In the 1980s, this female quartet made a big splash in the heavy metal rock industry. Vixen was formed in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1980 by guitarist Jan Kuehnemund while still at high school. In 1984, an early version of the band with Kuehnemund and singer Janet Gardner appeared in the movie Hardbodies as the on-screen band "Diaper Rash." In 1985 the band moved to Los Angeles to be part of the LA rock scene. Line-up changes happened during the following years until the 'classic' line-up of Jan Kuehnemund (guitar), Janet Gardner (vocals & rhythm guitar), Share Pedersen (bass guitar) and Roxy Petrucci (drums) was formed. This line-up of Vixen was interviewed in 1987 along with many other rock artists of the day by Penelope Spheeris for her film The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years.
In 1988 the band were signed to EMI and they began recording their debut album Vixen which was released in September 1988. Singer and Songwriter Richard Marx actually wrote and arranged their signature hit, "Edge of a Broken Heart," on the album.[citation needed] He also produced the song. Rumor was he was asked to assist the all-female band by EMI to produce their first major hit to compete with the all-female band The Bangles.[citation needed] Marx had nothing to do with their follow-up CD since he was becoming a more of a mainline singer than songwriter. The next year Vixen spent touring the world supporting acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and Bon Jovi as well as headlining their own shows. The band returned to the studio in late 1989/early 1990 to record their follow up album Rev it Up which was released in July 1990. A year of touring followed including headlining their own shows and supporting acts such as KISS and Deep Purple. In mid-1991 the band split due to musical differences.
In 1988 the band were signed to EMI and they began recording their debut album Vixen which was released in September 1988. Singer and Songwriter Richard Marx actually wrote and arranged their signature hit, "Edge of a Broken Heart," on the album.[citation needed] He also produced the song. Rumor was he was asked to assist the all-female band by EMI to produce their first major hit to compete with the all-female band The Bangles.[citation needed] Marx had nothing to do with their follow-up CD since he was becoming a more of a mainline singer than songwriter. The next year Vixen spent touring the world supporting acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and Bon Jovi as well as headlining their own shows. The band returned to the studio in late 1989/early 1990 to record their follow up album Rev it Up which was released in July 1990. A year of touring followed including headlining their own shows and supporting acts such as KISS and Deep Purple. In mid-1991 the band split due to musical differences.
In 1997 Roxy Petrucci reformed Vixen with Janet Gardner on vocals, Gina Stile on guitar and Rana Ross on bass guitar. This line-up toured the US in 1997 and in 1998 Petrucci, Gardner and Stile recorded the album Tangerine. After the release of the new album Roxy's sister Maxine Petrucci was brought in to play bass guitar on a U.S. tour of 1998 but were sued for copyright infringement by Kuehnemund.
In 1999, Share Pedersen joined her husband's band the Dogs D'Amour, who were reforming after a long hiatus. She appeared on their 2000 album Happy Ever After, playing bass and keyboards and contributing prominent backing vocals. Share and her husband, Bam, also have their own band, Bubble, which is very popular in L.A.
In 2001 Vixen was reformed by Kuehnemund with a line-up consisting of herself, Janet Gardner, Roxy Petrucci and new bassist Pat Holloway. This line-up toured the US as part of the "Voices of Metal" tour, unfortunately half way through the tour disagreements caused the band to split up with only Kuehnemund remaining. Kuehnemund quickly recruited vocalist Jenna Sanz-Agero, bassist Lynn Louise Lowrey and drummer Kat Kraft to complete the tour. This line up is still together and released two new albums in 2006, a live album (recorded at a live show in Sweden) called "Extended Versions", and the studio album "Live & Learn".
In 2004 VH1 approached the four members of the 'classic' line up to appear on their show Bands Reunited, the show was recorded in August 2004 and broadcast in the US in November 2004. Following the broadcast of the VH1 show EMI re-released the first two Vixen albums.
Current Members
Jan Kuehnemund
Jenna Sanz-Agero
Lynn Louise Lowrey
Kat Kraft
Former members
Janet Gardner
Roxy Petrucci
Share Pedersen
Gina Stile
Rana Ross
Maxine Petrucci
Pat Holloway
Pia Maiocco
Liza Carbe
Tamara Ivanov
Laurie Hedlund
Noelle Bucci
Gayle Erickson-DeMatoff
Cindy Boettcher
Marlene Peterson
Nancy Shanks
Discography
Vixen (1988)
Rev It Up (1990)
Tangerine (1998)
Best of Vixen - Full Throttle (1999)
Live & Learn (2006)
Extended Versions (Live in Sweden) (2006)
Listen To Vixen Music!
Watch Vixen Video!
Edge of Broken Heart
Cryin'
Love is The Killer
I Want You Rock Me (live)
Love Made Me
How Much Love
Not A Minute Too Soon
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