The band was formed by drummer Sid Truelove (born Grant Carol, 18 April 1960,
Sutton Coldfield, a former chef, later also the drummer with
Flux of Pink Indians), former
Fatal Microbes Pete Fender (Dan Sansom, guitar), Gem Stone (Gemma Sansom, bass) and It (Quentin North, also bass), with vocalists
Annie Anxiety and Womble. Annie, Womble and It were involved only initially, left and were replaced by vocalist Zillah Minx (born Zillah Elaine Ashworth, 31 March 1961,
Birkenhead). Fender and Stone were the son and daughter of
Poison Girls singer
Vi Subversa. to differentiate themselves from the
anarcho-punk bands who tended to wear black, 'army-surplus' style clothing. Pete Fender left at the end of 1982 and soon afterwards joined
Omega Tribe as a full-time member, having been their early mentor and record producer. The band released one album on cassette tape, entitled
Ballet Bag (1981) and a 4 track 7-inch EP,
Ballet Dance (1982), both for Poison Girls' XNTRIX Records, after rejecting the opportunity to put out a record on the Crass label. After releasing the "42f" single on Jungle Records (with Sean replacing Fender) the band started their own Ubiquitous label. Rubella Ballet toured extensively with
Poison Girls and
Crass, and recorded two
John Peel sessions for BBC Radio. In 1984, they embarked on an ill-fated tour of
Italy to promote "42f". The band had only been given single airline tickets and after a week of playing without getting paid, they returned to England by train. The line-up stabilized over the next few years, the band recording a second album,
If... in 1986. A compilation and a double live album followed, but it would be 1990 before the next studio album,
At the End of the Rainbow. The band split up shortly after its release, Sid already playing in the dance band Xenophobia. A second volume was released in 2010, containing the remaining tracks from the band's back-catalogue. They went on to release Planet Punk in 2014 and Danger of Death in 2018. In late 2019, Emily Flea joined the band as bassist. Rubella Ballet continue to perform with their most recent release being Rich with Our Money in 2023. ==Discography==