Please Don't Say Wendy Who...

From Wikipedia: Wendy Orlean Williams (May 28, 1949 – April 6, 1998), better known as Wendy O. Williams, was the lead singer for the punk band the Plasmatics, whose stage theatrics included blowing up equipment, near nudity and chain-sawing guitars. She's seen left, in 1964 , in her 10th grade photo, and right, on stage in typical pose.

Dubbed "The Queen of Shock Rock," Williams was widely considered the most controversial and radical woman singer of her day. She often sported a trademark Mohawk haircut.

Williams was nominated in 1985 for a Grammy in the Best Female Rock Vocal category during the height of her band's popularity.

The Plasmatics last tour was in 1988. In 1991, Williams moved to Storrs, Connecticut, where she lived with her long-time companion and former manager, Rod Swenson, and worked as an animal rehabilitator.

Despite her reputation as a fearsome performer, Williams in her personal life was deeply devoted to the welfare of animals, a passion that included a vegetarian diet and working as a wildlife rehabilitator, while also personally being a natural foods activist. In one infamous TV talk show appearance, she openly accused Debbi Fields (of "Mrs. Fields" cookie fame) of being "no better than a heroin pusher" for using so much processed white sugar in her products.

Williams died at age 48 in 1998 in a wooded area near her home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. While some argued she committed suicide rather than compromise her art, Swenson reportedly described her as "despondent" at the time of her death. This is what she is said to have written in a suicide note regarding her decision:

The act of taking my own life is not something I am doing without a lot of thought. I don't believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time. I do believe strongly, however, that the right to do so is one of the most fundamental rights that anyone in a free society should have. For me much of the world makes no sense, but my feelings about what I am doing ring loud and clear to an inner ear and a place where there is no self, only calm.

Love always, Wendy