Nona Hendryx

As one of three vocalists in the pop-soul trio Labelle, whose signature success arrived with “Lady Marmalade,” Nona Hendryx carved out the most adventurous solo path of anyone in the lineup that also included Patti LaBelle and Sarah Dash. Once the group disbanded in 1976 she unveiled her first album, Nona Hendryx, a bold fusion of soul and hard rock that drew virtually no attention from reviewers, R&B listeners, or longtime Labelle supporters. Forced to rely on her powerful voice, she spent the late seventies and early eighties as a much-in-demand session singer. That circuit placed her alongside David Johansen, Peter Gabriel, Prince, Yoko Ono, Cameo, Garland Jeffreys, and Afrika Bambaataa; she also supplied backing vocals for Talking Heads during the same period.

Her link to David Byrne opened the door to bassist-producer Bill Laswell, whose band Material shaped Hendryx’s 1983 follow-up, Nona. Though less frenetic than her debut, the record generated wider interest and allowed her to concentrate on solo work without further session obligations. She rejoined Laswell for The Art of Defense in 1984, then enlisted Arthur Baker to helm 1985’s Heat, an album stocked with guitarists Ronnie Drayton and Keith Richards, bassists Doug Wimbish and Bernard Edwards, saxophonist Lenny Pickett, and vocalists Will Downing and Gang of Four’s Hugo Burnham. Two years later Female Trouble arrived, assembled with multiple producers and featuring appearances from Gabriel and David Van Tieghem.

In 1989 Hendryx changed direction again, issuing the largely keyboard-centered Skin Diver on Peter Baumann’s Private Music imprint. After a three-year hiatus she surprised listeners with the 1992 collection You Have to Cry Sometime, a set of soul covers recorded with Billy Vera and released to benefit the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Weary of constant touring, label shifts, and industry flux, she refrained from issuing new material under her own name for the rest of the decade.

Session contributions nevertheless continued through the nineties and into the new century, encompassing projects by Lisa Lisa, Morgan Heritage, the reunited Bush Tetras, and assorted film soundtracks. Labelle reconvened in 2007; the resulting Back to Now surfaced on Verve the following year, produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and containing several songs penned by Hendryx. She also composed the score for Charles R. Wright’s play Blue, appeared on Terri Lynne Carrington’s Mosaic Project, and added a track to the soundtrack of the film Precious.

The Labelle reunion apparently rekindled her desire to record and perform as a solo artist. In 2011 she issued the jazz-funk album It’s Time alongside Kahil El’zabar’s Ethnics, earning strong critical notice. The next summer she delivered the self-produced Mutatis Mutandis on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe label. In 2017 she partnered with guitarist Gary Lucas on The World of Captain Beefheart, offering fresh readings of the experimental rock icon’s catalog.