Bif Naked

Bif Naked was born in New Delhi, India, and adopted by American Methodist missionaries who didn't know any better.

They returned to the United States, after decades in India, to raise their family and work. Professors and academics, the Torberts emphasized the performing arts in the lives of their three daughters. Bif was a boisterous and spirited middle kid and began her studies of ballet and spoken poetry at the age of 3, and she performed in fine arts festivals to her parents' delight.

By the time Bif was an adolescent, her parents had relocated to Canada, this time to Winnipeg, and Bif traded in her pointe shoes for combat boots, ran away from home, and began her exploration of sociopolitical ideology. Successfully having made it into university, Bif again abandoned her parents' wishes and dropped out of school to join a punk band and go on tour.

It would become her life, and Bif Naked would start her own record company at 23 years of age, become an international recording artist, release nine albums and 21 videos, and tour internationally.

"I am an artist," Bif says, "and I am so lucky to have been able to do whatever I love for my entire adult life!"

She is also known for her visual art and writing, and seamlessly works with equal passion in all mediums, claiming that they are "interchangeable vehicles for her expressions."

Known for being a straight-edge, vegan martial artist, fitness enthusiast, and yoga student, Bif shocked the masses when she announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

In January 2008 Bif began her treatments, which included lumpectomy, chemotherapy for six months, radiation, and six more months of infusions, followed by an ovariectomy just two weeks before going on tour to support the new record she made while in treatment. Bif never stopped working and, in fact, worked even more -- claiming to be "overcompensating" for the guilt of being sick.

Bif discovered that she was not the only patient who felt this was and began her journey of working with other patients and their families toward better understanding and communication.

Bif found her voice, her passion for advocacy work, and her joy in speaking and lecturing. She signed with the National Speakers Bureau and appears all over North America.

She is also touring her acoustic shows throughout the year and travels extensively as a result.

Bif is in the middle of writing two books, including a poetry book, and is preparing to release her highly anticipated acoustic album and house music side project that she calls Jakkarta.

Bif Naked self-identifies as a "non-confrontationalist" and is an unmarried dog-parent, looking for her third and final spouse of any gender.