Marianne Joan Elliott-Said (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011),[1][2] known by the stage name Poly Styrene, was an English musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex.

[3] Poly Styrene was born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said[4] in 1957 in Bromley, Kent, and brought up in Brixton, London.

Thinking of this as a challenge to survive, her adventure ended when she stepped on a rusty nail while bathing in a stream and had to be treated for sepsis.

[6] Having been 'an itinerant traveller, alternative fashion designer and a failed pop-reggae singer',[11] she saw the Sex Pistols perform at the Pier Pavilion in Hastings on her nineteenth birthday, 3 July 1976,[12][13] and decided to form the punk band X-Ray Spex.

[16] After watching a very early gig by the Sex Pistols in an empty hall on Hastings Pier, playing a set of cover songs,[13] she was inspired to put an ad in the music papers for 'young punx who want to stick it together' to form a band.

[20] In 1978, after a gig in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, Styrene had a vision of a pink light in the sky and felt objects crackling when she touched them.

[24] She made a guest appearance at the 2008 30th anniversary concert of Rock Against Racism in Victoria Park, London, performing "Oh Bondage Up Yours!"

[26] In March 2009, Styrene joined other members of PRS for Music in criticising Google for allegedly not paying a fair share of royalties to musicians.

[27] NME.com announced on 29 October 2010 that Poly Styrene was to release a solo album titled Generation Indigo, produced by Martin Glover (aka Youth from Killing Joke), in March 2011.

[28] Inspired by a Los Angeles killing spree of a man dressed as Santa Claus, "Black Christmas" was written in collaboration with her daughter, Celeste.

[29] Styrene announced "Virtual Boyfriend" as the first single from the new album Generation Indigo via Spinner Music,[30] as well as the launch of her new website.

The album received critical acclaim, including a perfect 10 out of 10 score in Artrocker magazine, and 8 out of 10 in The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

[9] In February 2011, in an interview published in The Sunday Times magazine, which largely focused on her past and present relationship with her daughter, Celeste, Styrene revealed that she had been treated for breast cancer, and that it had spread to her spine and lungs.

[43] "This film will be a celebration of the life and work of my mother, an artist who deserves to be recognised as one of the greatest frontwomen of all time; a little girl with a big voice whose words are more relevant than ever," Bell said.