According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jan Kuehnemund, founder and guitarist for the all-female metal band Vixen, has died after a long battle with cancer. She was 51.

Kuehnemund started Vixen in high school while she lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. She and Janet Gardner moved to Los Angeles in 1985, eventually signed to EMI, and released their self-titled debut in 1988. The album featured two hits: "Edge of a Broken Heart" (co-written by Richard Marx) and "Cryin'". They became figures in the glam metal scene alongside bands like Bon Jovi and Poison.

Kuehnemund was a member until they disbanded in the early 1990s. When the band reformed in the late 1990s without Kuehnemund, the guitarist sued the band and won. In the 2000s, she and Gardner reunited the band once again and released a studio album, a live album, and played VH1's "Bands Reunited".

The band shared this statement on their website: