The Most Influential Women In Rock You May Not Have Heard Of

The Women Behind Music’s Biggest Moments

Rock and roll is often thought of as a boys’ club, but there are women aplenty who rock as hard (if not harder) than their male colleagues. From Joan Jett to Viola Smith, rock music would not be its rebellious, rambunctious self without the contributions of women and femme musicians. Let’s see how many rockers you can recognize on this list.

Suzi Quatro

Frequently credited as an inspiration by female rockers like Joan Jett, Suzi Quatro led the way for women in rock music with her fearless bass shredding. She formed her first band, The Pleasure Seekers, with her sisters at age 14, and still tours and releases music today.

Stefan Brending, Wikimedia Commons

Carol Kaye

Legendary session bassist Carol Kaye was once described by the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson as the “greatest damn bass player in the world”. Ernie Ball claims that with any 60s track, there's a good chance it’s Kaye playing bass. Her collaborators have included the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Simon & Garfunkel, and more. But Kaye is not the only influential woman lurking behind the scenes, not by a long shot.

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Jennifer Batten

Session musicians are often rock and roll’s unsung heroes. Jennifer Batten is an American guitarist who played for three Michael Jackson world tours and recorded and toured with Jeff Beck. She has also released three solo albums and written two guitar books. Next up: Do you recognize these early women rockers?

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Viola Smith

Viola Smith was a groundbreaking big band drummer who has been described as the “fastest girl drummer in the world”. A master player of her 12-piece kit, she began playing the drums as part of her family band in the 1920s. Perhaps knowing how to keep a beat well helped her health too: Smith lived until age 107.

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Memphis Minnie

Memphis Minnie purportedly disliked her birth name Lizzie Douglas and went by Kid Douglas, her childhood nickname, when she first started performing. She became a well-known blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter and recorded over 200 songs. While Minnie was ladylike in appearance, she was reportedly not someone you want to mess with when it came to a fight.

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Sister Rosetta Tharpe

NPR calls her the “godmother of rock’n’roll”. A queer Black woman who preceded Elvis and Little Richard, Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin) grew up in a gospel environment, but would later perform daringly sensual music. She also toured and collaborated with Marie Knight throughout the 1940s, with whom she had a romantic relationship with.

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Patti Smith

Many women musicians were also writers, poets, and artists. Lauded for both her music and poetry, Patti Smith’s 2010 memoir Just Kids won the National Book Award. Smith’s early career consisted of busking and performance art in Paris, and later, in 2005, the French Ministry of Culture named her a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

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Kathleen Hanna

Kathleen Hanna is a writer and musician, known for her work with Le Tigre, Bikini Kill, and Julie Ruin. In an interview with The Creative Independent, she said: “For a lot of Bikini Kill especially, I didn’t really consider myself a musician for a very long time...But I was really doing feminist performance art, and I was playing the role of a girl in a punk band”.

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Carrie Brownstein

Carrie Brownstein is one of the co-founders and frontwomen of Sleater-Kinney, as well as Fred Armisen's co-star in the hipster satire Portlandia. Her first band, Excuse 17, was part of the riot grrrl movement of the 90s. Open about her sexuality, Brownstein has also played roles in queer media like Syd in Transparent and Genevieve in Carol.

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Nico

Best known for her album with The Velvet Underground, German artist Nico (born Christa Päffgen) was many things throughout her career: actress, model, collaborator, and solo singer-songwriter. The enigmatic Nico was self-conscious of her modeling career and upbringing in 1930s and 40s Germany, however, and experienced professional conflict with The Velvet Underground.

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Grace Slick

Counterculture icon Grace Slick is best known as the frontwoman of Jefferson Airplane (of “White Rabbit” fame) and its spin-offs Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick retired from music in 1990 to focus on artwork, which has been shown in galleries throughout the US.

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Stevie Nicks

The witchy “Dreams” singer of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks has also made a considerable impact as a solo singer-songwriter with hits like “Edge of Seventeen” and “Leather and Lace”. She became the first woman to be inducted twice into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, first as a member of Fleetwood Mac and second as a solo artist.

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Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell needs no introduction. The Canadian singer-songwriter is an icon of 60s folk music. Her accolades include 10 Grammys, Billboard’s Century Award, and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award. Mitchell is also a painter.

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Janis Joplin

Another mainstay of the 1960s Woodstock scene, Janis Joplin's career began with Big Brother and the Holding Company and their seminal album, Cheap Thrills. But it was her second solo album Pearl, released posthumously, that cemented her as a music legend. Joplin’s husky voice is an unforgettable component of rock history, and her free-spirited attitude has since influenced generations of women musicians.

