Women Rock! (Women's History Month)

Rock & Roll was dominated by men in its infancy, and throughout its history, women have been a tiny minority amongst top rockers. Notable exceptions of the 1960s were Grace Slick, lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and Cass Elliott of the Mamas & the Papas.

The singer-songwriter movement was only slightly more welcoming, opening the doors for such artists as Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell.

A few women crossed over the divide between R&B and rock and again were notable as exceptions, such as Patti Labelle and Gladys Knight, and Tina Turner.

Later, women carved a niche for themselves in the "alt" or "indie" rock scene, returning to the singer-songwriter or R&B roots for inspiration. The 1990s saw an explosion of unique voices coming from theh "fairer" sex.

The Music Collection has compact discs by these and many other women:

Tracy Chapman

Eva Cassidy

Cranberries

Fiona Apple

Sarah McLachlan

Alanis Morissette

Jewel

Tori Amos

Scholars in such diverse fields as Music History and Sociology have started to study the role of women in popular music and the unique message women bring to the airwaves. Use the subject Women Rock Musicians
to find more books on this unique facet of women's history in the Music Collection. For stories of individual musicians, you can search through the selections of biographies using the subject Rock Musicians Biography