A biography for Toyah Willcoxhasn’t been written yet.
“My mother, Barbara, was a dancer from the age of 14 to 19. She toured with the comedian Max Wall in a dance group of six girls.”
“In 2010 I had to learn to walk again when I had my legs made the same length, after living with one leg two inches longer than the other until the age of 51.”
“I was completely unconventional in everything, which my mother found very difficult. I was a huge tomboy.”
“My father, Beric, ran a joinery business and owned two factories.”
“Between 2007 and 2016, I had a large white rabbit called WillyFred. I was happiest pressing my ear to his fur and hearing his heart beat.”
“Women of all ages need to be present in the media to instill girls and young women with self-confidence about their futures. And women of my age need healthy role models. Otherwise, how can we build the future dreams we still deserve to have?”
“My mother never slept.”
“Not sleeping is a problem when you get older. Not only is it linked to weight gain but the whole point of sleep is it allows your body to heal and replenish itself which is vital for good health.”
“I want a state funeral with bells ringing across the land! Then I'd love the congregation to do the hokey cokey and for can-can girls to dance down the aisle. I've already bought the plot in Worcestershire next to my parents.”
“I love my work and that's the only thing I think about.”
“I'd like young people to seek my advice, and trust that the decades I have lived through have added to my abilities to be a valuable contributor to the workplace and society.”
“I remember my mother doing housework until four in the morning and then a couple of hours later taking me to school.”
“I moved to London to work at the National Theatre and spent my first wage packet on Patti Smith, Bowie and Velvets records.”
“I've lived with my dyslexia and gone on to have a successful recording career, but academically I never had a chance in hell because I didn't fall into that bracket.”
“Far too many of my peers were taken in by the jet-setting rock star lifestyle and didn't realise the money might not last forever - but I have always had an eye on the future and invest in a syndicate to share risk.”
“I've never lived with a 'be careful' philosophy.”
“I have a very strict lifestyle. It's a vegetarian household and we grow our own produce.”
“I'm 5ft 1in and despise being small. People think I'm cute and cuddly, and I'm not.”
“I've studied nutrition since I was 23 and I began to find that a lot of my eating habits were to do with boredom and frustrations rather than hunger. When I was thirsty I would eat rather than drink.”
“Acupuncture has made all the difference to my sleep.”