Raised in Southern California, Carlisle began her music career in 1977 as the drummer of the Los Angeles punk band Germs, and went on to join the Go-Go's as the lead singer after the band's formation in 1978.
With their chart-topping debut release Beauty and the Beat in 1981, the group helped popularise new wave music in the United States, and were the first all-female band in history who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to achieve a No. 1 album. The Go-Go's have sold over 7 million records worldwide.
After dissolution of the Go-Go's in 1985, Carlisle went on to have a successful solo career with radio hits such as "Mad About You", "I Get Weak", "Circle in the Sand", "Leave a Light On", and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth", which were major successes.
Her autobiography, Lips Unsealed, published in June 2010, was a New York Times Best Seller and received favourable reviews. On August 11, 2011, as a member of the Go-Go's, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
