# Belinda Carlisle
**Belinda Carlisle** (born 1958) is an American singer who first gained fame as the lead vocalist of the all-female rock band the Go-Go's and then built a successful solo career in polished mainstream pop, with hits including "Mad About You," "Heaven Is a Place on Earth," and "I Get Weak."[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/belinda-carlisle-mn0000151549)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1958, Hollywood, California; raised in the San Fernando Valley[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle) |
| Go-Go's years | Singer with the band 1978–1985; *Beauty and the Beat* (1981) sold over two million copies and topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle) |
| Solo debut | *Belinda* (1986), produced by Michael Lloyd; lead single "Mad About You" reached number three in the US[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/belinda-r3328/review) |
| Breakthrough solo album | *Heaven on Earth* (1987), with "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" and the Diane Warren-penned "I Get Weak"; earned a Grammy nomination[4](https://www.grammy.com/news/living-legends-belinda-carlisle-inteview-the-go-gos-tour-la-punk-diane-warren/) |
| Follow-up | *Runaway Horses* (1989), a top 10 album featuring "Leave a Light On" and "Summer Rain"[5](https://www.ticketmaster.com/Belinda-Carlisle-tickets/artist/734702?tt_scene=anchor_view) |
| Later projects | *Voila* (2007, French chanson), *Wilder Shores* (2017, chants), the *Kismet* EP (2023) with Diane Warren, and *Once Upon a Time in California* (2025)[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/belinda-carlisle-mn0000151549) |
| Recognition | Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Go-Go's in 2021[6](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/13/arts/belinda-carlisle-is-still-go-go-go/) |
## The Go-Go's, 1978–1985
Carlisle came up through Hollywood's new wave and punk club scene after graduating from high school in 1976. She met [Charlotte Caffey](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlotte-caffey), Jane Wiedlin, Gina Schock, and [Kathy Valentine](https://www.edgepedia.org/kathy-valentine) there, and the group formed the Go-Go's, as Carlisle put it, "for laughs"; it was her first experience singing in a band.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle) Guitarist Jane Wiedlin recalls that Carlisle, who lived across the courtyard from her in the punk apartment building the [Canterbury](https://www.edgepedia.org/canterbury), simply said she wanted to sing.[7](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/guitarists/the-go-gos-jane-wiedlin) Before the Go-Go's took shape, Carlisle had a brief stint as a drummer in a prototype line-up of the hardcore band the Germs.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/05/belinda-carlisle-review-heaven-is-a-place-in-wales)
The band signed to [I.R.S. Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/i-r-s-records) in 1981 and released *Beauty and the Beat* that year. The album sold over two million copies, topped the [Billboard](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-magazine) 200 for six weeks, and made the Go-Go's the first all-female band to reach number one on that chart while writing their own material and playing their own instruments.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle) • [9](https://www.belindacarlisle.org/bio) Singles such as "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat" broke the band on American radio.[9](https://www.belindacarlisle.org/bio) *Vacation* (1982) was less successful, and *Talk Show* (1984) flopped; after Wiedlin announced her departure, the band officially split up in May 1985 amid internal conflict and the pressures of fame.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle)
## Solo career
**The 1986 debut.** Carlisle launched her solo career with *Belinda* in May 1986, about a year after the Go-Go's disbanded.[10](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/belinda-carlisle-interview/) Working with producer Michael Lloyd, she moved decisively away from the band's new wave energy toward a mainstream, radio-ready mid-1980s pop sound.[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/belinda-r3328/review) The lead single, "Mad About You," became a major hit, reaching number three in the United States.[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/belinda-r3328/review) Charlotte Caffey wrote half of the record, more songs than Carlisle herself, keeping a thread of connection to the Go-Go's songwriting.[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/belinda-r3328/review)
**Heaven on Earth and the imperial phase.** Her second solo album, *Heaven on Earth* (1987), produced by [Rick Nowels](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-nowels), made her an international pop star.[4](https://www.grammy.com/news/living-legends-belinda-carlisle-inteview-the-go-gos-tour-la-punk-diane-warren/) • [11](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1987/M%26M-1987-12-26.pdf) "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100,[12](https://stereogum.com/2122440/the-number-ones-belinda-carlisles-heaven-is-a-place-on-earth/columns/the-number-ones) and the [Diane Warren](https://www.edgepedia.org/diane-warren)-penned "I Get Weak" helped earn Carlisle a Grammy nomination.[4](https://www.grammy.com/news/living-legends-belinda-carlisle-inteview-the-go-gos-tour-la-punk-diane-warren/) The song's session musicians included the keyboardist [Thomas Dolby](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-dolby).[12](https://stereogum.com/2122440/the-number-ones-belinda-carlisles-heaven-is-a-place-on-earth/columns/the-number-ones) She followed it with *Runaway Horses* (1989), a top 10 album featuring "Leave a Light On" and "Summer Rain,"[5](https://www.ticketmaster.com/Belinda-Carlisle-tickets/artist/734702?tt_scene=anchor_view) and later albums including *Live Your Life Be Free* (1991) and *A Woman & a Man* (1997).