Johnette Napolitano, photo by Greg Allen

That’s true, but, like, everyone in Hollywood pretty much knows who Joey is. Even Marc, like I said in the book, we were drinking and he asked if “Joey” was about him. I said, “Yeah,” and he said, “Do you owe me money?” (Laughs) And I said, “No, I don’t think so.” But it’s been fun. I’m 57-years-old and I want to tell my own stories. I’ve had my own identity completely created and misinterpreted and misunderstood and owned, and it’s time for me to own who I am. 
— Johnette Napolitano in interview with Al Kaufman at Atlanta Music Guide.com

at the Royale in Boston, June 8, 2010

Johnette Napolitano (nee Jonette L. Napolitano) (b. 9/22/57) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the rock band Concrete Blonde.

Early Life
Johnette was born and raised in Los Angeles, the eldest of five children in an Italian American family. Her parents recognized their daughter possessed musical talent when, as a child, she was able to play “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on piano by ear. Her mother loved show tunes. The family also listened to Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, and the Rat Pack. At age five she enrolled in a gifted kids art program at UCLA.

Concrete Blonde
In 1986, Napolitano co-founded Concrete Blonde with guitarist James Mankey. She sang and sometimes played bass guitar. The pair had worked together under a variety of names since 1982. They released seven studio albums between 1986 and 2004, and one additional album as a collaboration with Los Illegals. Concrete Blonde had several moderately successful singles, including “God is a Bullet”, “Joey”, “Tomorrow Wendy”, and a cover version of “Everybody Knows”, originally by Leonard Cohen. Concrete Blonde broke up and re-formed several times, with Napolitano and Mankey as the only constant members. The band has not been active since 2012.

Solo Career
In 1996-97 she opened for Paul Weller and performed many of the songs on her new album, Sound of a Woman, but Island Records had a shake-up at the time and the album was, effectively, lost in the shuffle; at this point is unlikely to ever be officially released. Bootleg copies of this album are rare and highly valued.

Other Bands
Before Concrete Blonde, Johnette was a member of Dream 6, who released their self-titled debut EP in 1983. She was involved with several musical projects, including Vowel Movement, a semi-improvisational musical collaboration with Holly Beth Vincent; and Pretty & Twisted, a band that also featured former Wall of Voodoo guitarist Marc Moreland. She is one of several vocalists featured on the 1996 album No Talking, Just Head, by The Heads, including the single “Damage I’ve Done”. The group was formed by three members of Talking Heads (Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth.) Johnette was the primary vocalist for The Heads’ only concert tour.

As of 2009, Napolitano lives in Joshua Tree, California. She composes music for films and works as a gallery artist, specializing in working with discarded and reclaimed materials. She also cares for rescue horses. The Atlanta Music Guide interview also mentioned her being a tattoo artist.

Discography and Filmography
With Concrete Blonde
Studio albums = 8
Compilation and Live albums = 5
Non-album tracks = 8
Singles = 24
Films and TV programs also feature songs performed by Concrete Blonde = 14
Soundtracks featuring Concrete Blonde = 9

Solo albums
Albums = 10
With Pretty & Twisted = 1
Other Projects including acting, composing and producing = many

Johnette has a WordPress page, coffee & a card (daily tarot) which takes you to a site with Johnette reading a daily tarot “for entertainment purposes only.”  I want to note that I’ve been listening to her daily tarot reading since writing this up about a month ago, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in tarot!

Source: wikipedia