Former costume designer turned vocalist for The Tubes; Re Styles, has passed away at 72. Multiple outlets confirmed the star died last Sunday, April 17th, 2022. On March 30th, 1950, Re Styles was born in The Netherlands as Shirley Macleod. Before meeting the band, which included singer Fee Waybill and future husband and drummer Prairie Prince, Re Styles modeled for Playboy and Penthouse. She also appeared in The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Sun Ra’s sci-fi film Space Is the Place. Until one day, at an art school show, everything changed for Re. After meeting The Tubes, she immediately was immersed into the San Francisco-based rock band.
Styles became costume designer for The Tubes’ unique looks on stage and joined them as a dancer in their live show. In 1979, she married The Tubes drummer Prairie Prince. Re Styles went on to sing a duet with The Tubes lead singer Fee Waybill on the band’s first U.S. charting single called “Don’t Touch Me There.” Prime Time from the album Remote Control may be what Re Styles is most known for. The single reached Number 34 on the UK charts at the time.
When The Tubes performed on the Olivia Newton-John Xanadu in 1980, Re Styles also appeared in the film. But by the time The Tubes’ fifth album came out the following year, Styles had already stopped performing with the group. Unfortunately for Styles, The Tubes’ fifth album, The Completion Backward Principle, was the group’s breakthrough album.
In 2019, The Tubes singer Fee Waybill confirmed the band has remained in contact with her. Waybill told Vintage Rock, “The last tour Re did was in 1979, and at that point, she was in bad shape…She was drinking too much, and she didn’t really want to tour anymore. So she kind of left the band at that point… She was really a talented girl. Really talented.”
As Re Styles moved on from the world of performing, she relocated to Seattle and became a landscape gardener. She also went on to work other creative jobs as a party planner, flower arranger, and home remodeler, according to Noise11.
Our thoughts are with Re Styles friends and family.
