The ultimate powerhouse performer, Tina Turner has more than earned the title of Queen Of RocknRoll. She is one of the most inspirational people of all time, and more than deserves to top our list of the most influential female artists in music. Kate Nash Pop -> Punk 3. All hail the Queen Bee. When Patti Smiths Horses album was released in 1975, it was the sound of the future. Collapsing genres and showcasing an absurdist humour, the best Missy Elliott songs changed the game for hip-hop and pop music. With her dental braces, charity-shop clothing and distinctive vocals, this mixed-race ex-hippie feminist is one of the most loved of all punk-era artists. Her 2014 album 1989 swapped the Grammy winning country ballads from Fearless and Speak Now for unexpected pop tunes. The last time Rihanna blessed the world with new music was in 2016 when she released her eighth studio album, Anti. These days, the Barbadian powerhouse has turned her focus to her clothing (shes the first Black woman to head a major fashion house) and makeup lines, but in a past life she dominated the charts with 31 top-ten singles and 250 million albums sold. I can only think of these two: Prince - Love Symbol (TAFKAP) Cat Stevens-Yusuf Islam There is also John Alder who changed his name to Mohammed Abdullah John Alder, but I guess all his records still come out as Twink. While theres no denying that theyre musically influential, their foundation, the Tegan and Sara Foundation, is likely their most recognizable venture for non-music fans. As part of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Derbyshire wrote and arranged music for nearly 200 British radio and TV shows. Her strong, sexualised subject matter laid the foundations for many future rappers, while her vicious rhyming skills broke new ground in bringing hardcore hip-hop into the mainstream. Complete list of famous singers & musicians with one name, crowdsourced and ranked by name recognition. As you'll see in our list of 72 Musicians Who Are Totally Lying. Speaking to listeners with all the intimacy of a close friend, songs such as I Feel The Earth Move and Its Too Late have ensured that the Carole King songbook stands the test of time. Perry, who was raised in a strict home by Pentecostal ministers, spent the next few years undergoing a reinvention. Aaliyah packed so much into her short life, its hard to believe that she was only 22 when she died. With nine Grammy nominations under her belt already, its possible that, in a few more years, she could become as decorated as artists like Beyoncand Taylor Swift. This Fleetwood Mac member has created some of the catchiest hooks in music history. Another sister-powered band, Haim, which means life in Hebrew, is comprised of Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim. The only woman to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame twice, Nicks position among the most influential female musicians is clear. Its not an overstatement to say that Madonna influenced a generation not a generation of musicians, but an entire generation of people. A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, an activist for climate change and a role model for songwriters everywhere, King remains one of the most influential female musicians to emerge from the West Coast singer-songwriter scene. The band is on hiatus while Howard pursues a solo career, which, so far, has also earned her critical acclaim and a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. In that case, they may choose to use their middle names such as Emelie Sand, Rihanna Camila Cabello. Thats when he was known as Sonny Moore, the frontman of the emo/post-hardcore band From First to Last. After attracting fans with his bars over the course of four albums, he enlisted Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker to co-produce the 2020 pop punk record Tickets to My Downfall. Katy Perry DFree/Shutterstock If Perry's 2008 single "I Kissed a Girl" was considered racy by mainstream standards, imagine the reaction from her earliest fans. 10. In June 1988, just two months after the albums release, a self-conscious Chapman wielded her acoustic guitar on stage at Wembley Stadium, a global audience looking on as she shared the bill with Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston and many others in celebration of Nelson Mandelas 70th birthday. The Tik Tok songstresss voice, and outlandish costumes, took the world by storm. The women on this list are all innovators. But it may never have developed in the way it did without the vision of Jody Watley. From romance to heartbreak, Roberta Flack has used her iconic voice to express the deepest of emotions. Though shes yet to win any major awards, Spektor has been recognized by the city of New York with her own official day: June 11. The Midwestern musician writes songs that tell a story (and, born into a cult, she has a lot of them). We've picked 30 artists who have changed the course of music history forever. Off the stage, Cyrus is a huge supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, animal rights, and cannabis legalization. James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 - December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. At the age of ten she performed on TV and appeared in concert with Gladys Knight; by 12 she had her first record deal. The crossover was a success: hes released five studio albums since 2008, earned a 2014 Grammy Award for Country Solo Performance, and was the first Black artist to join the Grand Ole Opry since 1993. Katy Perry, Bad Bunny, Doja Cat, and SZA all changed up their names. Despite calling himself it for a number of years now, Kanye West officially changed his name to Ye in 2021. Mone received Billboard magazines Trailblazer Of The Year award in 2018, and, in Boston, 16 October is Janelle Mone Day. The two albums she released during her lifetime, 1971s Judee Sill and 1973s Heart Food, both tackled Christian themes of rapture and redemption, and blended them with ideas of romantic love and nature. She is often praised for her raw honesty and authenticity. One of the best 60s female singers, Dusty Springfield had a difficult relationship with her own artistry. As a singer, your personality and branding are vital to your act. Janelle Mones chameleonic art is always both thought-provoking and seriously groovy. Since the late 70s, Chrissie Hynde has been at the forefront of the sweet spot where punk meets mainstream rock. So read on for a closer look at artists from Adele to the Tune-Yards, and everyone in between. They began as a straight rock act with songs like 'Stone Cold Crazy' shifting into 'let's . She is also one of the wealthiest and most powerful artists in the biz with a following that verges on cult-like. Influenced heavily by Bach, Judee Sills sound was an eclectic mix of classical, country, gospel and folk music. In reality, the country-turned-pop star is a talented lyricist, has been voted the artist and woman of the decade (2010s), and is the only solo female musician to win Album of the Year at the Grammys three separate times. He used both names in his early releases, as Puffy on several . For over two decades, Pink has consistently made greatest women in music lists even while never being as popular as other artists in her class like Britney and Christina. Garth Brooks was a country superstar with the best-selling live album in history when, in 1999, he turned his work into performance art. A Japanese kawaii metal band, Babymetal is composed of Suzuka Nakamoto (aka Su-metal) and Moa Kikuchi (aka Moametal). While touring Europe with the countercultural musical Hair, Donna Summer worked on the side as a studio backing singer. Jewel didnt stop there, either. Born into a musical family (her father, Pete, and uncle Coke performed percussion in Carlos Santanas band), Sheila E began playing as a child and, by the age of 20, had performed with Lionel Richie and Marvin Gaye. However, shes a significant musician in her own right, which Wall Street Journal writer Ryan Bradley suggests is thanks to her dark, ethereal, catchy, and strange sound. Before she became the angsty goddess of alternative rock, Alanis Morrisette was a successful young pop star in Canada. In 2017, Cyrus switched gears again and released Younger Now, which had a country sound and guest vocals by her godmother Dolly Parton. Not always comfortable with the First Lady Of Love title she was given, Summer overcame mental-health issues and scored international hits in every year from 1975 to 1984 with trademark songs that moved from slow, ballad-like intros into uptempo dance territory. Aaliyah was a seer, an innovator and an icon. Breaking gender norms within the music industry, Sheila Escovedo has made a name for herself as a percussionist, singer, songwriter and producer and is a perennial go-to among the worlds best female drummers. Her jazzy voice elevates her pop songs from basic to timeless, earning her fans from all generations, and lending weight to her authentic persona. Having come up through NYCs anti-folk music scene, Russian American songstress Regina Spektor is no stranger to the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to make it big in the music industry. From her first Fleetwood Mac hit, Rhiannon, though to penning the groups sole US No.1, Dreams, and her enigmatic solo work, Stevie Nicks music continues to transport listeners to another time and place. Gender doesnt come into it: she is without a doubt one of the worlds most influential musicians, full stop. After her early powerhouse pop hits such as Greatest Love Of All and I Wanna Dance With Somebody established her as one of the best 80s female singers, she recreated herself as a scarred, neo-soul survivor with her darker 1998 album, My Love Is Your Love. Singers who changed their names Singers who use stage names #1 Miley Cyrus #2 Alicia Keys #3 Bruno Mars #4 Lana Del Rey Female singers that go by one name #5 P!NK #6 MIA #7 Lorde #8 Halsey #9 Fergie #10 Lizzo #11 Birdy Singers real names #12 Katy Perry #13 The Weeknd #14 John Legend #15 Rag'n'Bone Man Why do musicians change their names? Vincent) back in 2014, she became the first woman in 20 years to take home that particular trophy. Carole Kings music has soundtracked many lives. Not a single Gen Xer could forget Darius Rucker asking you to