We don’t want to leave out the ladies so next up in our Top 20 series, we’re diving into the Top 20 Female Rock Vocalists.
As with the others, it’s hard to gauge where the category ends and begins so I narrowed the list by gauging artists who fit the classic sense of what it means to be a rock singer.
The list was compiled primarily by your requests and suggestions which sometimes included female singers that would fall more under the pop category so they’ll be saved for a different video.
We’ll take a look at each artist with a short clip of one of their performances and make sure to stay around at the end for the honorable mentions. We wanted to include Stevie Nicks on the list, but unfortunately her video was blocked.
At any rate, I want to know you who think belongs on the list so make sure to share what you thought!
Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy – Where The PROOF Is In The Singing!
Here are some fun facts about the singers in this video:
FLOOR JANSEN
As a kid, she wanted to be a biologist; coincidentally, she played the character “The Biologist” in the Ayreon album The Source. Next to singing, writing, and performing, Floor pursued a career as a teacher. Jansen started studying music at the Dutch Rock Academy in 1999, entering the Conservatorium Tilburg three years later. She studied musical theatre and a year of opera. Later, she started teaching performing in her own course called Wanna be a Star?!
She joined After Forever she at age 15 and they recorded their first album only 3 years later. She replaced singer Anette Olson in Nightwish and had only 48 hours to learn the entire setlist.
JANIS JOPLIN
The Doors frontman Jim Morrison was physically turned on to Joplin after she busted a bottle of Southern Comfort over his head, knocking him out cold. Morrison, loving the physical confrontation and her violent attitude, and seemed to be in love. The day after this strange encounter during rehearsals, he asked producer Paul Rothchild for her phone number. Joplin had no intent on getting together with Morrison again and as it turns out, they never did. Morrison was reportedly heartbroken
The last recordings Joplin completed were Mercedes-Benz’ and a birthday greeting for John Lennon. On Oct. 1, 1970, Joplin recorded the old Dale Evans cowboy tune ‘Happy Trails’ for the former Beatle, which is sort of spooky given the lyrics are “Happy rails to you, ’till we meet again.” The tune was titled ‘Happy Birthday, John (Happy Trails)’ and released on the Janis box set in 1993. Lennon told talk show host Dick Cavett that her taped greeting arrived at his home after her passing.
Joplin was a heavy drinker, and Southern Comfort was her drink of choice. The whiskey became so synonymous with the singer, and she boosted the company’s sales to such an extent, that she managed to get them to give her a lynx coat as a thank-you.
STEVIE NICKS
Even though the wisdom in “Landslide,” a song that tackles the feelings of growing older, feels pretty mature, Nicks was pretty young when she wrote it. She told Rolling Stone she was just 27 years old when she penned it.
In 1998, Nicks was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac. In 2019, she was inducted again as a solo artist. This made Nicks the first woman to ever be inducted into the Hall as a member of a group and for her own solo career.
Of all the reasons Nicks could have been banned from a country over the years, singing likely wouldn’t be one you’d imagine. In 1986, she flew to Australia simply to ride along with pals Tom Petty and Bob Dylan as they toured there. But during one tour stop, the rockers invited Nicks onstage with them during a song and, of course, she obliged. The impromptu performance violated the terms of her tourist visa, and Australian authorities told her she’d never be allowed back into the country if she did it again.
LINDA RONSTADT
Ronstadt has worked on over 120 albums and has also sold more than 100 million records. This solidifies her spot as one of the best-selling artists of all time.
Before she hit it big, Ronstadt was touring with really big names. She toured with the Doors, Neil Young, and Jackson Browne.
Ronstadt is often referred to as the First Lady of Rock and the Queen of Rock, and she has set numerous records as one of the highest-grossing concert artists of the 1970s. Because of this, she was voted the Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s. By the end of 1978, Ronstadt was known as the highest-paid woman in rock and roll, and in 1978 alone, she made more than $12 million. Today, that number is equivalent to $43 million in a single year.
Ronstadt broke unprecedented ground when she released Hand Sown … Home Grown in 1969. The album is described as the very first alternative country record that was recorded by a female artist.
JOAN JETT
Joan has said of her father, “he hated rock & roll, but he put up with it. He didn’t come down on me to stop it. Losing my parents was big, and I think it translated to the music in songs like ‘Fragile’, which is about life being fragile, love being fragile, how easy it is to break hearts.”
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts were bigger than Scorpions in their own country.
“They were mad because they were a German band and we were bigger in Germany than they were and they were having a real hard time ego-wise dealing with that. But for the most part people are really, really cool about it.” – Jett
On playing for troops in Afghanistan she said:
“Well, I think just being able to be in a place like Afghanistan and see what it is like – I mean, it is surreal being here. It is one thing seeing it on the news, but actually being here and experiencing it… I think sometimes it is something that a lot of Americans should see, because then they are able to be much more grateful for where they live in America because we have such an amazing, wonderful country, and I think a lot of times, people aren’t always aware of that.” – Jett
Some 500 coalition troops (about 5-7K soldiers), mostly American, were at a concert at the US’s military headquarters as part of ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ (OEF) when Jett rocked their souls repping black boots, camo pants and a fishnet top.
