# Tammy Faye Starlite

Tammy Faye Starlite is the stage name of Tammy Lang, an American performance artist, cabaret performer, and actress known for her stage shows that feature original characters and interpretations of famous musicians.

## Career

In the 1990s Lang was an actress and sketch comedian in New York City, playing one of two "wacky maids" on the long-running soap opera Guiding Light, opposite Allison Janney. She also did voice performance, appearing on the animated MTV series Downtown and as a character in Last Call, a comedic bartending simulation. In 2001 she appeared as a "gun toting moll" in the Louis C.K. movie Pootie Tang.
Her alter egos and characters were developed in "alternative comedy venues" including Lakeside Lounge and Luna Lounge in New York City.

## Characters
### Originals
#### Tammy Faye Starlite

Lang's first original comedic cabaret character, Tammy Faye Starlite, is a fictional right-wing country singer. The character debuted in 1996. Her first original song was "God Has Launched a Tennent in My Uterus", and she honed the act in New York City and in Nashville venues including the Bluebird Cafe.
Starlite is known for original songs and outrageous transgressive statements that the New York Times said made Lang a “downtown club star.”
Tammy Faye Starlite performed with a band called the Angels of Mercy, which included various performers including Daily Show writer Eric Drysdale, as well as other musicians including Elvis Costello and the Attractions' drummer Pete Thomas and Billy Ficca from Television.

#### Tamar

Tamar is a fictional Israeli pop star and the first alter ego that draws from Lang's Jewish heritage in her show titled “Yesterday, Today, and Tamar”, co-written with Rachel Lictman.

### Tributes
#### Nico

Since 2010 Lang has been performing as Nico, the late singer, actress and member of the Velvet Underground.
Rolling Stone said, “The show mocks and honors its subject with loving regard.” The New York Times called the show "howlingly funny" and a "funny, morbidly fascinating night of theater."
Lang has said her show Nico: Underground stemmed from an appreciation of the Velvet Underground that led Lang to discover Nico's "haunting and stunning" vocals. Joe's Pub gave Lang a weekly residency to perform as Nico in May 2024.

#### Marianne Faithfull

Lang gave tribute to Marianne Faithfull, late musician and actress well known for her association with The Rolling Stones. Along with her one-woman shows that salute Faithfull, in December 2023, Lang was one of 25 artists on a Marianne Faithfull tribute album which was produced to help raise money for Faithfull's medical expenses relating to long COVID.

#### Rolling Stones/Mick Jagger

Lang got into The Rolling Stones while in high school in the 1980s, and described the band as "my gateway drug." She began performing as Mick Jagger in The Mike Hunt Band. Lang is known to perform albums in their entirety, and in December 2024, Lang performed the entire album Beggars Banquet to benefit NJArts.net. Lang describes her version of Jagger as "just a really bad accent and being really bitchy, and jumping around.”

## Personal life

She is originally from New York City and now resides in Hoboken, NJ with her husband, guitarist Keith Hartel.