The Go-Go’s Desperately Needed a Vacation

“The Go-Go’s are the most dysfunctional family I’ve ever been a part of,” Belinda Carlisle once confessed.

In a span of three years, the Go-Go’s went from platinum selling, pop-punk revolutionaries to a group of unhinged girls who were physically, emotionally, and mentally bankrupt. It got to the point where performing live was no longer fun, and the thousands of shrieking fans were seen as a bunch of annoying groupies. What happened?

Belinda Carlisle, Elissa Bello, Charlotte Caffey, Margot Olivarria, Jane Wiedlin / Charlotte Caffey, Jane Wiedlin, Belinda Carlisle, Kathy Valentine, Gina Schock / The Go-Go's / The Go-Go's.

Source: Getty Images

Number one, substance abuse (no shock there). And two, stardom hit these girls’ faces like a bucket of ice-cold water. One second, they were playing in grim basements and being spat at by angry crowds, and the next, they were filling arenas by the millions. Desperately gasping for air, Belinda, Charlotte, Jane, Kathy, and Gina struggled to make sense of it all.

Here’s the topsy-turvy, turbulent story of the Go-Go’s.