20 Most Influential Female Rock Stars
By Deb Jones, from Loaded
The rock and metal scene has always been filled with dynamic women, whether they’ve been properly acknowledged for their achievements or not. While countless women have shaped the history of music, here we’ve highlighted 20 of the very best female rock stars (and that's not just singers).
From Courtney Love to Skin, Stevie Nicks to Patti Smith, here are the 20 most influential women to ever grace rock music.
20. Skin - Skunk Anansie
British rock singer Deborah Anne Dyer, known by her stage name as Skin, was one of the biggest rock stars in the 1990s (male or female). She is best known as the lead vocalist of rock group Skunk Anansie, a band often grouped as part of the Britrock movement in the UK, and gained attention for her powerful, wide-ranging voice and trademark bald look.
19. Grace Slick - Jefferson Airplane
Grace Slick is an American singer-songwriter, musician, artist and former model, widely known in rock and roll history for her role in San Francisco's burgeoning psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. Her music career spanned four decades, and she is still regarded as one of the most relevant female singers of any genre. She is best known for fronting the popular band Jefferson Airplane.
18. Sean Yseult - White Zombie
Sean Yseult is an American hard rock musician, and one of the most recognised rock stars in the '90s. She currently plays bass in the band Star & Dagger. She has played various instruments with different bands over the years, and is best known for playing bass in White Zombie. Yseult was one of the first female heavy metal stars, inspiring a whole new generation of women.
17. Amy Lee - Evanescence
Amy Lynn Hartzler, known professionally as Amy Lee, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Evanescence. Lee is widely regarded as the most well known female star of the nu-metal genre, and set the tone for female fronted bands that would follow. Lee was voted the number one nu-metal singer by Loudwire.
16. Nancy Wilson - Heart
American guitar sensation Nancy Wilson rose to fame alongside her older sister, singer Ann Wilson, as a guitarist and backing vocalist in the rock band Heart, which she joined in 1974. Wilson is widely respected as one of the pioneering female guitarists, inspiring a whole new generation of young girls wanting to pick up a guitar.
15. Kate Bush
Catherine Bush CBE is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. In 1978, aged 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song. Bush is still regarded as one of the most important female singersof the past 40 years.
14. Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American-Swiss singer and actress. Originally from the United States, she became a Swiss citizen in 2013. Turner rose to prominence as part of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer. Turner is still one of the biggest selling artists of any music genre.
13. Chrissie Hynde - The Pretenders
American singer-songwriter and musician Christine Hynde is a founding member and the guitarist, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band The Pretenders, as well as its only constant member. Hynde formed The Pretenders in 1978 with Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott and Martin Chambers. She has gone on to become one of the most recognisable faces in rock.
12. Doro - Warlock
Dorothee Pesch, popularly known as Doro Pesch or Doro, is a German heavy metal singer-songwriter, formerly front-woman of the heavy metal band Warlock. Doro became heavy metal's first female superstar, selling out stadiums with her powerful voice, with and without a band. Doro is regarded as one of the pioneers for women in heavy metal music.
11. Gwen Stefani - No Doubt
Gwen Stefani is a co-founder and the lead vocalist of the popular '90s rock band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl" and "Don't Speak." For a time in the mid '90s, Stefani was the biggest female rock star on the planet.
10. Joan Jett - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Joan Jett is best known for her work as the front woman of her band Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and performing with the Runaways, which recorded and released the hit song "Cherry Bomb". Joan is a leading guitar player and inspiration to all women. She charted at no.43 on Classic Rock's list of 100 Greatest Ever Guitar Players.
9. Ann Wilson - Heart
If there was ever a voice that could rule the rock genre, surely it would be that of the formidable Ann Wilson, of hard rock outfit Heart. Wilson was listed as one of the "Top Heavy Metal Vocalists of All Time" by Hit Parader magazine in 2006 with her dramatic soprano vocal range.
8. Lita Ford, The Runaways
American heavy metal guitarist, actress, vocalist and songwriter Lita Ford, was the lead guitarist for the Runaways in the late 1970s before embarking on a successful solo career in the 1980s. Ford went on to become one of the most influential female rock stars in history, with her edgy look, and smash hit numbers.
7. Hayley Williams - Paramore
Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams has become a leading female figure of punk-pop, gaining a whole new young audience with her powerful vocals, quirky appearance, and high-energy performances. Williams currently stands as the most influential female in rock.
6. Patti Smith
Before there were hipsters, there was Patti Smith. Unlike today's hipsters, Smith covered everything from poetry to punk rock, and she pretty much dominated all of it. She's part artsy intellectual and part rebellious punk, but Smith is all awesome. Smith was a catalyst for punk rock, and in many ways, the most important female figure of the genre.
5. Stevie Nicks - Fleetwood Mac
Although Nicks' career garners mixed reactions from fans and critics alike, there's no doubt about her importance in the music scene of the 1970s. Her heartfelt vocal styling and songwriting brought Fleetwood Mac to a level of fame, popularity and historical significance they'd never before reached. Plus, how can we not include Nicks after her amazing cameo on the third season of American Horror Story?
4. Siouxsie Sioux - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees made a name for themselves as the band with a female lead singer. Almost four decades later, they're still viewed as one of the pioneers of alternative music, with their iconic front woman inspiring both the style and sounds of generation after generation of newer bands. The Banshees broke up in the '90s, but the goth-punk queen is still going strong in her solo.
3. Deborah Harry - Blondie
Blondie were a hugely important band back in their heyday, and many would argue that they might be the most significant female-fronted band in history, and not just because of their mega-classic “One Way or Another.” Harry's vocal range and ability took the band into a number of different genres, such as hip-hop, punk, and pop. It could be argued that Harry was the most important female of the rock genre.
2. Courtney Love - Hole
Being a rock star requires a few crucial ingredients: musical talent, physical attractiveness, tumultuous relationships, substance abuse, and public meltdowns, just to name a few. Hole lead singer Courtney Love has mellowed a lot these days, but in her day, she was the most badass female rock star on the planet. Maybe she's best known as the First Lady of grunge, but the album Live Through This should be considered one of the best records of the era. She'll probably always be in Kurt Cobain's shadow, which is unfortunate, but that shouldn't stop her from being viewed as a rock legend by her own right.
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