Janice Lynn Kuehnemund (; November 18, 1953 – October 10, 2013) was an American

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

ist who founded the all-female

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

band

Vixen Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

Life and career

Born in

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, Kuehnemund formed an all-female band known as Genesis in St. Paul in 1971, initially as a quintet under the name Lemon Pepper. Her father Carl served as a

roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catc ...

during her band's earliest days. Genesis was later renamed Vixen to prevent confusion with the same-named English band before breaking up in 1974. A bandmate of hers during that year was Nancy Shanks. After a six-year hiatus she reformed Vixen and shortly moved her band to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1981, and, in 1983, singer

Janet Gardner Janet Patricia Gardner (born March 21, 1962 an American rock singer. She is best known as the former lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the all-female glam metal band Vixen joining in 1983. She was the band's longest serving vocalist having p ...

joined her. The band gained notice by appearing in the 1984 teen film ''

Hardbodies ''Hardbodies'' is a 1984 American sex comedy film about three middle-aged men who hire a younger man to help them pick up women at the beach. The film was directed by Mark Griffiths, and stars Grant Cramer, Courtney Gains and Gary Wood. It was f ...

'' under the on-screen name Diaper Rash. They were also a quintet at the time. She eventually added

Roxy Petrucci Roxanne Dora Petrucci (born March 17, 1962 in Rochester, Michigan) is an American drummer best known for her work with the heavy metal bands Madam X and Vixen. Biography Petrucci and her sister, Maxine Petrucci, first formed Madam X with vocali ...

on drums and fellow Minnesotan

Share Ross Sharon June "Share" Ross (formerly Pedersen; born Sharon June Howe; March 21, 1963 in Glencoe, Minnesota) is an American musician. She was the bass player of the female hard rock band, Vixen, from whom she has been on hiatus since February 2022. ...

, then known as Share Pedersen, on bass, the lineup that signed to

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. They released their self-titled debut, ''

'', in 1988. It was released by

Manhattan Records Manhattan Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group and operates as a branch of Capitol Music Group. Company history Manhattan Records was formed in 1984 by Bruce Lundvall and was later renamed EMI Manhattan Records af ...

in the U.S. and Canada. The band toured with the

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, and

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

, and appeared in

Penelope Spheeris Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled ''The Decline of ...

' 1988 film, '' The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years'', although only Gardner, Pedersen, and Petrucci appeared in the film. The album ''

Rev It Up ''Rev It Up'' is the second album by the American hard rock band Vixen, released by EMI in 1990. It entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 20, and placed two songs inside the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. However, it did not match up to its predecessor in ...

'' followed in 1990, along with tours with

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

and

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

. The band's album sales declined and they were dropped from their record label. Vixen disbanded in 1991, but formed again in 1997 without Kuehnemund, while she was working on side project Drawing Down the Moon. Kuehnemund sued and won the rights to the band's name, after she realized that the rest of Vixen left her out and usurped her right to represent them. She then continued the band in 2001 with new members, and toured and released '' Live & Learn'' in 2006. Gardner, Petrucci, and Ross (née Pedersen) formed their own band JanetShareRoxyGina (aka JSRG) with 1997 Vixen guitarist

Gina Stile Gina Tagliente (born January 19, 1965), better known as Gina Stile, is an American former guitarist. She was lead guitar player of the reformed female hard rock band, Vixen, from 1997 to 1998 and 2013 until her departure from the band in March ...

. The group's most well-known lineup did briefly reunite in 2004 to perform for VH1's ''

Bands Reunited Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

''. Kuehnemund's side project Drawing Down the Moon which featured her on guitar, Jackie Paulson on vocals, Stacy Robinson on vocals and percussion, Donna Eveland on drums, bass, and keyboards, Donna Rawlins on guitar and vocals, and Christine Perior as a touring bassist, released their debut and only studio album ''Angel in My Dream'' on November 2, 2004. Kuehnemund died in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, at age 59, on October 10, 2013, after a nine-month-long battle with cancer. Gardner, Ross, and Petrucci claimed a reunion was in the works until Kuehnemund's diagnosis which she never disclosed publicly and after her death they decided to use the Vixen name again "in her honor". In a 2011 interview then-frontwoman

Jenna Sanz-Agero Jenna Leah Sanz-Agero (née Piccolo; born November 10, 1969) is the former lead singer of the female rock group Vixen, and a former president of Media 8. She lives and works in Los Angeles, California and served from 2017 to 2019 as Chief Operat ...

confirmed that a second album featuring the 2001 line-up was in the works and revealed the existence of a track called "I Understand" along with other new recordings and outtakes from ''Live & Learn''. These recordings are unlikely to be ever released due to Vixen not having a single member from Kuehnemund's 2001–13 line-up anymore.

Discography

Vixen *''

'' (1988) *''

'' (1990) *''The Best of Vixen: Full Throttle'' (1999) *'' Live & Learn'' (2006) *''Extended Versions'' (2006) *''Live in Sweden'' (2013) *''Rare Vintage'' (2018) Jeff Paris *''Lucky This Time'' (1993) ("State of the Heart" only) Drawing Down the Moon *''Angel in My Dream'' (2004)

References

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

2011 audio interview
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Final August 31, 2013 audio interview
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuehnemund, Jan 1953 births 2013 deaths American heavy metal guitarists Glam metal musicians American women heavy metal singers American hard rock musicians American pop rock singers Lead guitarists Musicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota Deaths from cancer in Colorado Singer-songwriters from Minnesota Guitarists from Minnesota Vixen (band) members American people of German descent American women singer-songwriters American rock songwriters 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers

Life and career

Discography

References

External links