[13](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/carlisle-belinda-1958)
**Later directions.** After the pop records of her peak years, Carlisle broadened her output: *Voila* (2007) was an album of French chanson, *Wilder Shores* (2017) set chants to music, and the *Kismet* EP (2023) marked a return to pop, with all five tracks written by Diane Warren and the single "Big Big Love" reaching the top of the UK's Radio 2 chart.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/belinda-carlisle-mn0000151549) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/news/living-legends-belinda-carlisle-inteview-the-go-gos-tour-la-punk-diane-warren/) *Kismet* was her first English-language pop collection since 1996's *A Woman & a Man*.[6](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/13/arts/belinda-carlisle-is-still-go-go-go/) In 2025 she released *Once Upon a Time in California*, devoted to lush reworkings of her favorite songs of the 1960s and 1970s, covering writers including [Gordon Lightfoot](https://www.edgepedia.org/gordon-lightfoot), Harry Nilsson, Leon Russell, and [Burt Bacharach](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-bacharach).[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/belinda-carlisle-mn0000151549) • [14](https://qnotescarolinas.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/QIssue_20250815_Final.pdf)
## Live career and recent touring
Carlisle has continued to tour extensively as a solo act. A 2023 Guardian review of a Cardiff concert described sharp, characterful vocals and a set drawn heavily from *Runaway Horses* and *Heaven on Earth*, with the night's one Go-Go's song, "Our Lips Are Sealed," performed in tribute to its late co-writer Terry Hall.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/05/belinda-carlisle-review-heaven-is-a-place-in-wales) Her scheduled dates for late 2026 and 2027 include a "Heavenly Hits" show at Palladium Times Square in New York on December 30, 2026, and an Australian run in March 2027 taking in Fremantle Prison, the [Palais Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/palais-theatre) in Melbourne, the [Enmore Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/enmore-theatre) in Sydney, and the Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane.[15](https://www.livenation.com/artist/K8vZ9171u5f/belinda-carlisle-events) A typical recent setlist runs from "(We Want) The Same Thing" through "I Get Weak," "Circle in the Sand," "Summer Rain," "Leave a Light On," and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth."[15](https://www.livenation.com/artist/K8vZ9171u5f/belinda-carlisle-events)
## Personal life
Carlisle married [Morgan Mason](https://www.edgepedia.org/morgan-mason), a businessman and former White House staff member and the son of actors James and [Pamela Mason](https://www.edgepedia.org/pamela-mason), in 1986; their son James Duke was born in 1992.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle) She has spoken about the substance abuse problems within the Go-Go's during their fame and about rebuilding her routine after the split, including joining [Alcoholics Anonymous](https://www.edgepedia.org/alcoholics-anonymous) and working with a vocal coach three times a week.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle) The Go-Go's story, from punk pioneers to revered pop figures, was capped by the band's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.[6](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/13/arts/belinda-carlisle-is-still-go-go-go/)
## References
1. [Carlisle, Belinda, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/belinda-carlisle)
2. [Belinda Carlisle, Biography, Discography & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/belinda-carlisle-mn0000151549)
3. [Belinda Carlisle: Belinda, Album Review, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/belinda-r3328/review)
4. [Living Legends: Belinda Carlisle On L.A. Punk And Why People Need Pop Music Now More Than Ever, GRAMMY.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/living-legends-belinda-carlisle-inteview-the-go-gos-tour-la-punk-diane-warren/)
5. [Belinda Carlisle Tickets, 2026-2027 Concert Tour Dates, Ticketmaster](https://www.ticketmaster.com/Belinda-Carlisle-tickets/artist/734702?tt_scene=anchor_view)
6. [Belinda Carlisle is still on the go-go-go, The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/13/arts/belinda-carlisle-is-still-go-go-go/)
7. [The Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin reflects on life as a boundary breaking punk guitar hero, Guitar World](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/guitarists/the-go-gos-jane-wiedlin)
8. [Belinda Carlisle review – heaven is a place in Wales, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/05/belinda-carlisle-review-heaven-is-a-place-in-wales)
9. [Belinda Carlisle Biography, belindacarlisle.org](https://www.belindacarlisle.org/bio)
10. [Belinda Carlisle interview, Classic Pop Magazine](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/belinda-carlisle-interview/)
11. [Music & Media, 26 December 1987, World Radio History](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1987/M%26M-1987-12-26.pdf)
12. [The Number Ones: Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is A Place On Earth", Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/2122440/the-number-ones-belinda-carlisles-heaven-is-a-place-on-earth/columns/the-number-ones)
13. [Carlisle, Belinda (1958–), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/carlisle-belinda-1958)
14. [Former The Go-Go's lead vocalist Belinda Carlisle interview, QNotes](https://qnotescarolinas.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/QIssue_20250815_Final.pdf)
15. [Belinda Carlisle, 2026 Tour Dates & Concert Schedule, Live Nation](https://www.livenation.com/artist/K8vZ9171u5f/belinda-carlisle-events)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Pop and R&B singer-songwriters › Pop singers, 1980s and 1990s › Synth-pop and new wave singers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license