Toyah Willcox facts: Songs, films, husband and career of the new wave icon explained

8 August 2024, 10:46

From Jubilee to Sunday Lunch, we take a look at the life and times of Toyah Willcox.

Toyah Willcox has been enjoying a resurgence in recent years, and not just because of her continued touring, recording comeback and TV appearances.

Her eye-popping Sunday Lunch appearances kept us entertained through lockdown and beyond, and classic indie label Cherry Red has been releasing wonderful deluxe editions of her early albums to remind us why we fell in love with her way back when.

• Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp's 10 best Sunday Lunch performance videos
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• Listen to the Gold 70s Live Playlist on Global Player, the official Gold app

So it's a great time to take a look back at all things Toyah, and celebrate a unique figure in popular culture.

Is Toyah a person, or a band? Who is her famous husband? And why was her second memoir so very controversial?

Read on for anything you might want to know about Toyah Willcox.

When was Toyah Willcox born and where did she grow up?

Toyah - Victims Of The Riddle (Live at the Rainbow 1981)

Toyah Willcox was born on May 18, 1958, in Kings Heath, Birmingham. She celebrated her 66th birthday in 2024.

Her dad Beric Willcox was a factory owner in the joinery business, and her mum Barbara Joy was a professional dancer.

Toyah was the first person awarded a star on the Kings Heath Walk of Fame in 2012.

She went to Edgbaston College but got just one O level... in music. Toyah later went to Birmingham's Old Rep Drama School.

Asked by Paul Morley 1980 if she was a "problem child", she replied: "I was a f**king bitch. I used to be so quiet and then I just lashed out at something and when I lashed out I physically hurt someone.

"I used to sit there and then explode and people could never make me out. One minute I'd be all demure and the next minute I'd be holding them up against a wall smashing their faces in.

"I had total lack of control. I couldn't control my temper. If I didn't want to go to school, I wouldn't go to school. I had to be physically locked in my mother's car in the morning and driven to school. To me school was just one long prison sentence. I really hated it."

It's a good job she found an outlet in acting and music, then.

Where did Toyah's unusual name come from?

Toyah - Bird In Flight (Unplugged) | #SaturdaySongs

Toyah is a great-sounding bandname, and when she later formed her new wave group, it was named after her.

It's also actually Toyah's real name.

Her older siblings were called... Nicola and Kim. So how did Toyah end up with such an unusual name and where did it come from?

Well, there is a place in Texas called Toyah, which itself takes its name from the Native American word for "flowing water" – though there's no evidence that's where she got her name from at all.

How did Toyah get into showbusiness?

Jubilee 1978 Trailer HD

Toyah's first showbiz-adjacent jobs were as a dresser in Birmingham theatres The Alexandra and Hippodrome.

Her first real splash in the industry was playing Sue in the BBC Second City Firsts series play Glitter in 1976, where she starred opposite Noel Edmonds and Phil Daniels. Toyah apparently won the role by singing David Bowie's 'Life on Mars?' – "dreadfully" in her words.

That part led to her work at the National Theatre in London, playing Emma in Tales from the Vienna Woods, directed by Maximilian Schell.

Toyah was then introduced to director Derek Jarman, who cast her as Mad in punk landmark Jubilee. Two years later, she went on to play Monkey in Franc Roddam's 1979 adaptation of The Who's Quadrophenia.

When and how did Toyah get into the music industry?

Toyah's parts in Jubilee and Quadrophenia were music adjacent, but it was actually back in her first major role in Glitter that the seeds of Willcox's musical future were sown.

The 30-minute TV play featured the songs 'Dream Maker' and 'Floating Free', both co-written by Toyah herself. The latter boasted Phil Daniels on acoustic guitar.

That experience led her to form the band Toyah. She sang, of course, and the band was rounded out by Joel Bogen on guitar, Mark Henry on bass, Steve Bray on drums and Peter Bush on keyboards.

"All my life I had wanted to sing," Toyah said of her experience on Glitter. "This was my chance.

Toyah - Floating Free

"In the play I had to sing with the band, Bilbo Baggins. inspired by the band, the equipment, the volume, the ambience... my mind was set. I had to put a band together myself, or get into one... quick!"

That first Toyah lineup only lasted a couple of albums before it fell apart in recrimination, with only Joel Bogen sticking around for the next three records

Willcox went solo, still billed mononymously as Toyah, in 1985.

What are Toyah's biggest songs?

Toyah - Thunder In The Mountains

Both with her band and as a solo star, Toyah racked up the hits in the 1970s, '80s and beyond – first on the indie charts, then on the main top 40 too.

Toyah's biggest songs from across her career include:

• Victims of the Riddle
• Bird in Flight
• Ieya
• Danced
• I Want to Be Free
• Thunder in the Mountains
• Brave New World
• Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard)
• Rebel Run
• The Vow
• Don't Fall in Love (I Said)
• Latex Messiah (Viva la Rebel in You)
• Levitate

What are Toyah's biggest acting roles?

Toyah Willcox on The Tempest

Even after she broke through in music, Toyah continued to act on stage, on the big screen and on the small screen.

She has RANGE, playing everything from the narrator on Teletubbies to the mum on Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and everything inbetween,

These are her biggest theatre, cinema and TV roles from across her career:

• Jubilee
• The Corn Is Green
• Tales from the Vienna Woods
• The Tempest
• Quadrophenia
• Urgh! A Music War
• Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce
• The Ebony Tower
• Anchoress
• The Most Fertile Man in Ireland
• Aaaaaaaah!
• Invasion Planet Earth
• Give Them Wings
• Second City Firsts: Glitter
• The Quatermass Conclusion as Sal
• Shoestring
• Minder
• Tales of the Unexpected
• The Ink Thief
• Teletubbies
• Secret Diary of a Call Girl
• Doctors

Is Toyah Willcox married and does she have any children?

Toyah has been married to fellow musician Robert Fripp since 1986.

You'll know Robert Fripp as the founder and guitarist of King Crimson, as well as for his work with new wave icons like Blondie, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads and David Sylvain.

Fripp is also famed for his work with David Bowie – especially on "Heroes".

The couple don't have any kids, but they have arranged to leave their estates to establish a musical educational trust for children.

Why was Toyah's second memoir so controversial?

Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch Reheated - Celebrity Skin

Throughout her career, Toyah has been known – and applauded – for her outspoken honesty.

She recounted her remarkable life in her autobiography Living Out Loud in 2000, but it was her second book, 2005's Diary of a Facelift, which really grabbed the headlines.

Stung by unkind comments about her appearance when she appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2003, she decided to progress from what had been regular botox injections to a full on facelift.

She recounted both the grisly details of the surgery and her reasons for undergoing it in her book.

Toyah was criticised by some for her supposedly antifeminist decision to go under the knife, but the bestseller was also applauded for its rare honesty and insight.

What is Toyah's Sunday Lunch series all about?

Toyah And Roberts Sunday Lunch - BAD REPUTATION

As well as her recent tours (The Posh Pop Tour in 2021-22, the Electric Ladies jaunt with Lene Lovich in 2022) and her 21st-century albums Velvet Lined Shell, In the Court of the Crimson Queen and Posh Pop, Toyah has been filling our weekends with her distinct musical style.

Together with her husband Robert Fripp, every Sunday Toyah presents her Sunday Lunch covers on her YouTube channel.

As well as Toyah's classic vocal stylings and Rob's guitar frippery, there's also the gang's fantabulous outfits that makes every single performance feel like an event.

The series started as something to get us through Lockdown 1, but has proved so popular that it's continued since and even spawned 2023's Sunday Lunch with Robert Fripp live tour.