Busty Beatz: A Fearless Legacy in the Performing Arts
On April 22, the performing arts world lost one of its brightest and bravest stars. Kim “Busty Beatz” Bowers was a groundbreaking Australian creator, composer, music director, poet, and performance artist whose work fused music, theater, activism, and community empowerment. Based in Brisbane and celebrated internationally, she was known for her fearless creativity, magnetic presence, and unwavering commitment to representation, justice, and joy through the arts.
Together with Lisa Fa’alafi, Busty was the co-creator, music director, and star of the acclaimed production Hot Brown Honey a bold, genre-defying show that challenged stereotypes while celebrating women of color, cultural resistance, and radical self-expression. The production earned international recognition and awards, becoming a powerful voice in contemporary performance.
Founded in 2013, Hot Brown Honey redefined what mainstream performance could look and sound like. It was more than a show. It was a cultural and political force. It centered women of color in spaces that rarely did, it blended cabaret, circus, music, burlesque, poetry, and protest, it made activism joyful and electrifying, it challenged colonialism, racism, and patriarchy openly, and it elevated marginalized artists on the world stage.
Across a career spanning more than 25 years, Busty created work at the intersection of performance and purpose. Colleagues remember her as a mentor, visionary, and force of nature whose art carried truth, courage, humor, and love.
Busty passed away last week after a long and open battle with an aggressive form of breast cancer, leaving behind a profound artistic legacy and a global community inspired by her life and voice.
We honor Busty’s life by inviting you to listen to Anna Robb’s interview with her on The StageLync Podcast from last June, and by sharing Busty’s final inspiring words, posted by her sister Tania on Busty’s Facebook page.
MY COMMUNITY
by Busty Beatz
We should all have death parties like the ancient ones did. Dance and scream and feel ourselves. Cry and howl and rage. Remember who we are. None of this going quietly, quickly gone. Hidden in pretended stuffiness – No way! We move through our beauty, celebrate the imperfection of this humanity. Live in our silliness and our sacredness in what is known as the artistry. Breathe in our continuity. We go with ritual and power and sadness and joy and laughter and palava like the cream whipped to crown the pavlova
It was Tupac who said “I’m a reflection of my community”
So here I am. Filled with Agency and self determination. My story is our story. Complete proclamation!
The Belonging from which the heartbeat arises. Our Voices, our lived experience and the contexts in all shape and sizes
So I get to say with artistic recognition, rightful attribution – To all who hold, display, present, publish or otherwise make use of this creative work ensure appropriate credit be taken by My community. This is not optional. It is an act of respect, cultural integrity and stewardship. We are the legacy. I stand before you to honour the labour, lineage and creative contribution ensuring we are recognised and protected. We are legendary!
Not to say we are not without our conflict. We don’t have to pretend we like each other on the daily. Sparks do fly. We annoy each other. Speaking Tranformativily. But as we know, conflict is the work. And it’s hard work. To work through the hurt. Where healing is outcome
We here to sing our song and how we go with the ebbs and flows, committed to grow expediently in love, care, healing, trust and safety
My Community – here to honour the stories, the histories and identities of those who have been silenced and erased or misrepresented
Created to challenge invisibility
My Community – where Joy is resistance, Radical Fierce Love is the persistence, not decorative, it is a methodology – an ethos that insists on humour, spectacle, music, quiet moments and intensity
My Community – Not as entertainment alone but as reclamation and liberation, freedom calls for longevity – we are the latest models of our ancestry. Gifted to remember accessibility, visibility and useful for future generations because my community will never be sold or used to exploit. We are amplified. We are our own check point. We carry the Herstory of our resistance and our responsibility we hold with care, context and respect. We are every possibility!
In the words of Audre Lorde –
“I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out of my ears, my eyes, my noseholes – everywhere. Until it’s every breath I breathe. I’m going to go out like a fucking meteor!”
Grounded Here
Surrounded by grief, peace, music, humour, love and joy in a space that feels safe, true and familiar
We make mother loving noise!
Feeling earth and memories to hold space in our alliance
Let there be gentle conversation, laughter or silence
Whatever the moment calls for
alive with kindness
are that feels human
Symbols of creativity that remind us
of a life lived and the people who love to praise all parts
Body mind and spirit treated with dignity
Physically touched and heart felt heart
These final moments of live led carry the same rhythm as this eulogy
love truth joy creativity and connection
the art of life to honour
My Community
R.I.P Kim “Busty Beatz” Bowers.
Editor's Note: At StageLync, an international platform for the performing arts, we celebrate the diversity of our writers' backgrounds. We recognize and support their choice to use either American or British English in their articles, respecting their individual preferences and origins. This policy allows us to embrace a wide range of linguistic expressions, enriching our content and reflecting the global nature of our community.
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