I’m just about to launch the first fanzines for 2026 – Issues 66 – 68 – and these focus on one of the most incredible and memorable Toyah eras… Anthem.
I love the Anthem band… One of the finest bands in music history – Just listen to Nigel Glockler, his mindblowing brilliance perfectly captured during Toyah’s At The Rainbow gig, but all five members of this band are incredible. I’ll always have a soft spot for Joel Bogen, though.
These fanzines also encompass At The Rainbow, the Anthem Tour and Toyah’s career in 1981 in general… in their 45th Anniversary year!
Official Toyah’s 2026 Songs & Stories tour countdown commenced a few days ago, with these fab photos being shared! Join Toyah on her mammoth 49-date UK tour by buying your tickets here. (Images © All rights reserved)
Toyah was interviewed on Afternoons (with Michelle McManus) last Thursday on BBC Radio Scotland. There was also a play of It’s A Mystery.
Michelle McManus chats to singer, actor, TV host and author Toyah Willcox about her upcoming Songs and Stories tour.
Plus Dominic Corr swings by for the weekly telly review. This week, it’s all about The Lady, Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2, and the Scrubs reboot.
Michelle also provides the perfect soundtrack to your Thursday afternoon, with bops aplenty, and another edition of the Rewind Quiz.
• Listen to the show, and Toyah’s interview, at BBC Sounds for the next few weeks. See also a video clip from the interview here.
• Saturday Song: Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard) (Razzmatazz) – Watch… • Toyah & Robert: UpBeat Moments – Watch… • Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch – Scary Monster (and Super Creeps) – Watch… (Image © Toyah)
Toyah guested on Thordis Fridriksson’s show on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire last week.
Toyah’s veg patch | Toyah Willcox tells us she’s an avid gardener. Listen at BBC Sounds.
There are two new podcasts, with interviews/chats with Toyah, currently available to listen to…
Popnerd | Episode 1: Toyah Willcox
Toyah is a guest on the first episode of Popnerd, a new podcast. In this candid interview, Toyah shares insights into her creative process, how AI has helped her write songs, the importance of collaboration in music, and how she continues to challenge expectations more than four decades on… Listen here.
Very Very Sherrie | Episode 2: Toyah Willcox
Sherrie Hewson kicks off January 2026 with the truly iconic Toyah Willcox for a fascinating podcast interview and it’s an absolute must listen too. From challenging gender norms long before it was fashionable, to speaking with heartbreaking honesty about murder within her family, Toyah opens up like never before. This is a woman who has lived boldly, loved fiercely, and never once apologised for being exactly who she is… Listen here. See a teaser.. and you can also listen at YouTube.
Celebrity Lingo: ITV: Wednesday 11th March: 7.30pm
Series 2, Episode 3. Adil Ray hosts the game of words as Good Morning Britain’s Kate Garraway and This Morning’s Ashley James battle singers Toyah Willcox and Carol Decker to win big money for charity.
• Saturday Song: Obsolete (Acoustic) – Watch… • Toyah & Robert: UpBeat Moments – Watch… • Toyah & Robert’s new Sunday Lunch – Gimme Gimme – Watch… (Image © Toyah)
2026 marks the 50th year of Toyah’s career! Her very first professional job, playing the role of Sue in the BBC’s “Second City First” television play, Glitter, aired in November 1976 – having been filmed in 1975.
A few weeks ago I found a big box of photos I haven’t seen for, at least, 35 years. This was a real treasure trove of a photos from a happy childhood and they brought back a lot of memories… and, from a fan perspective, this correlates to Toyah’s 50 year career.
I’ve been a fan of Toyah’s amazingly eclectic career for 46 years of those 50. Here’s me in 1982 and 1983 (above) and this week! (below) Yup, us Toyah fans have a lot of staying power!!
The Women Who Rock!: BBC Radio Two: Sunday 8th March: 3.00am
The 1960s. Series 1, episode 1. Venturing from the 1960s onward decade by decade, this series focuses on the female rockstars who conquered a predominantly male-influenced genre. Tony Blackburn begins with a look at the groundbreaking 1960s, where Tina Turner, Grace Slick, Nico, PP Arnold and Janis Joplin led the charge when it came to rock vocals. Featuring the origin of one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time, River Deep Mountain High, how Janis Joplin greatly inspired Evanescence front woman Amy Lee and the rise of psychedelic rock in San Francisco with Grace Slick.
The Women Who Rock!: BBC Radio Two: Sunday 8th March: 3.30am
The 1970s. Series 1, episode 2. Bob Harris focuses his attentions on female rock artists on the 1970s, focusing on female rockers who broke the mold for all who followed. Among those features is Suzi Quatro, who inspired countless women to pick up instruments and play rock, including Joan Jett. Toyah and Wendy James of Transvision Vamp recount the influence of Patti Smith on punk rock. Also spotlighted are two women in the same band – Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac – and Debbie Harry of Blondie fame.
