When we think of the legends of Rock n’ Roll, some of the names listed might be Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, Axel Rose, Slash, Eddie Van Halen, Jon Bon Jovi or Kurt Cobain. A simple Google search would show mostly men popping up. I checked and found only two results with any women. Unfortunately, this isn’t surprising. Music, especially rock, has tended to be a male dominated field.
“I grew up in a world that told girls they couldn’t play rock and roll.” – Joan Jett
Since her statement, there have been many noteworthy and successful women in the rock music scene. Sadly, there is still a long way to go. As a woman in the rock music scene, I find it particularly important to have someone to look up to and to be inspired by.
I made a playlist with some bands of various popularity and time periods who have women in strong roles. Many of these bands have women in the front-person or singer’s position but not all. I’ve included women as drummers, bassists, guitarists, keyboardists and even fiddle/violin players.
Content Warning: Some of these songs have explicit content
