It’s really hard to be an artist. You burst into the spotlight, bask in fame, and remain in the public eye for decades. But if you’re part of the other 99.99%, and keep good company, like with Q Lazzarus—a singer who delivered one of the most haunting songs of the late ’80s, disappeared into obscurity, and left behind a mystery that even the best Hollywood thriller couldn’t script. Best known for “Goodbye Horses,” which found a permanent home in pop culture thanks to The Silence of the Lambs, Q Lazzarus (born Diane Luckey) was a talent whose music remains as enigmatic as her life. Here are five lesser-known facts about the woman behind the song that still gives audiences chills.
1. “Goodbye Horses” Almost Never Made It Out of a New York City Taxi
Before she became a cult music icon, Q Lazzarus was driving taxis in New York City. One fateful night, she picked up filmmaker Jonathan Demme during a blizzard. Never one to waste an opportunity, she popped in a demo tape of her music. Demme was floored, and right then and there, a partnership was born. He included her track “Candle Goes Away” in Something Wild (1986) and later gave “Goodbye Horses” a cinematic immortality by placing it in The Silence of the Lambs. The moral of the story? Always check your cab driver’s playlist—you might be hearing a future classic.
2. She Lived in London and Formed a Rock Band in the Late ’80s
For all the new wave, synth-pop, and darkwave vibes that “Goodbye Horses” radiates, Q Lazzarus wasn’t confined to just one sound. After her brief rise in the U.S., she moved to London in the late 1980s and fronted a hard rock band influenced by Aerosmith. With bandmates like Mark Barrett on guitar and Jon Bouillot on bass, she leaned into a grittier, rock-oriented sound, proving her versatility. However, much like her previous work, these recordings remained largely unheard until after her passing.
3. She Was Once Told She Couldn’t Be Marketed Because of Her Image
Music executives are notorious for their shortsightedness, and Q Lazzarus was a prime example of an artist who was ahead of her time. Despite her powerhouse vocals and striking presence, record labels repeatedly rejected her. The reason? They didn’t know how to market a “big-boned, dreadlocked African-American woman who sings rock and roll.” Instead of conforming, she stayed true to herself. While the industry ignored her, The Silence of the Lambs and generations of underground music fans proved them wrong.
4. She Disappeared for Decades—and Resurfaced as a Bus Driver
Q Lazzarus’ withdrawal from the music industry wasn’t just an artistic choice—it was a complete vanishing act. By the mid-’90s, she left the spotlight entirely. For years, fans speculated about her whereabouts, with some even believing she had died. Then, in 2019, a journalist for Dazed tracked her down and discovered that she was alive and working as a Staten Island bus driver. When asked about her past, she casually confirmed her identity but stated she had no interest in returning to music. “I see hundreds of passengers every day, so I am hardly hiding,” she said—yet to the music world, she had been a ghost.
5. Her Life Story Became a Documentary Just Before She Passed Away
In an almost poetic twist, Q Lazzarus finally chose to share her story—just before her untimely death. In 2019, she met filmmaker Eva Aridjis, who was stunned to realize she was sitting in a car driven by the elusive singer. The two quickly became friends and spent three years filming Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus, a documentary chronicling her musical journey, her lost recordings, and the mystery that surrounded her disappearance. Though she passed away in 2022 from sepsis after breaking her leg, her voice and legacy live on through the film and its accompanying soundtrack.
Q Lazzarus was more than just a one-song wonder—she was a force of nature, a storyteller, and a singer who refused to be boxed in by an industry that didn’t know what to do with her. Though she spent decades out of the public eye, her music continued to resonate in films, TV shows, and dance clubs around the world. Whether it’s Goodbye Horses haunting a new generation of listeners or long-lost recordings surfacing from the vault, one thing is certain—her legacy is only beginning to be fully understood. And that, in itself, is pure rock and roll.
