b. Wynona 'Nona' Hendryx, 9th October 1944, Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.A.
From Trenton, New Jersey, Nona Hendryx found fame for being part of the female ensemble Labelle.
As a child she was brought up, as many Soul Singers are, with a Gospel background.
It was in church she met her friend, and later vocal collaborator in Labelle, Sarah Dash.
Nona and Sarah formed the singing duo, the Del Capris.
Two other friends, namely Patti Labelle and Cindy Birdsong, were in another group called The Ordettes.
In 1962, and at the suggestion of producer Bobby Martin, Patti, Sarah, Nona and Cindy combined to call themselves The Bluebelles.
Patti changed her last name to LaBelle to match with the group's official name.
Cindy Birdsong later left the group to become a part of the Supremes line-up.
Patti LaBelle & The Bluebells went on to record four albums under that group name, before becoming simply Labelle.
Labelle recorded five albums, which included the album 'Nightbirds', an album containing the groups enormous 1975 hit 'Lady Marmalade (Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi Ce Soir?)'.
The group seperated the following year and Nona released her own, self-titled, solo album for the Epic imprint.
She then undertook session work during the late 1970's and early 1980's, a period that included vocal chores for the group Talking Heads.
This collaboration with David Byrne led to her working with Bill Laswell.
Bill and his band Material, helped Nona put together a second solo record entitled, simply, 'Nona' for the RCA label.
The single 'B-Boys' b/w 'Keep It Confidential' was released from the album.
There were five other albums following the 1983 release including 1992's 'You Have To Cry Sometime' for the Shanachie imprint.
Nona toured Europe and the U.S. in 2001, and wrote eleven songs for a play entitled 'Blue'.
She also collaborated with Bootsy Collins on another musical project entitled 'Ball'.
Nona also wrote a classical piece entitled 'Oak and Ivy' and was a featured vocalist on the soundtrack of Denzel Washington's film 'The Siege'
Albums:
Nona Hendryx (Epic 1977)
Nona (RCA 1983)
The Art of Defence (RCA 1984)
The Heat (RCA 1985)
Female Trouble (EMI America 1987)
Skin Diver (Private Music 1989)
You Have to Cry Sometime (Shanachie Records 1992)
Mutatis Mutandis (Righteous Babe Records 2012)
