janet Gardner (1983–1991, 1997–1998, 2001, 2004, 2012–2019)
singing	Jenna Sanz-Agero (2001-2004, 2004-2013)
Electric guitar	Tamara Ivanov (1984-1986)
Electric guitar	Gina Stile (1997–1998, 2012–2017)
Electric bass	Liza Carbé (1983)
Electric bass	Pia Maiocco (1984-1986)
Electric bass	Rana Ross (1997-1998; † 2003)
Electric bass	Maxine Petrucci (1998)
Electric bass	Pat Holloway (2001)
Electric bass	Lynn Louise Lowrey (2001-2004, 2004-2012)
Drums	Kat Kraft (2001-2004, 2004-2012)

Vixen is an American hard rock band that gained international attention as one of the first female hard rock and metal groups with two albums in the late 1980s . Later the group was weakened by internal conflicts between the members and could not follow up on their initial successes.

history

Vixen was founded in 1974 in St. Paul, Minnesota, but moved to Los Angeles six years later . The successful phase of the band began in 1988 with the receipt of a recording contract and the self-titled debut album, which sold over a million times and contained two of the band's biggest hits, "Edge of a Broken Heart" and "Cryin '". At that time, after numerous line-up changes in the early phase, the band consisted of their most famous line-up, consisting of Janet Gardner (vocals and rhythm guitar), Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar), Share Pedersen (bass) and Roxy Petrucci (drums). The second album "Rev It Up", which followed in 1990, with the single "How Much Love" was able to maintain the success of the band, which had meanwhile established itself as one of the largest female rock groups. At the time, Vixen toured with groups like Kiss , Deep Purple , Ozzy Osbourne , Scorpions and Bon Jovi , quickly gaining international attention. Ultimately, however, differences arose within the band about the musical direction, which ultimately led to their dissolution in 1991.

The band was re-founded in 1997 by Gardner and Petrucci, and the line-up was completed by Gina Stile on guitar and Rana Ross as bassist. A year later, shortly after Ross left, the band's third album, "Tangerine", was released. However, it differed greatly from the band's original glam metal style to add grunge elements to the sound of Vixen . and could not build on the success of the previous two albums. During the following tour, on which Roxy's sister Maxine Petrucci acted as bassist, there was a legal battle between the band and Jan Kuehenemund over the rights to the group's older pieces. Shortly thereafter, Vixen were disbanded again.

In 2001 the band was re-founded almost with the line-up of the successful phase, only Pedersen had been replaced by Pat Holloway. During the tour, however, there were again upheavals in the band, so that it was ended by a new line-up consisting of Kuehnemund, Jenna Sanz-Agero (vocals), Lynn Louise Lowrey (bass) and Kat Kraft (drums). With this line-up, the album "Live & Learn" was released in 2006, on which one at least partially returned to one's musical roots, although the commercial success of earlier years should not be repeated with this album either. Previously, the band had appeared one last time in the original line-up for a television show in 2004. At the end of 2012 there were plans to reunite the band in this line-up. However, this was prevented when Jan Kuehnemund was diagnosed with cancer in early 2013, from which she died on October 10, 2013 at the age of 59. The other members, who had previously worked together again in the band JSRG , nevertheless carried out a reunion. Kuehnemund's place in the band was taken by the former Vixen guitarist Gina Stile, who had also worked with JSRG . In March 2017, the band announced a new guitarist Brittany Denaro, better known as Britt Lightning, to succeed Stile. On January 16, 2019, Gardner confirmed their departure from Vixen, and on January 22, Lorraine Lewis was named as the new front woman by Femme Fatale, another all-female band that formed in 2013 and who were Vixen's contemporaries in the late 1980s.

gallery

• Vixen, previous line-up live at Universum Stuttgart, October 2018
• 

  Singer / rhythm guitarist Janet Gardner

• 

  Britt Lightning lead guitarist

• 

  Bass player Share Ross

• 

  Drummer Roxy Petrucci

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1988	Vixen	DE39 (12 weeks) DE	-	-	UK66 (1 week) UK	US41 (40 weeks) US	First published: September 1988
1990	Rev It Up	DE29 (11 weeks) DE	-	CH14 (9 weeks) CH	UK20 (4 weeks) UK	US52 (16 weeks) US	First published: July 1990

More albums

• 1998: Tangerine ( CMC International (US), Eagle Records (Europe))
• 1999: Full Throttle ( Razor & Tie )
• 2006: Extended Versions (CMG Records)
• 2006: Live & Learn (Demolition)
• 2009: Live in Sweden (Castle)
• 2018: Live Fire (Rat Pak Records)

Singles (chart successes)

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1988	Edge of a Broken Heart Vixen	-	-	-	UK51 (7 weeks) UK	US26 (21 weeks) US	First published: August 1988
1989	Cryin ' Vixen	-	-	-	UK27 (4 weeks) UK	US22 (13 weeks) US	First published: January 1989
	Love Made Me Vixen	-	-	-	UK36 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1989
1990	How Much Love Rev It Up	-	-	-	UK35 (3 weeks) UK	US44 (12 weeks) US	First published: July 1990
	Love Is a Killer Rev It Up	-	-	-	UK41 (2 weeks) UK	US71 (6 weeks) US	First published: October 1990
1991	Not a Minute Too Soon Rev It Up	-	-	-	UK37 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1991

Web links

• http://www.vixenofficial.com/
• http://www.neilsvixenpage.com/
• Vixen @ Metaladies.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ross Raihala: Memorial for Vixen guitarist this week in North Branch . In: St. Paul Pioneer Press , November 11, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013. 
2. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2HJ4-8GX  : 20 May 2014), Janice L Kuehnemund, 10 Oct 2013; citing US Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
3. ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/surviving-members-of-classic-vixen-lineup-resurrect-band-in-honor-of-fallen-guitarist/
4. ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/vixen-parts-ways-with-guitarist-gina-stiles-announces-replacement/
5. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE CH UK US