Join PMA for An Evening with Nona Hendryx: A Conversation on Life, Music, and Creative Practice, on Thursday, March 19, from 5:15 pm to 6:30 pm, in the Milstein Auditorium, Milstein Hall. This event is part of the Black Sound Series, organized by Mendi Obadike and Keith Obadike. Co-sponsored by the Department of Performing and Media Arts, Sounds of Blackness, Milstein Program, Department of Music, Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program, American Studies Program, and the Department of Art.
Legendary artist Nona Hendryx will participate in a public dialogue with faculty members Mendi + Keith Obadike about her six-decade career spanning popular music, art, and technology. Widely known as a founding member of Labelle and the group’s chief songwriter, Hendryx went on to establish herself as an art rocker in the 1980s. In more recent years she has written music for theater and film and collaborated with visual artists like Carrie Mae Weems and Nick Cave. She has also presented multimedia performances at MoogFest and MASS MOCA.
Nona Hendryx: From her Hall of Fame worthy beginnings with Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles to her revolutionary ventures into art-rock, new-wave, and now cutting-edge mixed reality experiences, Nona Hendryx continues to earn her title as music's "Queen of Transformation." With the group LaBelle, Hendryx earned three Gold Albums and a #1 Worldwide Platinum Hit with "Lady Marmalade." Her solo career encompasses nine studio albums and collaborations with Prince, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, George Clinton, and others. In 2024, she premiered "The Dream Machine Experience" at Lincoln Center — an ambitious mixed reality installation combining augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence rooted in Afro-Futurism.
2025 marks an extraordinary year of recognition and new ventures for Hendryx. She is the honoree for the 2025 Creative Capital annual gala and selected as the Roth Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College for 2025-2026. Her current projects showcase her continued innovation at the intersection of art and technology, proving that true innovation comes from fearlessly embracing change while remaining rooted in authentic creative expression.
Learn more about Nona Hendryx.
