Ari Up

Infobox musical artist
Name = Ari Up

Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Ariane Forster
Alias = Baby Ari, Madussa
Born =

Ari Up (born January 17, 1962) is the stage name for the lead vocalist of the English punk group, The Slits.

Career

Ari Up (Ariana Forster) was born in Munich, Germany on 17 January 1962 [http://www3.sympatico.ca/h.gagnon/Slits/ari.htm Ari Up bio] , the granddaughter of a wealthy German newspaper proprietor ("Der Spiegel"). Ari's mother, Nora, was known in the music industry, as she was a friend of Jimi Hendrix, and dated Chris Spedding for three years. Nora would later date and marry the Sex Pistols' lead singer, John Lydon. Their home was known to be something of a punk domain, where Nora would take in poor musicians. The constant presence of punk music led to Ari experimenting in it herself.

Ari Up was only fourteen when she formed The Slits with drummer Palmolive in 1976. Ari's love of reggae led The Slits into a "jungly", dub style. She was the most flamboyant member of the group. Her wild hair and crazy stage outfits became her trademarks. She can be seen briefly in The Clash movie, "Rude Boy", with the band backstage.

After The Slits split in 1981, she moved to Jamaica to start a family. Later she lived in Belize and New York. She continued to make music, first with the New Age Steppers, then solo as Baby Ari, Madussa, and Ari Up.

Despite growing up in England, Ari possesses an unusual accent which is the result of a cross between German and Jamaican.

Her first full length solo album entitled "Dread More Dan Dead" was released in 2005.

Current activities

In 2006 Ari reformed The Slits with original bass player Tessa Pollitt. They released an EP "Return of the Giant Slits" and have since toured in Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan. She occasionally plays solo concerts in New York, and has toured the UK with her backing band 'The True Warriors'

She has also recorded with the Jammyland All Stars, and the German techno-dancehall outfit, Terranova.

Ari appeared on the Lee "Scratch" Perry's 2008 album, "Repentance", [cite news|url=http://tinymixtapes.com/Lee-Scratch-Perry-and-Andrew-WK|title=Lee "Scratch" Perry and Andrew WK: Together At Last!|publisher=Tiny Mix Tapes|last=Jolley|first=John|date=2007-12-07|accessdate=2007-12-07] and performs a duet on a cover version of The Yardbirds' song "Mister You're a Better Man Than I" on Mark Stewart's forthcoming album "Edit".

ee also

*The Slits

References

* [http://www.comnet.ca/~rina/ari.html Ari Up] - last accessed on October 30 2005

External links

* [http://www.ari-up.com/ www.ari-up.com] Official site originally maintained by Baron Dakota, who died in 2005
* [http://www.ariup.com/ www.ariup.com] Official site maintained by Tanusound, who produced her solo record
* [http://www.theslits.co.uk/ www.theslits.co.uk] Official site of the Slits