50 Wild Women Of The 80s!: NOW 80s: Wednesday 4th March: 10pm
Brilliant songs, big voices, blazing hair & bags of attitude – the ladies of the 80s had the lot! From Toyah to Tina & Joan Jett to Janet Jackson.
Punk ‘high priestess’ to spill the beans in Plymouth
‘It’ll be really exciting for me to look back on my career’
Punk singer Toyah will spill the beans about her lengthy showbiz career – and sing a few songs – during an “intimate” show in Plymouth this year.
Toyah has often been dubbed “the high priestess of punk”. She made her name – shortened from Toyah Wilcox – during the late 1970s when she appeared in the punk movie Jubilee, the mod movie Quadrophenia and brought out the first of a string of hit records which saw the likes of It’s a Mystery, I Want to be Free and Thunder in the Mountains ride high in the singles chart.
• Continue reading at Plymouth Live.
The Chase: Celebrity Special: Challenge: Saturday 7th March: 6pm
Bradley Walsh hosts the quiz show as four celebrities take on the Chaser. Singer Toyah Willcox, ex-footballer John Barnes, writer Germaine Greer and heavyweight boxer Audley Harrison pit their wits against one of the country’s finest quiz brains in the hope of winning thousands of pounds for their chosen charities.
• Saturday Song: Echo Beach (Surf Mix) – Watch… • Toyah & Robert: UpBeat Moments – Watch… • Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch – Love In An Elevator – Watch… (Image © Toyah)
Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted: Really: Tuesday 10th January: 1.00am
Toyah Willcox. Series 1, episode 5. The team undergoes one of the most terrifying investigations yet when visiting Toyah Willcox, who has experienced strange activity in her home ever since she moved in.
Toyah guested on Grant Stott’s Vinyl Collective last Friday on BBC Radio Scotland… Choosing her favourite vinyl, along with plays of I Want To Be Free, It’s A Mystery and some classic retro tracks. Listen for the next few weeks at BBC Sounds.
Grant uttered the classic chant…”Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!” after playing I Want To Be Free and advising listeners Toyah would be appearing on Side Two of his show.
This week on Grant Stott’s Vinyl Collective, Toyah Willcox, the acclaimed British singer-songwriter, actress, and author, shares her favourite vinyl record.
Grant will have an all-female Punk/New Wave Trailblazers ‘Double’ on Side 2 of the show, plus, a countdown of the top 10 albums this week in 1983. He’ll also have another cracking Into The Groove 12” and a Magnificent 7″
All that, plus music from Blondie, Kraftwerk, Yazoo, Daft Punk, The Silencers, Larry Carlton and more..
Toyah’s Wonderful World Of Weird
Mrs. Charleston’s Balcony
An original short story
Written & read by Toyah Willcox
A brand new short story – the tenth – written by and narrated by Toyah!
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Wonderful World of Weird returns with a typically wonderful Toyah tale.
“I have always loved short stories, they can inhabit any world from suburbia to the fantastic. When time is short and long distances need to be travelled, the short story has taken me to places i willingly want to go to. So whether you have five minutes to spare, or you want to escape for a while…join me and my love of the unpredictable. Welcome to Toyah’s Wonderful World of Weird…”
• Listen at Toyah’s official You Tube and Facebook. Browse our other Toyah’s Wonderful World Of Weird posts, here. (Image © Toyah)
2026 marks the 50th year of Toyah’s career! Her very first professional job, playing the role of Sue in the BBC’s “Second City First” television play, Glitter, aired in November 1976 – having been filmed in 1975.
I’m celebrating this awesome landmark via cherry picked moments from Toyah’s 50 years as an artist: Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Writer, Storyteller… This also means I can simultaneously revisit past work from 26+ years of Dreamscape too.
Desire, Toyah’s sophomore solo album, was released in 1987 on E’G Records and was a real departure for her musically, lyrically, sonically… It’s recently been released on deluxe, expanded, 2CD and vinyl picture disc. It was also an important part of Toyah’s first ever box set, Toyah Solo, released in 2020.
• Please click below to dive in, be rescued, or maybe just have a read of Dreamscape’s Desire feature from January 2012… and stay tuned for more #Toyah50 celebrating.
• Saturday Song: Bird In Flight (Acoustic) – Watch… • Toyah & Robert: UpBeat Moments – Watch… • Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch – Tainted Love – Watch… (Image © Toyah)
Official Toyah wished, the absolutely legendary, Bird In Flight a Happy 46th last week with a selection of related photos, including this one which features the shot of Toyah used in, blurry desaturated, close-up on the single’s sleeve when it was released in February 1980 on Safari Records. See here and here, and also last weekend’s Saturday Song…
Toyah’s latest blog – the second of 2026 – is available to read at toyahwillcox.com. Including exciting news on a potential new album – working title Secret World – but the idea of a track/single released each month sounds equally appealing! Toyah also pays tribute to, wonderful, Catherine O’Hara, who the world lost last week.
