The Slits were a British punk rock band. The quartet was formed in 1976 by members of the bands The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The members were Ari Up (Ariane Forster), who died of cancer in October 2010, and Palmolive (Paloma Romero, who later left to join The Raincoats), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members, Kate Korus and Suzy Gutsy.[1] Palmolive was replaced by the drummer Budgie (aka Peter Clarke), formerly of The Spitfire Boys and later of Siouxsie and the Banshees.[1] Although not all line-ups were exclusively female, the three main female members appeared on most record covers and publicity photos, and the group was generally presented as a female band.