Wendy O. Williams dies at 48

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Former lead singer of The Plasmatics

Wendy O. Williams, a Grammy-nominated singer whose stage theatrics as lead singer of the 1980s punk rock band the Plasmatics included blowing up equipment and chain-sawing guitars, committed suicide April 6 in the woods near her eastern Connecticut home in Storrs. She was 48.

Her body was discovered by her former manager and longtime companion, Rod Swenson. The state medical examiner said Williams died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Swenson said Williams had been despondent for some time. “She felt she was past her peak and found it difficult to lead a normal life,” he said. “This was something she had planned; it was no spur-of-the moment thing.”

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Williams, who usually appeared on stage as a skimpily clad dominatrix, was dubbed the “queen of shock rock” and sported a trademark Mohawk haircut and magnetic tape across her breasts. In 1985, she was nominated for a Grammy in the best female rock vocal category during the height of the band’s popularity.

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A native of Webster, N.Y., Williams, with her onstage antics, quickly attracted a following for the Plasmatics, who debuted in New York City clubs in 1978.

Police in Milwaukee arrested Williams and Swenson in 1981 after she allegedly simulated a sex act in concert at a nightclub. Charges against Williams of battery to an officer and obscene conduct were later dropped and a jury cleared Swenson of obstructing an officer. Obscenity charges against Williams in Cleveland were also dropped, Swenson said.

Swenson said he and Williams moved to Storrs in 1991, three years after the group’s last tour.

The Plasmatics, who bridged the years between punk and alternative rock, recorded several albums on the Stiff and Capitol labels, including “New Hope for the Wretched,” “Beyond the Valley of 1984” and “Metal Priestess.”

A critic called their 1980 debut album “entertaining for its sheer crassness perhaps, but hardly listenable.”

She is survived by her mother and two sisters.

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