Palm Springs Speaks to open season eight with Go-Go’s co-founder Jane Wiedlin

Jane Wiedlin, co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the Go-Go’s, will be the first speaker of the Palm Springs Speaks series’ eighth season, appearing Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center.

The Friends of the Palm Springs Library announced the event Thursday. Wiedlin will discuss her memoir, “TMI: Memoirs of a Go-Go,” with local entertainment journalist Bruce Fessier at 7:30 p.m. in Theatre One, 2300 E. Baristo Road. The book is scheduled for release Nov. 10.

After the conversation, Wiedlin will perform a limited number of songs and sign books.

Tickets are on sale through Eventbrite at this link. General admission is $45 and preferred seating is $75, while a limited number of pre-event VIP tickets cost $120. The VIP package includes a book, a photo with Wiedlin, early book signing as time allows and seating in the first few rows. Prices do not include taxes or fees.

Additional Season Eight speakers will be announced at a later date. Details, locations and ticket links will be available at palmspringsspeaks.org.

Wiedlin is a musician, singer, songwriter, actress and author. She co-founded the Go-Go’s, an all-female band that was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 and was the first all-woman rock group to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts while playing its own instruments and performing original songs.

Her song “Our Lips Are Sealed” helped bring the band to fame. As a solo artist, she has released six albums and recorded the song “Rush Hour,” and she was the driving force behind the punk band froSTed. Wiedlin lives in the Bay Area and splits her time among music, painting, writing and dog rescue.

Fessier, who will lead the conversation, spent 40 years at The Desert Sun and became the first journalist inducted into the Coachella Valley Media Hall of Fame in 2024. He is scheduled to receive a star on the Palm Springs Walk of the Stars in January 2027.

Because of Wiedlin’s work with dog rescue and animal welfare, organizers are partnering with Greater Palm Springs Animal Allies. Guests are asked to bring a pet food donation, and a collection table will be set up in the lobby.

Palm Springs Speaks was first organized in 2017 by the Palm Springs Cultural Center and the Friends of the Palm Springs Public Library. The Friends are now the sole presenting sponsor, and the series serves as a fundraiser for the Palm Springs Public Library.

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