PAT BENATAR
She was discovered at an amateur night
While performing at a comedy club in New York City, she was discovered by Terry Ellis with Chrysalis Records in 1977. This was pretty much her big break to any kind of stardom (Though her mother, Millie, was a trained opera vocalist just like Pat Benatar. Millie instilled her talent into Pat, who then went onto Julliard in NYC to study music.) Before this, Pat married high school boyfriend Dennis Benatar in 1972. The couple moved to Virginia where Dennis was stationed in the army, and Pat worked as a bank teller for some time. She took on the last name “Benatar” after her first marriage, and it really just stuck with her. However, she was originally born with the name Patricia Andrzejewski.
One of her most popular singles, “Love is a Battlefield,” had the first music video ever to feature dialogue. It was the first-ever music video integrated with actual spoken words.
LITA FORD
In 1975, at age 16, Ford was recruited by recording impresario Kim Fowley to join the all-female rock band he was assembling called the Runaways. The band soon secured a recording contract and released their first album in 1976. The band garnered significant media attention and The Runaways became a successful recording and touring act during their late 1970s heyday. Ford’s lead-guitar playing became an integral element of the band’s sound until their eventual break-up in April 1979.
In 1977, internal conflicts were erupting within the Runaways, who had by that time already parted ways with producer Fowley, lead singer Cherie Currie, and bassist Jackie Fox. Vocalist/guitarist Joan Jett wanted the band to shift to a more Ramones-influenced punk rock sound, while Ford and drummer Sandy West wanted to continue playing the hard rock-oriented songs the band had become known for. With neither faction willing to compromise, the band finally broke up in April 1979.
In an interview with Lita Ford, she explained that despite being in a band called The Runaways, her home life was great, and that she was a runaway in band name only. “I think I was the only girl in The Runaways who did have a solid family,” she said. “Other girls in The Runaways had families that were divorced or maybe had one parent that had passed away and the other parent remarried. My parents were the only ones that were literally till death do us part.”
TINA TURNER
When she was 17 years old she took the microphone from Ike Turners hands and blew the crowds mind at a club when she started singing. Ike Turner was amazed with her rough voice.
For almost two years after her divorce, she received food stamps, lived with friends, and played small clubs to pay off debts and her solo career didn’t start until 1983 when she released the hit single “Let’s Stay Together”.
With a career spanning five decades, Tina holds the Guinness World Record for selling more concert tickets than any other solo performer in history, and has sold more than 200 million albums and singles worldwide to date, making her one of the biggest selling female artists in music history.
GRACE SLICK
Grace Slick is purported to have written “White Rabbit” in an hour.
Grace is the vocalist for some of Sesame Street’s often played musical shorts, Jazzy Spies, which featured a frenetic musical background while a singer repeatedly intoned the particular numeral being highlighted.
Her then-husband, Jerry Slick, actually produced those segments.
After giving birth to her only child, China Kantner, Grace gave birth to an urban legend when she sarcastically told a nurse that she intended to name the child “god”. The nurse took Grace seriously, not understanding it was a joke.
CHRISSIE HYNDE
Hynde spent her youth attending concerts in Cleveland, Ohio, and playing in garage bands. Her career as a rhythm guitarist began when she took up the baritone ukulele at age 16. She began songwriting and practiced her vocals by singing loudly in a closet.
Eager to become a part of the growing London punk scene, she moved there in 1973 and continued taking low-paying jobs (such as cleaning Keith Richards’ house) while trying to break into the music business. Throughout the mid-1970s, Hynde bounced between England, the United States and France, performing with a variety of bands and meeting such punk idols as Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, and Mick Jones of the Clash.
In 1978, Hynde got her chance to head a group of her own. She formed the group The Pretenders, named after a song by the Platters. They released their self-titled debut album in 1980 to enormous critical acclaim. But the early 1980s proved to be rocky for the band, however. Their quick follow-up album, Pretenders II (1981), did not match the debut album’s power or popularity. In addition to the commercial loss, internal strife and drug abuse resulted in the dismissal of Farndon from the band. Then Honeyman-Scott and Farndon died from drug overdoses in 1982 and 1983, respectively. Hynde managed to hold things together with the addition of two new members, and The Pretenders released their third album, Learning to Crawl, in 1984. The title of the album referred both to The Pretenders’ struggles as a newly constituted band, and to Hynde’s toddler daughter, Natalie Rae (whose father was Ray Davies of the Kinks).
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox has earned the distinction of “most successful female British artist in UK music history” due to her commercial success since the early 1980s.
Here first band, “The Tourists,” had achieved international success with their cover of “I Only Want To Be With You”, by Dusty Springfield, which had performed particularly well in Australia, peaking at number 6. But on their way to Sydney, things got a little off course, and they had to land in Wagga Wagga. “Oh, my, it is as absurd and abstract as it sounds but, you know, that is where that sort of all started,” said Annie Lennox in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. “This story is slightly sad in a way, but it was crazy … there was a strike in Sydney and we couldn’t land so they had to take all the passengers off and house them in hotels for a few days until the strike was over.”
