Wednesday 9 February 2022

Debora Iyall

Debora Kay Iyall (born 29 April 1954), is a Cowlitz Native American artist and was lead singer for the new wave band Romeo Void. Iyall got her surname from her family adopting their ancestor Iyallwahawa's "first" name written at the time as Ayiel.

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

While attending the San Francisco Art Institute, she joined Frank Zincavage and Peter Woods to create Romeo Void in 1979. The band was remarkable for their modernization of the punk sound, and for Iyall's forceful, half-spoken delivery. They reached hit status on college radio stations with the suggestive and multi-leveled song "Never Say Never" in 1982. Their song "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)" landed them in the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in 1984.

 

 

 

 


 





Romeo Void parted ways in 1985, and the following year Iyall released her debut solo album Strange Language on Columbia Records. After a lukewarm reception of the album, Iyall returned to her first love, as an artist and art instructor. 















Since late 2009, Iyall has been performing new material written with Peter Dunne at a variety of local venues in Northern California. In 2010 Iyall's second solo album, Stay Strong was released, and in January 2012, an EP, Singing Until Sunrise was released. On 2 November 2019, Debora Iyall was awarded as a Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the 19th Annual Native American Music Awards.