Toyah

Under the name Toyah, Toyah Willcox has built a career since the late 1970s that sits between post-punk, new wave, rock and pop rock—initially within the London scene and later as a solo artist. Born in Birmingham, Toyah began in theatre and film before forming the band Toyah in 1977, in which she was the singer and central figure. That first period includes albums such as Sheep Farming in Barnet (1979), The Blue Meaning (1980), Anthem (1981), The Changeling (1982) and Love Is the Law (1983), where her tense, melodic songwriting blends punk energy, pop choruses and darker textures. From the mid-1980s onward, Toyah continued under her own name with Minx (1985), Desire (1987) and the more experimental Prostitute (1988), which signalled a move toward freer forms. The rest of her discography, from Ophelia’s Shadow (1991) to In the Court of the Crimson Queen (2008) and Posh Pop (2021), shows an artist alternating between rock formats, acoustic passages and more theatrical approaches. Toyah also collaborated with Robert Fripp in Sunday All Over the World and took part in the project The Humans, while maintaining a steady presence onstage and in the British media.