Chrissy Amphlett

Lead singer of Divinyls; Born: October 25, 1959; Died: April 21, 2013. CHRISSY Amphlett, who has died aged 53 after suffering from breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, was the lead singer of the Australian rock band Divinyls whose hit I Touch Myself brought her international fame in the early 1990s.

An icon of Australian music, she was also an antidote to the niceness of Olivia Newton-John and Kylie Minogue. She was renowned for edgy stage perform- ances clad in school uniforms and fishnet stockings but also had a strong, distinctive singing voice.

She was born in Geelong in Victoria state, south-west of Melbourne, the cousin of 1960s Australian pop star Patricia Amphlett, known as Little Pattie. Like Patricia, Amphlett began performing when she was a teenager – at first in a country rock band.

In 1980 Amphlett met musician Mark McEntee at a concert at the Sydney Opera House and the pair formed the Divinyls. The strongest theme of their music was always female empowerment. In their debut single in 1981, Boys in Town, Amphlett sang that she was “through with hanging around with all the boys in town”.

The band released six albums between 1982 and 1996, peaking in 1991 with the success of the single I Touch Myself, which reached No1 in Australia, No4 in the US and No10 in Britain.

Even though Amphlett’s stage persona often involved wearing stockings and school uniform, for her the performance was confrontational and a feminist statement.

“It made me angrier,” she said. “The basis anger was, ‘Don’t think I’m a pushover or that I’m a slut because I’ve got these stockings and suspenders on.’”

The band reformed briefly in 2006, the same year they were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame. Amphlett announced in 2007 she had multiple sclerosis and in 2010 that she had cancer.

She also worked as an actress, making her movie debut in the 1982 Australian film Monkey Grip, which featured several Divinyls tracks.

Later she played Russell Crowe’s mother in the 1988 Australian stage production of Blood Brothers.

Crowe sent a Twitter message after Amphlett’s death: “The last time I saw you was in the Botanic Gardens, loving life and reciting verse. That’s how I’ll remember you, your boy, R.”

After she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Amphlett said she hoped I Touch Myself could be used to remind women to perform breast self-examinations.

Reflecting on her career, she said there had been many peaks and troughs with no middle ground. “There was a lot of drama,” she said, “all that made for a more interesting performance, and that was the cost.”

She is survived by her husband, musician Charley Drayton.