Belinda Carlisle looks back on posing naked for PETA: No regrets
Belinda Carlisle has opened up about her decision to pose naked at the height of her career, explaining her love of animals and passion for animal advocacy spurred the decision.
The Summer Rain singer posed for animal welfare organisation PETA in 1990 alongside The Go-Go’s band members Gina Schock, Kathy Valentine, Jane Wieldlin and Charlotte Caffey.
They were the first in a line of celebrities to strip off for the striking campaign.
In the photo the women are naked, holding up a red sign that says, “We’d rather go-go naked than wear fur!”
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Future campaigns featured Pamela Anderson, Eva Mendes and Pink.
“I’ve always had pets, I’ve always loved animals,” Carlisle, 66, told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.
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“I’ve been an animal advocate for the past 40 years. That’s just the way that I’ve always been.”
The American singer has previously reflected on the campaign on social media, including two years ago when she re-shared the photo and said: “32 years ago………. @officialgogos and the first @peta ‘I’d rather go naked….” Campaign. And I still. Feel the exact same way ♥️♥️♥️.”
Carlisle took her animal advocacy work a step further in 2014 when she co-founded the Animal People Alliance (APA).
The organisation provides care to street animals in India and Thailand as well as jobs for locals. Thus far they have “treated 90,000 animals”, according to the singer.
She said she doesn’t currently have a pet of her own as she has been “travelling so much.”
Carlisle most recently performed in Australia in September 2024.
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Later this month she is scheduled to perform at a Christmas fundraising event for Animal People Alliance in California in the US.
“I’ve been an animal advocate for the past 40 years. That’s just the way that I’ve always been.”
She is also scheduled to perform at various locations in the UK in 2025.
The singer has been sober for the past 20 years after battling drugs and alcohol.
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“I had a good run from age 17 to 47, but I mean, it just got to the point where it wasn’t sustainable anymore and I needed to make some changes,” she told TODAY in August.
“So I did and that was in 2005, so it’s almost 20 years of sobriety.”
Carlisle began her career as the lead singer of pop group The Go-Go’s which she co-founded in 1978. The group hit the big time with several hit singles including Our Lips Are Sealed.
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She launched her solo career in 1985 and had a string of hits including Mad About You, Leave a Light On and Heaven Is a Place on Earth.
The band reunited between 1999 and 2022 for select performances. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
Carlisle lives in Mexico with her husband Morgan Mason. They have one son, James Duke Mason, 32.
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