Susanna Hoffs is known for being a founding member of the hit 80s band The Bangles. She went on to have a solo career with several albums under her belt. See what this sultry singer has been up to ever since those Manic Mondays.
Background Information/Early Life
Susanna Lee Hoffs was born on January 17, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, to Tamar Ruth, a film director/writer/producer, and Joshua Allen Hoffs, a psychoanalyst.
Hoffs began playing guitar as a teenager, after a childhood of having her mother play Beatles music to her.
The singer attended Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, CA, and continued her education at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated in 1980.
Hoffs was a production assistant during college and first appeared onscreen in the 1978 film Stony Island.
Hoffs attributes her exposure to punk rock as why she pursued a music career rather than her initial plans of becoming a dancer.
Music Career
Early Bands
Before striking it big, Hoffs performed in various bands, including The Psychiatrists/The Unconscious, along with David Roback and his brother Stephen, formed in the late 1970s while Hoffs was still in college.
In addition, Hoffs started the group The Bangs with Debbi and Vicki Peterson, but the band was required to change its name because of an East Coast boy band with the same name, it was then the band became known as The Bangles.
The Bangles
The Bangles released their first album in 1982, a self-titled extended play (Ep) under the Faulty Products Label, and two years later, The Bangles released their first full album, All Over the Place, with Columbia Records.
The Bangles are considered one of the most successful female bands of all time and have several hit songs, like Walk Like an Egyptian and Manic Monday.
Hoffs was a member of The Bangles from its inception in 1982 until the band disbanded in 1989.
As Hoffs was singled out as the group’s lead singer, there became tensions between its members, eventually leading the band to disband.
The Bangles would reunite in 2000 and released Doll Revolution in 2003, their fourth album. Eight years later, in 2011, the band released their fifth and final album, Sweetheart of the Sun.
Solo Career
When The Bangles disbanded in 1989, Hoffs went out on her own and released several albums as a solo artist. Her first solo album, When You’re a Boy, produced My Side of the Bed, which would become a top 40 hit.
Her second album, Susanna Hoffs, received praise but was not an overall success, while her album, Someday, was considered her best music to date.
Covers with Matthew Sweet
Hoffs joined Matthew Sweet in 2006 and recorded fifteen covers of classic rock songs ranging from the 1960s to 1970s.
The album, Under The Covers, Vol. 1, was the precursor to Volumes 2 and 3, released in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Under The Covers Vol. 2 featured cover songs by Rod Stewart, Carly Simon, Fleetwood Mac, and more.
She also formed the fake band, Ming Tea, with Matthew Sweet and actor Mike Myers after Myers appeared on Saturday Night Live in the 90s. The faux band would go on to appear in all three Austin Powers films, after appearing in several clubs and television performances.
Hoffs reached out to her Bangles bandmates to join her for Austin Powers, which was directed by Hoffs’ husband, Jay Roach. The original Bangles members reunited to record a song for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
What is she doing? Is she still making music/touring?
In 2021, Hoffs released a covers album, Bright Lights, which would become her fourth solo album and contained covers originally performed by artists like The Velvet Underground and Badfinger.
Hoffs also appeared in Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong’s cover of The Bangles’ hit Manic Monday. The duo shared a split screen while Armstrong sang and Hoffs played the guitar.
The singer was also called upon to induct the Zombies into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, Hoffs shared her admiration of the band, saying, "I’ve loved the Zombies for as long as I can remember," she said, "It was love at first listen."
Hoffs also has taken a stab at writing and published her first novel, This Bird Has Flown, which will be released in spring 2023.
The book centers around Jane Smart, a recently single and broke thirty-something who had a hit song ten years ago.
On the Bangles website, it appears the band is still in touch and continues to spread the music they made famous.
Personal Life
Hoffs married filmmaker Jay Roach in 1993, and the couple has two children.
After the wedding, Roach converted to Judaism. Today, Hoffs posts current and vintage photos of herself on Instagram.