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Joan Jett

Joan Jett burst into the scene as the rhythm guitarist of The Runaways. Then, with her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, she cemented a place in mainstream rock with hits like “I Love Rock’n’Roll”. One of rock music’s original rebel girls, Joan Jett would not be the last to question authority and battle against gender expectations.

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Poly Styrene

Poly Styrene was born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said and raised by a single mother. She left home at 15 and hitchhiked to music festivals, eventually forming X-Ray Spex by posting an ad for “fellow punx”. She was critical of how women were seen and treated in the industry, remarking that “[t]here's nothing wrong with beauty, but whether it’s actually helping the female cause of being equal to men, you have to judge for yourself”.

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Kim Gordon

Sonic Youth’s iconic bassist embodied punk from the start: as a teen, she got into legal trouble for using weed in Disneyland and once stated that “women make natural anarchists”. While many still see Kim Gordon as shoegaze’s darling, Gordon identifies more as a visual artist.

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Sinéad O'Connor

With her iconic shaved head, Sinéad O’Connor was a daring and controversial figure in and outside of music. She declined her Grammy for Best Alternative Album as a protest against commercialism. She also infamously tore up a photograph of the Pope on SNL, among other political statements.

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PJ Harvey

Polly Jean Harvey’s work is rife with bold and fearless statements about female sexuality. For example, her first album Dry was inspired by exhibitionist carvings and goes against the victim narrative that female sexuality often inhabits. At first, “PJ Harvey” referred to the trio she formed at the beginning of her career.

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Larissa Stupar

When Metal Pulp And Paper asked Larissa Stupar what new listeners should expect of Venom Prison’s music, she said: “A brutal, extreme heavy mixture of old school death metal and hardcore”. The South Wales musician credits her older sister’s Nirvana obsession for kickstarting her metal love affair, but women haven’t always been prominent in the metal scene.

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Doro

Doro (born Dorothee Pesch) is a German heavy metal vocalist known for her work with Warlock and a rare woman in the 1980s heavy metal scene. She's had a prolific solo career: her first solo album Force Majeure was released in 1989 and her most recent album, Conqueress - Forever Strong and Proud, was released in 2023.

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Laura Jane Grace

One of the industry’s few openly trans artists, Laura Jane Grace has established herself as a trailblazing icon. Her personal journey has greatly influenced her work, impacting Against Me!’s album Transgender Dysphoria Blues and her memoir Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout. She also starred in an autobiographical series.

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Lzzy Hale

When Halestorm's lead singer was a child, she was scared of raising her voice. Today, Lzzy Hale’s fearless vocals define the band she formed with her brother Arejay and partner Joe Hottinger, who plays guitar. Having collaborated with a range of artists, from Dream Theater to Evanescence, Hale is vocal in her support of the LGBTQ+ community and mental health awareness.

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Tina Turner

Music icon Tina Turner began her career performing with her husband Ike Turner in the 1960s. They later divorced and she pursued a solo career, but it was a slow start and Turner had to use food stamps and clean houses to make ends meet. She later found immense success, earning eight Grammys and was twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (once with Ike and in 2021 as a solo artist).

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Courtney Love

Another artist initially defined in the context of her partner, Courtney Love is best known as Kurt Cobain’s wife. But she has notable achievements of her own: she formed Hole in 1989 and later became an acclaimed actress, earning a Golden Globe nomination for her role in The People Vs Larry Flynt.

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Marianne Faithfull

A leading woman of the British Invasion, Marianne Faithfull is best known for her romantic relationship with Mick Jagger and her physical and mental health struggles. But despite hardships, she’s an accomplished career musician who has won a Q Award, a Women’s World Award, and a Grammy nomination for her seventh album, Broken English.

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Brody Dalle

Brody Dalle (born Bree Joanna Alice Robinson) was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. She then moved to Los Angeles when she married Tim Armstrong of Rancid. After they divorced, she formed the Distillers. When they disbanded, she went on to form Spinnerette and a solo career.

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Kim Deal

Best known for her work with the Breeders and the Pixies, Kim Deal released her debut solo album at age 63. Recently, the Breeders opened for Olivia Rodrigo, introducing a new generation of fans to their alt rock sound.

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Skin

Deborah Anne Dyer is the striking leader of Brit Rock band Skunk Anansie. She also thrived as a solo artist when the band disbanded between 2001 and 2009. In 2021, she became the first Chancellor of Leeds Arts University and was also appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) the same year.

