Susanna Hoffs is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, author, and actress. She, Debbi Peterson, and Vicki Peterson founded the Bangles in 1981. They released their first album All Over the Place on Columbia Records in 1984. Their second album, Different Light, contained the US number two single "Manic Monday" and number one "Walk Like an Egyptian". The group's third album, Everything (1988), included the US top-ten hit "In Your Room" and number one "Eternal Flame", both written by Hoffs with Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Following tensions and resentment of Hoffs's perceived leadership, the band split in 1989, reformed in 1999 and released albums in 2003 and 2011.

Victoria Anne Theresa Peterson Cowsill is an American rock musician and songwriter. She has been the lead guitarist for the Bangles since their foundation in 1981. After their first disbandment in 1989, she has returned to the band for all subsequent reunions. In intervening years, she has performed with other artists, most extensively with the Continental Drifters.