Belinda Carlisle

American singer Belinda Carlisle rose to fame with the pop group The Go-Go's before embarking on a successful solo career. Born in Los Angeles on August 17, 1958, Belinda Jo Carlisle grew up with seven brothers and sisters, giving up her studies for music. A drummer with the punk band Germs in 1977, she went on to form The Go-Go's with four other friends, who enjoyed international success between 1981 and 1984 with the hits "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "Vacation". Hired by Jonathan Demme for his film Swing Shift (1984), she embarked on a flourishing solo career with the album Belinda (1986, ranked #13), from which the hit "Mad About You" (#3) was taken. In 1987, the album Heaven on Earth (No. 13), featuring a cover of Cream's "I Feel Free", adopted a more rock-oriented tone and enjoyed major success with the No. 1 single on both sides of the Atlantic , "Heaven Is a Place on Earth", followed by the No. 2 single "I Get Weak" (No. 10 in the UK) and the No. 7 single "Circle in the Sand" (No. 4 in the UK). On the strength of this success, and a video directed by Diane Keaton, Belinda Carlisle is once again surrounded by a large staff for her 3rd album Runaway Horses (1989, no. 37 in the U.S. and no. 4 in the U.K.), dominated by the single "Leave a Light On" (no. 11 and no. 4 respectively), featuring George Harrison. The same year saw her collaborate with The Smithereens on the track "Blue Period". While her subsequent albums Live Your Life Be Free (1991), Real (1993) and A Woman & a Man (1996) remained popular in the U.K. and Australia, she scored only a minor hit in her home country with "Do You Feel Like I Feel? However, several compilations were released, including The Best of Belinda (1992), A Place on Earth: The Greatest Hits (1999), The Collection (2002) and Essential (2003). After a reunion tour in 1994, Belinda Carlisle reunited with her former band in the studio for the album God Bless the Go-Go's (2001). She appeared on the cover of Playboy and sang in French on the album Voila (2007), featuring covers of Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg, Léo Ferré, Édith Piaf and Françoise Hardy. After an engagement in the London musical Hairspray and between further tours with The Go-Go's, the album Wilder Shores, inspired by Indian music and yoga practice, was released in 2017. After songs for the soundtracks of the films 80 for Brady ("Gonna Be You" with Dolly Parton and Cyndi Lauper, 2023) and Brave the Dark ("Never Alone" with Nicholas Hamilton, 2025), she returns to a more classic style with the singles "The Air That I Breathe" and "Get Together", the first singles from the album Once Upon a Time in California (2025), featuring covers by Dionne Warwick, Gordon Lightfoot, or Harry Nilsson who influenced her in her youth.