The Nona Hendryx Experience.

The cult rock diva talks about composing her latest theatrical score--one of many outlets for her restless talent

I'm hanging on the telephone with Nona Hendryx. Even though I've known her since 1978, I'm still in awe of her as a singer and groove mistress While other caterwauling divas blow off vocal riffs like so much noise candy, Nona's liquid velvet voice insinuates itself into your psyche, resonating with a gut-wrenching intensity.

You might know Nona best from her work with Labelle, the space-suited, mind-blowing funky-soul vocal trio whose classic 1975 hit "Lady Marmalade" taught the world the French pick-up line "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?"

Nona was the songwriting force behind the group--although she's quick to remind me she didn't write "Lady Marmalade." "If I had, I'd be sitting on the beach, not wasting my time sitting here talking to you!" she says with a big laugh.

Now, with "Marmalade" topping the charts all over again--this time sung by the hip pop quartet of Christina Aguilera, Mya, Pink, and Lil' Kim--I figure it's about time for Nona to win over a new generation of fans as well.

Nona's solo career since Labelle has been as interesting as she is. She went on to make 10 solo records in just as many styles. (Want to hear an all-you-can-handle sampler? Check out 1999's Transformations: The Best of Nona Hendryx.)

Like Elton John, Nona likes to work her songwriting chops in broader ways, telling stories for film, TV, and theater. (She was nominated for an Emmy that way.) Right now she's excited about her latest project, Blue. A comic play about a well-to-do African-American family in the funeral home business, Blue stars Phylicia Rashad as a woman who's enlivened by the music of a sexy jazz singer named Blue (Michael McElroy). Nona crone up with a fictitious greatest-hits collection for the Blue character--and produced the songs in an original cast recording that's now available online.

Nona got into the project by degrees. "First," she tells me, "Charles asked me to write a theme song and some underscoring. That evolved into 11 songs, and in the process Blue became the play's catalyst."

"Charles" is writer-director-performer Charles Randolph-Wright, who endeared himself to Nona when they met 10 years ago in Los Angeles. "He knew my catalog, which is not a simple matter," she says, laughing. "All my albums are called Nona. Nobody can differentiate one from another." Aside from his other talents, Nona says, Charles is "a diva tamer, His form of taming me was encouraging me to write music and lyrics for musicals, which I really didn't like [to do]." They've collaborated on projects ever since.

We start reminiscing about the Labelle years. "It was heaven and hell," Nona comments. As Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles, the group slugged it out on the chitlins circuit and later opened for the Who and toured with the Rolling Stones. But when the group morphed into the futuristic trio of the '70s, things really took off. "It was a different success, another level of possibilities," Nona says. "Our audience had widened and become fanatical."

In 1976 Labelle split up. "We were like sisters," Nona says. "We'd fight, love, and laugh. After 17 years, breaking up was like a divorce. By separating, you get to see your strengths and limitations."

We get into the subject of sexuality. Nona has been out for many years, but site doesn't like to talk about it. I ask why. "It's an open book, really," she replies. "I don't want to brand myself one way or another. I'm attracted to men and women. People want to lump you into a group."

Nona has done a lot of work for AIDS-related causes. She has long made herself available as a performer to organizations such as Gay Men's Health Crisis--and she's traveling to Africa this fall to observe the pandemic firsthand.

For all her musical experiments, Nona has always been a rocker, and as a black woman in that arena, she's always faced prejudice. Is the path any easier now for black women in rock music? "It's as tough as ever for emerging artists," she says. "Rock and roll is not considered black music. It's been co-opted by the while audience, and it's difficult to reclaim as our own. Radio dictates what rock is, and its parameters are increasingly narrow."

It's time to get off the phone, but first I'm wondering where Nona Hendryx is going next. What attracts her to a project nowadays? "Well, if the people involved are cute, that's real big," she cracks, then answers seriously, "If I feel like it's a challenge--or a sympathetic resonance that pulls me to it. I think there's a lot of crap in this world. I try really hard not to contribute to it."

BLUE (Three Things)

Featuring Michael McElroy

* Music by Nona Hendryx

* Lyrics by Hendryx and Charles Randolph-Wright

* Produced by Hendryx

* On sale via advocate.com

Pope is a singer, cofounder of the band Rough Trade, and author of Anti Diva (Random House).