Who Was Q Lazzarus?

May 22, 2024

Over 30 years of Silence of The Lambs, and to this day, the 1991 film is one of the '90s horror movies still worth watching. The Jonathan Demme film, which featured one of the scariest horror movie moments, portrayed several notable scenes. One memorable scene was Buffalo Bill wearing makeup while dancing in front of a mirror to Q Lazzarus’s cult song Goodbye Horses. Q Lazzarus, born Diane Luckey, was the androgynous voice behind the iconic Silence of The Lambs soundtrack Goodbye Horses.

The singer got what was meant to be her big break while working as a cab driver in the '80s. Director Jonathan Demme boarded the singer’s cab and was serenaded by her demo track that played during the ride. That fateful encounter led to the Lazzarus’s music getting featured in Demme’s films, including a brief appearance in Philadelphia, where she rendered a cover of Talking Heads’ Heaven. However, Lazzarus went under the radar after her band's disbandment, leaving even her closest friends in the dark about her whereabouts. In July, the singer who disappeared for decades passed away at 61.

8 Q Lazzarus Was A Member Of A Band

The Goodbye Horses singer was a band member of the Q Lazzarus and the Resurrection; a five-member band that consisted of William Garvey, Janice Bernstein, Glorianna Galicia, Mark Barrett, and Diane Luckey.

The band members had their roles spelled out, with Garvey handling the songwriting and production, Lazzarus leading the vocals, and the rest of the band members supporting as backup singers. As the lead vocalist, Lazzarus’s position was pivotal in delivering the band’s renditions.

7 Q Lazzarus Worked Multiple Jobs

Life wasn’t exactly rosy for Lazzarus. The Love Dance singer had to work several day jobs simultaneously to make ends meet. When Jonathan Demme discovered her music, she worked as a cab driver in New York City. Also, Lazzarus lived and worked as an au pair for an English businessman in the house where the band singers recorded their vocals.

6 Q Lazzarus Was Rejected By Record Labels

Lazzarus had big dreams of becoming successful and famous through her music. Unfortunately, those dreams did not see the light of day due to record labels' reluctance to take a chance on her. According to a band member, these labels considered Lazzarus unmarketable due to her hair. “I’m a big-boned African-American woman who wears dreads, sings American rock and roll – I market myself,’' she would say.

5 Why Q Lazzarus Disappeared For Years

For nearly three decades, ‘What happened to Q Lazzarus?’ and ‘Where is Q Lazzarus now?’ were constant questions on the lips of many who had come to appreciate her music. Several unfounded theories about her disappearance continued to spring up years after she vanished from the public eye.

Finally, in 2017, Reddit users took it upon themselves to solve the mystery of her disappearance, but it wasn’t until 2018 that Q Lazzarus broke her silence.

4 Did Q Lazzarus Have A Family?

Before Lazzarus broke her 27-year-long silence in 2018, Q Lazzarus and the Resurrection backup singer Galicia alleged that the singer was in an abusive relationship with a domineering man. Galicia entertained fears that the said man must have isolated Lazzarus, but that was far from the case. During her protracted break from the public glare, the singer started a family with her husband and children in Staten Island.

3 Q Lazzarus Had A Short Musical Career

Lazzarus’s musical career was short. The singer’s short stint in music and eventual disappearance is one of the most intriguing mysteries in music history. The New Jersey native broke into the limelight in the 80s with the release of Goodbye Horse.

However, she walked away from it all eight years after without an explanation. Despite the brevity of it all, the singer's singular hit impacted pop culture in the '80s and beyond.

2 When Q Lazzarus Was Rediscovered

What are the odds that a person meets someone willing to invest in their craft twice in a lifetime? You might think it impossible, but Lazzarus achieved this feat twice. In a similar manner with which she met Deeme, the singer made the acquaintance of filmmaker Eva Aridjis on a cab ride.

“I got into a car service Q was driving and after chatting with her for a few minutes I figured out that it was her," the filmmaker told Rolling Stone.

1 Q Lazzarus Was Working On A Comeback

Aridjis and Lazzarus considered their meeting a result of fate. The duo developed a close relationship for three years before the singer’s passing. Not only did the friends share a bond, but they began working on multiple projects shortly after they met, including a comeback concert and a documentary.

The documentary tagged Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus will capture the singer’s walk through life and feature her unreleased music as the soundtrack for the film. The documentary, which was at the final filming stage at the time of Lazzarus's death, will be released in 2023.

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