Siouxsie and the Banshees

Part of the diehard Sex Pistols fans dubbed the Bromley Contingent, non-musicians Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin originally formed their band the Banshees (with Adam Ant's future right-hand man Marco Pirroni on guitar and one John Simon Ritchie on drums) for a deliberately provocative one-shot set at 1976's instantly-legendary 100 Club punk festival. From such unpromising beginnings, Siouxsie and the Banshees quickly became one of the London punk scene's most inventive and completely distinctive bands, continuing to expand and evolve as their peers quickly burned out and imploded. The punky bravado of early records like The Scream gradually gave way to lush, gorgeously melancholy soundscapes wrapped around Sioux’s unmistakable vocals. Albums like A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, Juju and Hyena are post-punk classics (and later singles like "Peekaboo" and "Kiss Them For Me" actually entered the US pop charts), while Siouxsie herself remains one of the most distinctive female vocalists and enduring style icons in the history of rock music. With the possible exception of The Cure’s Robert Smith (who briefly played guitar in the Banshees), no one on earth can stir the hearts of gothy teenagers quite as fantastically as Siouxsie Sioux, the high priestess of punk rock.