Lucy O'Brien has short white/blonde hair. She wears a black t shirt and sits on a chair.

Dr Lucy O'Brien

Acting Course Leader, MA Music Industry Management & Artist Development
London College of Music
lucy.o'brien@uwl.ac.uk

Lucy O'Brien is an academic, writer and broadcaster. She has co-authored It Takes Blood And Guts with Skin, the lead singer of Skunk Anansie, and in 2020 published a 25th anniversary edition of her book She Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Popular Music. She is author of Dusty: The Classic Biography, and Madonna: Like An Icon (translated into 13 languages). She has many academic publications, and her PhD (awarded 2018) is called: ‘Express Yourself: Reframing women’s participation, agency and power in popular music’. This project focuses on the experiences of women within popular music, with a feminist theoretical and historical perspective.

She was Course Leader for BA Music Marketing & Promotion, and BA Music Journalism at University for the Creative Arts (2011-2018), and has taught popular music theory, research methods, music journalism and marketing at Goldsmiths, University of London, University of Westminster, and Southampton Solent University. She was a musician in an all-girl band, has worked for the music press and music PR since the 1990s.

  • Qualifications

    PhD (University of Brighton)
    HEA Fellowship, PG Cert in Learning & Teaching (Goldsmiths, University of London)
    BA Hons English (University of Leeds)

  • Memberships

    IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music)
    Dancing About Architecture (International University Research Network on Music Writing)
    Fawcett Society (Women's Equality and Policy Research Charity)

Research

  • Research and publications

    Forthcoming publications

    ‘Identity crisis? Redefining ‘70s feminist punk’, Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock, ed. G. Arnold & G. McKay (OUP, 2021).

    Book and book chapters

    ‘Country Girl: rural feminism in the performance of Alison Goldfrapp’ Mute Records: Artists, Business, History, ed. Dr Z. Beaven, M. O’Dair, Dr R. Osborne (Bloomsbury, 2018)

    ‘I’m With The Band: Redefining young feminism’, Voicing Girlhood in Popular Music: Performance, Authority, Authenticity, ed. A. Adrian & J. Warwick (Routledge, 2016)

    ‘Putting Practice into Theory: teaching undergraduate theory in Music Journalism’, James, M. Popular Music Journalism (Routledge, 2016)

    ‘Not A Piece of Meat: Lady Gaga and that dress’, in Lady Gaga and Popular Music (Performing Gender, Fashion and Culture), ed. M. Iddon & M. Marshall (Routledge, 2014)

    'Madonna: Like A Crone', in Rock On: Women, Ageing & Popular Music, ed. R.Jennings & A. Gardner (Ashgate, 2012)

    ‘The Woman Punk Made Me’, in Punk Rock, So What? (the cultural legacy of punk) ed. R. Sabin (Routledge, 1999)

    ‘Sexing the Cherry: High or Low Art? Distinctions in performance’, in Analysing Performance (A Critical Reader) ed. Patrick Campbell (Manchester University Press 1994)

    Journal articles

    ‘PJ Harvey records a new album in public’, Frieze (170) (2015)

    ‘Can I Have a Taste of Your Ice Cream: Leeds post punk, feminism and the Yorkshire Ripper', in Punk & Post Punk, Intellect Journals Vol 1. 2011.

  • Conferences

    Keynote speaker: ‘Writing into the Canon: women and music memoir’, at ‘You’re Twisting my Memory Man: Music, Memory & Memoir symposium, York St John University, 13th-14th July 2018.

    Keynote speaker: ‘Holding Ground: Redefining 70s punk feminism’, at ‘Keep It Simple, Make It Fast’ (KISMIF) 4th international conference on underground music scenes and DIY culture, University of Porto, Portugal, 11-14th July 2018.

    ‘Destroy the Spectacle: Alison Goldfrapp and murder in the English countryside’, at Sign O’ The Times: Music and Politics, MoPop Conference, MoPop Museum, Seattle, USA, 20-23rd April 2017.

    ‘I’m With The Band’ paper on the Voicing Girlhood in Popular Music panel at: EMP Pop Conference, EMP Museum, Seattle, USA, 14-17 April 2016.

    Keynote speaker: ‘Finding Dusty: Pet Shop Boys and the disco divas’, at: Pet Shop Boys Symposium, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, 24-25 March 2016.

    Keynote speaker: ‘Not Just a Piece of Meat: Lady Gaga and that dress. Feminist art, consumption and popular music’, at Subverting Fashion: Style Cultures, Fan Culture and the Fashion Industry conference, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, 11 July 2014.

    Moderator of ‘Into the blogosphere. How is current music writing ‘stepping out’? panel at Stepping Out: Music and the New Media Landscape conference, UCA Epsom, 26 February 2014.

    ‘Women in the world of the singer-songwriter’, invited speaker, From Adele to Zeca Afonso: The Singer-Songwriter in Europe conference, University of Leeds, 13-14 September 2012.

    ‘Can I Have a Taste of Your Ice Cream? (Post punk feminism and the Yorkshire Ripper)’, paper for the Sounds of the City EMP/IASPM Pop Conference, New York University, 21-23 March, 2012.

    ‘Playing with a Different Sex: feminism and post punk’, paper for Post Punk Performance: The alternative eighties in Britain conference, School of Performance and Cultural Industries, Leeds University, 9 September 2010.

    ‘The cultural legacy of Janis Joplin’, paper at Kozmic Blues: The Life and Music of Janis Joplin American Masters Series conference at the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland US, 9-14 November, 2009.

    ‘Damaged Divas: from Billie Holiday to Amy Winehouse…’, paper at Dance Music Sex Romance: Pop and the Body Politic conference, EMP/SFM Seattle, March 2009.

Courses taught on