#amphlett

“Think I would die, if you were to ignore me,” Serena Williams sings, while staring straight into the camera and covering her breasts with both hands. But the tennis star isn’t singing about romance—she’s emphasizing the importance of early detection when it comes to breast cancer.

Williams partnered with the I Touch Myself Project to create the performance, a rendition of the 1990 song “I Touch Myself” by the Australian rock band Divinyls, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2018. Christina Amphlett, the band’s front-woman, died in 2013 after battling breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. In 2014, a group of artists, including breast cancer survivor Olivia Newton-John, recorded a version of the song in Amphlett’s honor as an anthem for breast health around the world.

On her Instagram page, Williams explained that her goal for this project was “to remind women to self-check regularly.”

“Yes, this put me out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to do it because it’s an issue that affects all women of all colors, all around the world,” Williams wrote. “Early detection is key—it saves so many lives. I just hope this helps to remind women of that.”

PERMIT PETITION IS CLOSED – FLOYD AMPHLETT (EDITOR)

We have now closed the permit petition and I would like to thank all those who contributed to it. The final tally after one week was 192 ‘signatures’. We could have surely passed the 200 mark had we chosen to wait a little longer or promoted the concept at tracks and/or opened the phone lines for supporters to pledge their interest. In the end it was not necessary. This morning I received…

The lead singer of The Divinyls, one of my idols, died today.  I feel so terribly sad.  Days like today make you really appreciate what these strangers do for you.  From a distance, somehow, without ever speaking a word directly to you, they are able to come into our lives and help us through the hardest times better than any friend could ever do.

RIP, Chrissy. You will be terribly missed.