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Shirley Manson

The Scottish singer-songwriter of Garbage, Shirley Manson has been nominated for two Brit Awards and seven Grammys. While the band was on hiatus, Manson got into acting and played Catherine Weaver on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Inspired by forebears like Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde, Manson has been cited as an influence on artists like Amy Lee and Florence Welch.

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Bilinda Butcher

Joining the ranks of shoegaze woman influencers (Kim Gordon and Elizabeth Fraser come to mind) is My Bloody Valentine guitarist and vocalist Bilinda Butcher. She had a quirky childhood, dressing and acting like someone from the 1920s. She joined My Bloody Valentine in 1987 after learning that they needed a background vocalist. The rest is history.

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Beth Ditto

Searingly aware of contemporary social challenges, Gossip’s song “Standing In the Way of Control” addresses a proposed amendment that would have banned gay marriage. Speaking of her identity’s impact on her music, band vocalist Beth Ditto says: “[W]hen you make a record as a queer person, every love song is a queer love song”.

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Amy Lee

Emo kids of the 2000s are familiar with the haunting yet majestic vocals of Evanescence’s Amy Lyn Hartzler (Amy Lee). At 13, Lee met then-14-year-old Ben Moody and they started playing music together, forming what would become Evanescence. Lee is also a soundtrack composer, contributing to films like Muppets: The Green Album (2011) and Underworld (2003).

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Sharon Den Adel

Sharon Janny den Adel is a Dutch vocalist best known for her work as a songwriter and lead singer of symphonic rock band Within Temptation. While she leads the band as its singer, she considers herself a self-taught musician. “[I] never really had vocal training,” she tells Last.fm. “I taught myself just listening and practicing songs I liked myself”.

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Debbie Harry

Debbie Harry is a new wave icon thanks to her partnership with Chris Stein and their group Blondie. The band is best known for their third album Parallel Lines and the 70s hit “Heart of Glass”. Harry has also appeared in numerous films (including 1988's Hairspray) and published a memoir in 2019.

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Dolores O’Riordan

With her breathily dreamy Celtic-inspired vocals, Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries is an Irish icon. She wrote an early version of “Linger” in her late teens, which would become The Cranberries’ chart-topping second single.

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Reba Meyers

Reba Meyers is the hardcore guitarist of Code Orange, a decidedly hardcore band. She started playing guitar around age 12 or 13; shortly after, she met Jami Morgan and they formed Code Orange in their teens. Recently, Meyers has garnered controversy for working with Marilyn Manson.

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Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde is the only continuous member of her band The Pretenders, which means she contributed to every studio album. She has dual American-British citizenship, practices Hinduism, and is a vegetarian who opened her own vegan restaurant in Ohio. While many women in rock were made famous with their bands, several are known chiefly by their solo work.

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Bonnie Raitt

A prolific musician, Bonnie Raitt is the epitome of an epic late bloomer. It was her tenth studio album, Nick of Time, that finally rocketed her to mainstream fame, earning her the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1989. She has won 13 Grammys and was nominated 31 times.

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Kate Bush

Thanks to Stranger Things, there has been renewed interest in Kate Bush and her dreamy anthem “Running Up That Hill”. A gifted musician, Bush had composed over 200 songs by her mid-teenage years and signed a contract with EMI with the help of David Gilmour (Pink Floyd). In 2022, "Running Up That Hill" was released as a CD single for the first time thanks to its Stranger Things fame.

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Pat Benatar

Patricia Mae Andrzejewski rocketed to fame when she released her sophomore album, which included “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. While her fame didn't last long past the 80s, Benatar has been nominated nine times for a Grammy and won four times.

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Carole King

Carole King might be one of the music industry's most influential people, period. She's written or co-written over 400 songs and has been recorded by over 1,000 artists. She became the first woman to receive the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, has won four Grammys, and was awarded the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Siouxie Sioux

Born Susan Janet Ballion, Siouxsie Sioux led her namesake band Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1976 to 1996, releasing 11 studio albums across their prolific career. She then went on to form The Creatures before going solo. Sioux has influenced countless artists, from Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries to Charli XCX and Grimes. 

Sioux’s bold sense of fashion was only a part of her incredible influence on rock and roll—but it also led to one of the most harrowing moments of her life. When she first stepped onto the scene, Sioux used to wear a black armband with a swastika on it. The armband was part of her gothic, punk rock look, something that Sioux thought would shock the older generation, not anything related to politics or the hateful rhetoric the symbol is now synonymous with. 

But none of that mattered when, after a performance in France, Sioux’s bold sense of fashion—and the controversial armband—were cited as the reasons she got beat up that night.

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