Carole Ann Pope (born 6 August 1950) is a British-born Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose provocative blend of hard-edged new wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian entertainers to achieve mainstream fame.
Pope met her longtime musical partner Kevan Staples at a band audition in Scarborough. In 1968, they began performing together as a duo in Yorkville, which was Toronto's live music and arts district at the time. In 1970, they adopted the name O, changing it to The Bullwhip Brothers the following year. In 1975, Pope and Staples recruited several backup musicians and formed the band Rough Trade. Pope often performed in black leather pants and bondage attire. The band's first album, Rough Trade Live, was produced by Jack Richardson.
She won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1981 and subsequently the Juno Award for Best Female Vocalist in 1982 and 1983. She and Staples co-wrote the 1983 single "Transformation," recorded by Nona Hendryx. Pope also appeared as a guest vocalist on the Payola$ single "Never Said I Loved You," which was a top 10 hit in 1983. She teamed up in 2000 with the Payola$ founder Paul Hyde to sing the duet "My Brilliant Career" on his album Living Off the Radar. She sang the role of Primavera Nicholson in the COC production of R. Murray Schafer's Patria I in November 1987. During the 1980s, Rough Trade won a Genie Award and earned four gold and two platinum records. Although the band did not record or perform extensively after its final Deep Six in '86 tour, they did not officially break up until 1988.
Pope's solo career has been lower-profile than her time with the band. Pope issued a debut solo single in 1988 ("Nothing but a Heartache/I'm Not Blind"), but did not issue a follow-up release for several years afterwards. In 1991, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue opportunities in soundtrack work and acting. Pope issued an EP, Radiate, in 1995. In 2000, Random House published Pope's autobiography, Anti Diva. Soon afterwards, Pope re-recorded the Rough Trade single "High School Confidential" for the Queer as Folk (Season 1) soundtrack. She also appeared in the Toronto production of The Vagina Monologues in 2001, then moved to New York City to continue writing and recording. In 2005, 21 years after her last EP, Pope returned to Los Angeles and released Transcend, her debut full-length solo album.
In 2011, Pope released Landfall, her second full-length album, featuring a duet with Rufus Wainwright. That year she also was a guest vocalist on the album The Hills Are Alive by the Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata. In 2015, Pope signed with Squirtgun Records (distributed by eOne Entertainment) to re-release the Music for Lesbians EP on 23 June 2015. On 22 September 2017, Pope released the single, This Is Not A Test. An accompanying music video, directed by Jasun Mark, was released on 8 May 2018.
