Cabaret singer and performance artist in New York from the late 1970s until his death in 1989. He was born as John McLaughlin. He was given the last name of Sex soon after moving to New York City, because of an activity John enjoyed very, very much. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he knew Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Eric Fretz. He often used the print studio there to create punk-style posters for downtown bands, and later for himself. He soon met Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias in the downtown New York scene and gave up painting, finding he could better express himself in performance.
After early work as a gay stripper, John Sex became an alternative performance artist, creating a character based on exaggerated cheesy Las Vegas lounge singer / MC. He was able to combine these elements as a performance art dancer who performed at such legendary New York clubs as Club 57, the Pyramid Club, Danceteria, The Palladium, Paradise Garage and Andy Warhol's Underground. John used to claim the surname Sex was an Americanization of his family's original name, Sexton, but in fact it was created for him by fellow performers Joey Arias and Klaus Nomi early in his career. For the 1986 gay parade in New York City, he organized and helped build a float called the Go-Go Stars float which had go-go dancers from various night clubs go-go dancing on it. His last public performance was at the club Mars in New York in 1989. He recorded a four song E.P for Sire Records, produced by Mark Kamins and Ivan Ivan, as well as 12" singles and music videos for his songs "Rock Your Body" and "Hustle with the Muscle." Mr. Sex's trademark was his long, blond hair which stood straight up, and which he claimed was kept erect by a combination of Dippity-do, Aqua Net, egg whites, beer, and semen. He also dressed in flamboyant costumes. He owned a python named Delilah that was often included in his cabaret act, and was a friend of artist Andy Warhol. Sometimes he would leave the python on stage and come down into the audience and wrestle with patrons of the club.
He died from AIDS in 1989.
After early work as a gay stripper, John Sex became an alternative performance artist, creating a character based on exaggerated cheesy Las Vegas lounge singer / MC. He was able to combine these elements as a performance art dancer who performed at such legendary New York clubs as Club 57, the Pyramid Club, Danceteria, The Palladium, Paradise Garage and Andy Warhol's Underground. John used to claim the surname Sex was an Americanization of his family's original name, Sexton, but in fact it was created for him by fellow performers Joey Arias and Klaus Nomi early in his career. For the 1986 gay parade in New York City, he organized and helped build a float called the Go-Go Stars float which had go-go dancers from various night clubs go-go dancing on it. His last public performance was at the club Mars in New York in 1989. He recorded a four song E.P for Sire Records, produced by Mark Kamins and Ivan Ivan, as well as 12" singles and music videos for his songs "Rock Your Body" and "Hustle with the Muscle." Mr. Sex's trademark was his long, blond hair which stood straight up, and which he claimed was kept erect by a combination of Dippity-do, Aqua Net, egg whites, beer, and semen. He also dressed in flamboyant costumes. He owned a python named Delilah that was often included in his cabaret act, and was a friend of artist Andy Warhol. Sometimes he would leave the python on stage and come down into the audience and wrestle with patrons of the club.
He died from AIDS in 1989.
Cabaret singer and performance artist in New York from the late 1970s until his death in 1989. He was born as John McLaughlin. He was given the last name of Sex soon after moving to New York City, because of an activity John enjoyed very, very much. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he knew Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Eric Fretz. He often used the print studio there to create punk-style posters for downtown bands, and later for himself. He soon met Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias in the downtown New York scene and gave up painting, finding he could better express himself in performance.
After early work as a gay stripper, John Sex became an alternative performance artist, creating a character based on exaggerated cheesy Las Vegas lounge singer / MC. He was able to combine these elements as a performance art dancer who performed at such legendary New York clubs as Club 57, the Pyramid Club, Danceteria, The Palladium, Paradise Garage and Andy Warhol's Underground. John used to claim the surname Sex was an Americanization of his family's original name, Sexton, but in fact it was created for him by fellow performers Joey Arias and Klaus Nomi early in his career. For the 1986 gay parade in New York City, he organized and helped build a float called the Go-Go Stars float which had go-go dancers from various night clubs go-go dancing on it. His last public performance was at the club Mars in New York in 1989. He recorded a four song E.P for Sire Records, produced by Mark Kamins and Ivan Ivan, as well as 12" singles and music videos for his songs "Rock Your Body" and "Hustle with the Muscle." Mr. Sex's trademark was his long, blond hair which stood straight up, and which he claimed was kept erect by a combination of Dippity-do, Aqua Net, egg whites, beer, and semen. He also dressed in flamboyant costumes. He owned a python named Delilah that was often included in his cabaret act, and was a friend of artist Andy Warhol. Sometimes he would leave the python on stage and come down into the audience and wrestle with patrons of the club.
He died from AIDS in 1989.
After early work as a gay stripper, John Sex became an alternative performance artist, creating a character based on exaggerated cheesy Las Vegas lounge singer / MC. He was able to combine these elements as a performance art dancer who performed at such legendary New York clubs as Club 57, the Pyramid Club, Danceteria, The Palladium, Paradise Garage and Andy Warhol's Underground. John used to claim the surname Sex was an Americanization of his family's original name, Sexton, but in fact it was created for him by fellow performers Joey Arias and Klaus Nomi early in his career. For the 1986 gay parade in New York City, he organized and helped build a float called the Go-Go Stars float which had go-go dancers from various night clubs go-go dancing on it. His last public performance was at the club Mars in New York in 1989. He recorded a four song E.P for Sire Records, produced by Mark Kamins and Ivan Ivan, as well as 12" singles and music videos for his songs "Rock Your Body" and "Hustle with the Muscle." Mr. Sex's trademark was his long, blond hair which stood straight up, and which he claimed was kept erect by a combination of Dippity-do, Aqua Net, egg whites, beer, and semen. He also dressed in flamboyant costumes. He owned a python named Delilah that was often included in his cabaret act, and was a friend of artist Andy Warhol. Sometimes he would leave the python on stage and come down into the audience and wrestle with patrons of the club.
He died from AIDS in 1989.
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