1) Mimi Fox
Down Beat said “She’s The Woman is everything jazz guitar is supposed to be.” And boy, is she the woman. Her unchained solos, her ability to enchant the guitar into doing her bidding, the melodic collection and the stylish twists make her the Queen of Jazz.
2) Ella Fitzgerald
Known as “Lady Ella” and the “First Lady of Song” with a vocal range spanning three octaves, she is revered for her intonation, phrasing purity of tone and supreme improvisational ability. Her journey from her tough childhood to singing in The White House for President Reagan is an inspiration by itself. The jazz queen worked with giants Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington amongst countless others. One listen to her should provide enough reason why.
3) Asha Bhosle
Considered as one of India’s most versatile singers, with a career spanning over four decades with her range of songs from film pop to qawwalis, Rabindra Sangeets and Nazrul Geetis. Having sung over 12,000 songs in over 14 languages including Hindi, Urdu, English, Russian, Czech, Nepali and Malay, she has etched her name into the history of music. Her music from Naya Daur, Teesri Manzil and Umrao Jaan have held a timeless spell over nation of movie lovers.
4) Grace Slick
She is credited with being the most important figure in the 1960s psychedelic rock genre, and is famous for her witty, often acid-tongued, thought provoking lyrics. During her musical career, Slick was a member of several rock bands: The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, and Jefferson Airplane’s successor bands, Jefferson Starship and Starship. Her famous solo albums include Manhole, Software and Dream which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
5) Aretha Franklin
She is a singer, songwriter, and pianist, also known in the music world as “The Queen of Soul”. She is renowned for her soul recordings but is also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, gospel, and even opera. Her first Atlantic single, “I Never Loved A Man”, in 1967, a blues ballad that introduced listeners to her gospel style ended up being Franklin’s breakthrough single reaching the Top 10 on the Hot 100, and holding the #1 spot for 7 weeks on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart. On February 10, 2008, at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, she was awarded her 20th Grammy.
6) Farida Khanum
Farida Khanum is a renowned Pakistani Ghazal singer from Punjab who has been given the title “Malika-e-Ghazal” (Queen of Ghazal) in tribute to her singing talents. The ghazal she is most famously associated with is “Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Naa Karo”. In 2005, she was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s highest civilian honour by President Pervez Musharraf. She has been exemplary in demonstrating how music can cross borders to bring India and Pakistan together.
7) Janis Joplin
The lead singer of the famed Big Brother and the Holding Company in the 1960s in ranked #46 on their list of 100 Great Artists of all time. Time magazine called Joplin “probably the most powerful singer to emerge from the white rock movement”, and Richard Goldstein, in Vogue magazine, wrote that Joplin was “the most staggering leading woman in rock…she slinks like tar, scowls like war…clutching the knees of a final stanza, begging it not to leave…Janis Joplin can sing the chic off any listener.”
8 ) Shubha Mudgal
She is considered India’s finest. And rightly so. With Abke Saawan being an evergreen number, to her revival of texts from Vaishnava Pushti poets, as well as the Nirguna poerty of Kabir and Amir Khusrau. Her versatile abilities have led to her composing for dancers, ballets, documentaries, as well as for soaps and movies. She is as dedicated as they come.
9) Joni Mitchell
Mitchell could be labelled a “musician’s musician”; her work has had an enormous influence on artists as disparate as Annie Lennox, Jeff Buckley, Dan Fogelberg, Elvis Costello, Tori Amos, Juice Newton, Maynard James Keenan, Clannad, Madonna, Prince, Björk, George Michael, Conor Oberst, Morrissey, The Roots, The Sundays, KT Tunstall, Meg & Dia and Marie Fredriksson. As a teenager, she taught herself ukulele and, later, guitar and began performing at parties, which eventually led to busking and gigs playing in coffeehouses and other venues in Saskatoon, Canada. Her unique guitar style led the All Music Guide to going as far as stating that, “When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century”.
10) Norah Jones
Her debut album in 2002 received 5 Grammy Awards, including “Best New Artist”. The daughter of musical maestro Ravi Shankar and half-sister of sitarist Anoushka Shankar is regarded as the most successful recording artist of the decade having sold in excess of 40 million records worldwide. Her blend of of mellow, acoustic pop with soul and jazz as well as the occasional dark lyrics have captured the hearts of a thirsty audience.
Lists
10 women of music who Rocked our world.
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Comments
43 comments. Add your own comment below.
Bam-Bam
Apr 10th, 2008 at 4:29 pm | #
EEEEEEEEEEE !
No Cindy Lauper and Melissa Etheridge ????? !
Boohoo.
BoomBoom
Apr 10th, 2008 at 4:29 pm | #
And where did Winehouse go ?
Norah s**ks !
Naina
Apr 14th, 2008 at 10:51 am | #
Hey Boom,
Winehouse is just an emo , Kurt Cobain’d version of Norah.
Except Norah is a better singer too.
