THE GO-GO’S are remembered for their hit songs We Got the Beat and Vacation.
Since their initial mainstream popularity, the GRAMMY Award-nominated band has split and reunited several times.
Why did The Go-Go’s break up?
On May 13, 1985, The Go-Go’s announced they were breaking up.
According to the members, the band split because of their creative differences, personal conflicts, and self-confessed drug habits.
“When you stop growing artistically, it’s time to try something else,” said frontwoman Belinda Carlisle.
“There didn’t seem room for growth the way the band was going.”
At the time, Kathy Valentine told the Los Angeles Times: “It was no bigger a problem than we had overcome in the past.
“I think what hurt the most was the way the breakup occurred. They just announced, ‘It’s over.'”
Regarding the group’s breakup, Gina Schock also commented: “I’m sorry it’s over but I also feel relieved.
“It wasn’t really done in a way that’s proper after working with someone for all these years…but it’s fine with me.
“There were tensions dating back to before the last album. This gives all of us a chance to start fresh again.”
When did The Go-Go’s reunite?
In March 1990, The Go-Go’s original lineup reunited for the first time in six years.
The reunion happened when Belinda, Jane, Gina, Kathy, and Charlotte all agreed to come together for the California Environmental Protection Act’s fundraising gala.
While remembering how the group came together again, Belinda recalled she and Gina came up with the idea when the two randomly ran into one another in Los Angeles.
“After a fun catch-up, the two of us on a whim arranged for a reunion with the the Go-Go’s,” she explained in her 2007 memoir.
“Without telling anyone, we met for dinner at an Italian restaurant in West Hollywood.
“It was the first time the five of us had been together since Jane left and our subsequent breakup.
“All of us were nervous, Jane held up her palms and said, ‘They’re sweaty!’
“We agreed to one ground rule…none of us would say anything that would piss off someone else.”
The singer added: “We reminisced about the crazy times we had in the early days, offered apologies for things said in the latter days, and worked through some hard feelings.
“I left dinner appreciating the camaraderie the five of us shared and that it had survived.”
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the band reconciled and split up several times.
When was their final performance?
On May 31, 2022, The Go-Go’s played their last concert at Humphreys Concerts By the Bay in San Diego.
Belinda has since stated that the group has no intentions of performing together again.
“It’s done. It has to be done at some point, you know,” she confessed to Variety.
“I think bands can go on too long, and without naming names, there are a few. And singers as well.
“I think that the Rock Hall induction was a really wonderful way to cement the legacy of the band.
“There’s something to be said for leaving at the top.”