“Well,” Lennox continues, “the main songwriter of the band, Peet Coombes, unbeknown to me, had a heroin addiction and while there he had a few days of solid drinking and it was hard-core. Anyway, this big thing was building up and we had this moment when it all came out.” Abandoned by their songwriter, Stewart and Lennox began experimenting on a small synthesizer in their bedroom, and the seed for Eurythmics was well and truly planted.
DEBBIE HARRY
Debbie worked various jobs, including as a secretary, go-go dancer, and Playboy Bunny, before breaking through in the music industry.
Harry’s persona, combining cool sexuality with streetwise style, became so closely associated with the group’s name that many came to believe “Blondie” was the singer’s name. The difference between the individual Harry and the band Blondie was emphasized by a “Blondie is a group” button campaign by the band in 1979.
She is sometimes considered the first rapper to chart at number one in the United States due to her work on “Rapture”.
ALANIS MORRISETTE
Alanis was an actress as a child. She was on the Nickelodeon show You Can’t Do That On Television at age 10, and appeared in a movie a year later with Matt LeBlanc as her boyfriend. In 1992, she moved to LA to appear in the TV sitcom Just One Of The Girls.
She started writing songs when she was just 10 years old. In 1991 when she was 16, her first album, Alanis, was released, which was followed by Now Is the Time a year later. She co-wrote all of the songs on both albums (mostly with her producer Leslie Howe), and they sold well in Canada. The songs were of the Dance-Pop variety and a marked departure from her breakthrough release Jagged Little Pill, which was issued in 1995. She opened for Vanilla Ice on his 1990 tour. Her 1999 tour was sponsored by MP3.com. She received company stock in the deal, which was worth millions before the Internet bubble burst a year later. She did sell $1.5 million worth of the stock before it collapsed. She was a teen star in Canada equivalent to Debbie Gibson or Tiffany in the US. She won a Juno award (Canadian Grammy) for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1992.
Alanis was mugged in 1994. The mugger took her money but left her with her bag containing most of the Jagged Little Pill songs. She commented had the bag been taken she would not have been able to recover the songs from her memory.
She is a seven-time Grammy Award-winner. She is the youngest artist to ever win an “Album of the Year” Grammy at age 21.
GRACE POTTER
Grace Potter was trying to make it as a Folk singer before she met the rest of her band. She was performing at a student-run venue called The Java Barn at St. Lawrence University when she met drummer Matthew Burr. The two shared common influences such as James Brown and The Band and immediately hit it off.
Soon, guitarist Scott Tournet joined, and the bandmembers, calling themselves Grace Potter & the Nocturnals — thanks to their late-night practice habits — began to think seriously about making music their careers. When Burr graduated in 2003, they decided to move back to Vermont to some land that Potter’s parents owned and dedicate themselves more fully to their craft, replacing Beard (who chose to stay at school) with Bryan Dondero in the process.
In 2004 they self-released their debut, Original Soul, receiving positive response and comparisons to artists like Norah Jones and early Bonnie Raitt. This in turn garnered major-label offers, but the band preferred to build its fan base with constant touring and festival appearances.
Word of their electric performances spread, and shortly after their second album, Nothing But the Water — also self-released — came out in 2005, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals signed to Hollywood Records., Their third full-length, This Is Somewhere, hit shelves nationwide in August 2007.
In 2008 and 2009, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals played the hugely popular Jam Cruise. The event features dozens of bands playing on a cruise ship while the ship makes stops in popular sun destinations such as Mexico, Honduras, and Belize. Every Jam Cruise since its inception in 2004 has sold out, which helped the band secure a larger audience.
In 2010, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals was released; Hollywood pulled out all the stops in order to break the band internationally. Over the next year and a half, they toured incessantly, releasing a four-song Christmas EP, a live album in the U.K., and a digital download-only set recorded live at the Fillmore.
HAYLEY WILLIAMS
Atlantic Records signed 14-year-old Williams in 2003 with the hope of making her a pop star. Williams resisted however and her passion for performing alternative rock music with a band behind her eventually saw the label agree and do things her way. A management team were put together for the band, including former Creed manager Jeff Hanson
Bassist Davis is quoted as being unsure of the band’s potential to begin with, due to the drummer only being 12 years old. He said: “I had very, very, very, little faith in everyone in the band because of their age. I remember thinking, ‘This is not going to work because this kid is way too young’, but that first day of practice was amazing. I knew we were on to something.” Davis was obviously right as the band went on to receive a 2008 Grammy Award nomination for ‘Best New Artist’, just losing out to Amy Winehouse.
The name ‘Paramore’ came from the maiden name of one band member’s mum, with the spelling ‘paramour’ meaning ‘secret lover’….
Josh Farro has spoken about the band’s Christian beliefs influencing their music. He said: “Our faith is very important to us. It’s obviously going to come out in our music because if someone believes something, then their world view is going to come out in anything they do. But we’re not here to preach to kids, we’re out here because we love music.”