\m/_
Naina
Apr 14th, 2008 at 10:55 am | #
BamBam,
It never was a definitive list. but i like them too. Guess a Part II of this list is in order.
\m/_
DJ Banana
Apr 14th, 2008 at 10:57 am | #
Loving all feminine power of this list.
Nice to see you included AshaJi, Shubha Ji and Farida Khala. Really brought down the rapture with this one.
Vishal Mulchandani
Apr 22nd, 2008 at 2:16 am | #
ann wilson of heart….. doro of warlock…. pat benatar,lauper…. list 2 :)
Nick
Sep 3rd, 2008 at 9:54 pm | #
Where is Joan Baez ?
Sadaam Hussain
Oct 19th, 2008 at 12:47 am | #
Amy Whinehouse is just an ugly freak
Don Rocin
Nov 27th, 2008 at 4:58 pm | #
May have rocked your world…but certainly not mine.
Can’t argue with Joni Mitchell or Aretha Franklin, but if I were to start a list of the most influential female muscians - whether I liked them or not - I’d start with Billie Holiday. Then I’d include Mirium Makeba, Madonna, Kate Bush - all of whom shaped new genres which still resonate.
Of the current crop - it still too soon to know. But if Winehouse can stay alive she might. I don’t know of any woman who has the array of gifts she appears hellbent of extinguishing - writing, vocal, phrasing, she has it all. A lot of ‘stand by your man’ guys hate her. I think she scares them.
poko doko
Dec 1st, 2008 at 12:21 am | #
I think that the person who wrote this is smart. I’m more into rock, and I’m sorry to say that I don’t know many good female rockers. If you do know one tell me about them because I don’t want to degrade my own gender!
Barrie Stark
Dec 6th, 2008 at 6:06 am | #
Brilliant but what on earth happened to Joan Baez?
Paulina
Jan 3rd, 2009 at 1:56 am | #
Todas son fueron y seguiran siendo grandes cantantes Joni Michell es genial!!!
tacitco
Jan 8th, 2009 at 1:45 am | #
ani difranco. http://www.righteousbabe.com
hodan
Jan 16th, 2009 at 1:39 pm | #
this list is pretty backwards.mimi over diana ross or joan baez or etta james? as if. Grace slick is amazing, norah jones is boring.and you Wino haters need to realize that it’s music that counts not the f*cked up personal life.
juliana
Jan 21st, 2009 at 10:50 am | #
Babe
i just love them.
Viral
Feb 28th, 2009 at 1:11 am | #
where’s Lata Mangeshkar?? [the elder sister of Asha Bhosle]
she is the goddess of vocals! the most refined and melodic singer in the world!! i can’t believe it.
plus all others r western singers. indian classical is difficult to comprehend, let alone master.
thus comparing the others with lata n asha n others [shreya goshal, kavitak, n scores of others.] is pointless.
♥Teddy Boy Kill™
Mar 2nd, 2009 at 11:36 pm | #
you forgot billy holiday and bjork !?
and asha bhons ? oh no .. not that tweeterbird soprano !
start to get spasmodial pain on her voice !
:)
ray christopher
Apr 3rd, 2009 at 5:39 am | #
all worthy candidates, but don’t forget kate bush. if you don’t know kate you should check her out. a true pioneer of modern music. she invented half the formats being used today. 8 albums over 30 years and just blows my mind with every new release.
Joshua
Jun 24th, 2009 at 3:00 pm | #
Great List! But I feel Julie London should be on it too :)
Nirmalaa Shrethar
Jun 25th, 2009 at 10:31 am | #
Hi Naina, wonderful article…very useful..it feels proud to be a women
Tank
Jul 12th, 2009 at 3:06 pm | #
JANIS THE GODDESS
Julialovesmusic
Aug 22nd, 2009 at 10:41 am | #
Janis joplin is my favorite female performer ever!
but what about stevie nicks?
carra
Nov 26th, 2009 at 1:27 am | #
Ani Difranco!!!
Ronald S.
Feb 24th, 2010 at 10:47 am | #
Celia Cruz maybe…. the queen of Salsa!
Ronald S.
Feb 24th, 2010 at 10:58 am | #
I approve of all the ones in the list above, except Mimi Fox, but this is my choice. I would have put Sarah Brightman, Shirley Bassey (a diva in my opinion) check her out and Maria Callas.
At least you omitted Amy…
harold
Feb 27th, 2010 at 5:20 pm | #
Don’t confuse popularity with influence. Nora Jones plays nice stuff but she certainly hasnt broken any new ground or influenced anyone. Yes, we all can think of other names we would like to see on this list but remember, its just a list of women who “rocked our world” for whatever reason. FOr instance; maybe Mimi Foxs’ Billy Idol hairdo rocked their world - who knows.
Mango Pulp Fiction
Apr 7th, 2010 at 11:44 am | #
Whinehouse? What next? Lady Gaga and Be-yawn-say?
Vishal
May 10th, 2010 at 3:59 pm | #
Wheres Bonnie Tyler
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