Nikki Corvette (born Dominique Lorenz in Detroit, MI), is a singer best known as a member of the band Nikki & The Corvettes from 1977 through 1981. Corvette grew up in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. She was always fascinated with music, and at 16 ran away from home because her mother refused to allow her to attend an

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

concert. In late 1977 or early 1978, a friend of hers arranged for Nikki to headline a concert at a bar. At the time, she was not a member of a band, and she spent the next few weeks organizing Nikki and the Corvettes. The new band had never rehearsed, and played together for the first time at the concert. Originally, they played mainly cover songs as well as a few original songs written by Corvette and her former boyfriend Peter James, who had played with

The Romantics The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit. The band is often put under the banner of new wave and power pop. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Motown R&B, ...

. The Corvettes were signed by Bomp! Records and released an album, '' Nikki and the Corvettes'' in 1980. Mike Miliard of the ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' and ...

'' described the album as "power pop perfection" which " plitthe difference between

the Ronettes The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. The ...

and

the Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

". Adrian Mack of '' The Georgia Straight'' describes Corvette's early work as a "brief, if beautiful, career belting out innocently snotty bubblegum punk with the gutter-budget girl group Nikki and the Corvettes. Their solitary, highly prized 1980 album is still launching new bands and teenage-misfit boners, though Corvette herself didn't realize its impact until a reissue in 2000." Nikki and the Corvettes disbanded in 1981. At this time, it was still unusual to have a woman front a rock band. The notoriety that Nikki Corvette earned for her role in breaking those barriers led to her being namechecked in the song "Gimme My Radio" by The Donnas. Corvette returned to music in 2003, forming a new band called Nikki and the Stingrays. Corvette described the new band as "the next progression of the Corvettes. It's got the same quality to some of it, but I grew up a little bit. Which is good, since it's only what, 27 years later?" The Stingrays released an album, ''Back to Detroit'' on Dollar Records. After the release of this album, Corvette moved back to Detroit, where she became friends with Amy Gore of the Gore Gore Girls. The two wrote several songs together, with Corvette providing the lyrics and Gore the music. In 2009 they formed the band Gorevette. Gorvette performed a fall 2010 tour opening for bands including Blondie and The Donnas. In 2012, she appeared at the "Girls Got Rhythm" fest in St. Paul, MN alongside artists such as Ronnie Spector,

The Muffs The Muffs were an American pop punk band based in Southern California, formed in 1991. Led by singer and guitarist Kim Shattuck, the band released four full-length studio albums in the 1990s, as well as numerous singles including "Lucky Guy" and ...

The 5.6.7.8's The 5.6.7.8's are a Japanese rock band from Tokyo. They first started performing as a quartet in Tokyo, and recruited guest performers during their Australian tour. They became a trio in 1992, before touring Australia. Members The 5.6.7.8's fo ...

and L'Assassins.

References

Musicians from Detroit Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-musician-stub