Cris Bonacci
| Cris Bonacci | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Cristina Bonacci |
| Born |
15 October 1964 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Heavy metal, hard rock, pop, dance |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, keyboards, vocals |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | Renaissance |
| Associated acts |
|
| Website | crisbonacci |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul Custom | |
Cristina "Cris" Bonacci (born 15 October 1964) is an Australian-born producer, songwriter, and musician. She was the lead guitarist in the British heavy metal band Girlschool (1984 to 1992, 2004) and has also provided session guitar work for other artists.
Cris Bonacci grew up in Melbourne, to where the family had moved when she was 11 or 12 years old. Her guitar style derives from some formal musical studies taken in Australia, but mainly from listening to classic rock albums and practising on them. In 1985, she declared that her main influences came from rock guitarists Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, along with early Black Sabbath's albums. Bonacci played in numerous bands in native Australia, but never staying with one unit for more than a couple of years. She joined a rock group, Vixen, on lead guitar alongside Wendy Hemmings on drums (ex-Screeming Heep), Glenda Hunt on bass guitar and Robyn Youlten on lead vocals and lead guitar (Screeming Heep).
Bonacci and Youlten formed a heavy rock band, Sweet Jayne, in early 1977 in Melbourne with Robyn Clark on drums and Sally Zylstra on bass guitar. Prior to playing their first gig, Youlten left and was replaced on lead vocals and flute by Chris Scheri. This band developed a sizeable local following in Melbourne and recorded several demoes and an extended play between 1977 and 1983.
Their self-titled EP was issued in January 1980 and had five tracks, "Ambiguous Girl", "Omniscience", "Some People", "State of Mind" and "Crushed and Crazy". Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, opined that it "highlighted Bonacci's crunching guitar riffs offset by Scheri's melodic vocals and lilting flute lines." Soon after Brendan O'Shea replaced Zylstra on bass guitar and John Zaffarese replaced Clark on drums. In October 1981 this line-up issued a single, "Icarus", with Fab Versace replacing Zaffarese on drums before being replaced in turn by Billy George in 1982. The group disbanded in January 1983.
After her stint in Sweet Jayne, Bonacci went to the United Kingdom to work as session and recording musician after initially being invited to the UK by Mike Oldfield. In London, Bonacci joined the all-female hard rock outfit She as lead guitarist. She included lead vocalist Jackie "Jacqui" Bodimead and former Rock Goddess bassist Tracey Lamb, whom Bonacci would later team up with in Girlschool. In fact, the all-female heavy metal outfit Girlschool was short of a lead guitarist after Kelly Johnson's departure and, on hearing Bonacci, they invited both her and keyboard player Bodimead to join the band. Both agreed and, during her time with Girlschool (1984 to 1992), Bonacci recorded the albums Running Wild, Nightmare at Maple Cross, Take a Bite and Girlschool, touring extensively all over the world.
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