Girlschool

Girlschool
Girlschool playing live in London in 2009
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Years active	1978–present
Labels	City, Bronze, Mercury, GWR, Communiqué, Wacken, Cleopatra, UDR Music
Associated acts	She-Devils, Strange Girls, Motörhead
Website	Official website
Members	Kim McAuliffe Enid Williams Denise Dufort Jackie Chambers
Past members	Kelly Johnson † Gil Weston Cris Bonacci Jackie Bodimead Tracey Lamb Jackie Carrera

Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978 and frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead. They are the longest running all-female rock band, still active after more than 35 years. Formed from a school band called Painted Lady, Girlschool enjoyed strong media exposure and commercial success in the UK in the early 1980s with three albums of 'punk-tinged metal' and a few singles, but lost their momentum in the following years.

In the 1990s and 2000s, they focused on shows and tours and did few studio albums. During their career, Girlschool travelled the world, playing in many rock and metal festivals and co-headlining with or supporting important hard rock and heavy metal bands. They maintain a worldwide cult following and are an inspiration for many female rock musicians. Despite frequent changes of line-up, original members Kim McAuliffe, Enid Williams and Denise Dufort are still in the band. The only original member no longer in the band, lead guitarist and singer Kelly Johnson, died of cancer in 2007.

In 1975, school friends and neighbours from Wandsworth, South London, Kim McAuliffe (rhythm guitar, vocals) and Dinah Enid Williams (bass, vocals) formed an all-girl rock cover band called Painted Lady, together with Tina Gayle on drums. Deirdre Cartwright joined the new band on lead guitar, Val Lloyd replaced Gayle on drums and they started playing the local pub scene. "The reason we were all girls was we couldn’t find any blokes who wanted to play with us! This was the natural thing to do", McAuliffe explained to Gary Graff in 1997 about the all-female composition of the band.