Nona Bernis Hendryx[4] (born October 9, 1944) is an American vocalist, record producer, songwriter, musician, and author.

In 1985, Hendryx wrote and recorded the Grammy nominated song "Rock This House" with Keith Richards from her fourth solo album The Heat (1985).

In 1961, Cindy Birdsong, from Camden, New Jersey, became the fourth member of the group, who became the Bluebelles and signed their first deal with Newtown Records.

In 1967, Hendryx, LaBelle, and Dash were shocked to discover that Birdsong had secretly joined the Supremes after Florence Ballard was ousted from the group by Motown.

In 1971, they moved to England, where they had a cult fan base, and on the advice of Vicki Wickham, changed their name to Labelle and ditched the dresses and bouffant wigs for jeans and Afros.

Beginning with the Moon Shadow album, Hendryx became the chief songwriter for most of the group's records while LaBelle and Dash occasionally wrote their own material.

Her composition "A Man in a Trenchcoat (Voodoo)" from Chameleon also marked Hendryx's first time singing lead vocal on an album.

She did find success doing session work during this period, most notably providing background vocals for Talking Heads and touring with them, appearing first at the major Heatwave festival in August 1980.

She had two other major club hits soon after: a dance remake of The Supremes' "Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart", and, in a lead vocal guest spot for the Cage, "Do What You Wanna Do".

Another particularly noteworthy track on the album is the ballad "Design for Living", which featured guests Laurie Anderson, Gina Shock of The Go-Go's, Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson, Tina Weymouth of Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads, Nancy Wilson of Heart, and former bandmate Patti LaBelle.

[6] The same year, the MTV broadcast of the video "I Need Love" co-written by Jean Beauvoir, stirred some controversy for featuring drag queens.

The song was recorded along with other artists Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven, Bono from U2, Eddie Kendricks, Hall & Oates, Bobby Womack, Lou Reed and many others.

The accompanying album, Female Trouble, boasted an impressive list of contributors, including Dan Hartman (who also served as a producer), Peter Gabriel, Prince ("Baby Go Go"), George Clinton, David Van Tieghem and Mavis Staples.

Hendryx took a detour from commercial music with Skin Diver, a new age record produced with long-time Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann.

Her 1977 debut solo album was issued for the first time on CD by the T-Bird imprint of the UK reissue label Cherry Red in the fall of 2010.

UK R&B reissue label Funky Town Grooves released The Heat on CD in late 2011, which included three bonus tracks.

Other artists with whom she has recorded with over the years include David Johansen, Yoko Ono, Cameo, Talking Heads (3 albums: Remain in Light, The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads and Speaking in Tongues), Garland Jeffreys, Dan Hartman, Afrika Bambaata (performing a duet of "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" with Boy George), Rough Trade, Curtis Hairston, and Graham Parker on "Soul Christmas".

She sang lead vocals for two tracks "Higher Purpose" and "Beginning to End", featured on the soundtrack for the Showtime series Sleeper Cell.

These reunions include Patti LaBelle's "Live in New York" video, the dance hit "Turn It Out" from the soundtrack To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!

In February 2013, she appeared as a special guest as part of The World of Captain Beefheart, a tribute concert arranged by Dutch radio presenter, Co de Kloet, and featuring Gary Lucas with the 60 piece Metropole Orchestra.

Shine (This Is It) was included on Soul Clap's self-titled album in October 2016, and an EP featuring different remixes of the track was released the following year.

In February 2018, Hendryx released an EP, Keep Funkin, which was produced by Soul Clap, and featured contributions from Nile Rogers and Jason Miles.

[18] Her long-term partner is English talent manager Vicki Wickham,[19] and she discussed her bisexuality in an interview with The Advocate magazine.

[20] Hendryx is a gay-rights activist; in summer 2008, she joined Cyndi Lauper on her True Colors Tour, raising awareness of discrimination and the LGBT community.