Transsexual Lead Singer

Metal Madonna, 1998 S.F. Folsom Street Fair, 1995

Whether I'm listening, singing or playing, Rock is a constant joy in my life. It took me a long time to become proficient, especially in guitar playing, so when other rockers greeted my transsexualism with a less than warm reception, I began to despair I'd never be in a band. The all-transsexual band we called Rubbermaid failed due to our incredibly dysfunctional lives, and when I crippled my left hand during a drug blackout, I thought I'd have to hang up my dream forever. After I got clean and sober I struggled to learn to play left-handed, but because it was such a frustrating process and because of all the other things going on in my life, I was a shadow of my former self. Then I met one of the best female guitar players in the world. She and I became close friends long before we ever put together our band Glamazon, which is why she indulged me when I wanted to play guitar in addition to being lead singer. My stubborness was a source of friction that she tolerated only because she cared about me, and because I was improving slowly but steadily. I could fill a book with the adventures of Glamazon: gigging, recording our CD, the setbacks and disappointments, the constant struggle to make the band work; but we never succeeded. We made a lot of wrong decisions, had some bad luck, but I finally had to admit that I was too old to balance the stressful hours of an indie rocker against my corporate day job. Thus I quit Glamazon at the end of 2001 and turned over everything to her. She has the talent and drive to make it work, and I wish her massive success.