Hold My Hand. As the frontman of the 1990s radio station-favorite Hootie & the Blowfish, his unmistakable baritone-voice made the Southern roots-rock band a mainstream success. She also has a form of synaesthesia which causes her to see sounds as images of light. In 1973, Flacks version of Killing Me Softly With His Song spent five weeks at the top of theBillboardcharts, cementing its place among the best Roberta Flack songs and underscoring the sophisticated sound her classical grounding brought to pop and soul music. The Texas native is so beloved thanks to her expansive catalog of songs that manage to be reflective of the times while remaining easy to dance to and fun to belt alongside, as well as for her tireless commitment to a number of charitable and social causes like Black Lives Matter and mental health. Her sound, which is often described as neo-soul, is fairly original, but its her lyrics, which often talk about themes nostalgia and abandonment, that really set her apart. Mississippi Goddam, Nina Simones blistering 1964 call-to-action to end racial violence and discrimination in North America, shook the musical establishment to the core. Taken together, they make her nothing short of an inspiration. Rich-n-Roll Forum Resident. The best Pretenders songs (Dont Get Me Wrong, Brass In Pocket) secure her place among the most influential female musicians, but Hyndes commitment to standing up for what she believes in proves she is a class act through and through. With a three-octave vocal range, her one-of-a-kind voice reached the heavens as part of her pastor fathers gospel revues, before going on to reach audiences of multiple generations as a soul singer. She capitalized on her reputation in the later half of the decade by joining fellow female songwriters (Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris) on the Lilith Fair and as an opening act for Alanis Morissette. Updated: 8 March 2022. We celebrate the self-awareness, empathy, and wisdom of women in midlife. Bringing the avant-garde into the mainstream has more then assured her place among the most influential female musicians in pop. With iconic albums such as Heart Like A Wheel and Simple Dreams, Ronstadt became one of the most prominent singers of the 70s, and the first female singer to perform an entire tour of arena venues. With the gold-certified hit Youre So Vain, however, she kept one secret to herself: a frenzy of speculation still surround the identity of the songs target. This mysteriousness led many to call her a faker or poser in her early career, but her cinematic sound has helped her win a number of awards and made her a regular movie soundtrack contributor, which, in turn, has forced listeners to take her much more seriously. An avant-garde artist, FKA Twigs makes genre-bending hits that combine everything from pop to electronic to R&B. These days, hes back to the genre that made him blow up in the first place. An emo figurehead since she was a teenager, Hayley Williams is one of the most influential musicians in the genre. For Lorde, her sound-to-color synesthesia (a neurological condition that links musical notes to colors) ensures that her work is always truly unique and disparate, which has earned her legions of fans, including other artists like Kanye West, David Bowie, and Taylor Swift. With her two-and-a-half octave vocal range, she could mimic horn sections in the bands she performed with, using her trademark scat vocals as if her voice were another instrument. 1. Winning both mainstream and Latin Grammys, Ronstadt has secured her status among the most influential female musicians of all time, carving out a place for Mexican-American women within the English-speaking music industry. The unparalleled queen of Latin music, Shakira has managed to become an international star without abandoning her Latin American roots. As the vocalist for No Doubt, Gwen Stefani was the princess of horn-heavy ska music. At one point, Nicki Minaj held the crown as raps biggest female star. Particularly on Aaliyah, her third and final album, released in 2001, she explored darker R&B, hip-hop and the minimalist pop which has proved so influential in the years since. Drawing from the hardest edge of US rock The Velvet Underground, one-shot garage bands, proto-punk such as MC5 while adding elements of performance art and outsider poetry, Smith created one of the best debut albums of all time. She has also authored several books of poetry, memoir and photography. Jewel spent her childhood in a yodeling duo with her dad and studied opera in college, but she hit the mainstream in 1995 with her debut album Pieces of You. Katy who used to be friends with Taylor Swift has started pursuing music as a career when she was 16 years old, with gospel and secular music as her main style and genre. Born into a musical and literary family, Carly Simon grew up learning the importance of the arts. One of the most successful hip-hop artists of all time, Elliott set herself apart from her contemporaries both male and female thanks to her humorous free-association raps, delivered over beats that are impossible to shake. Moore stuck with the band through two studio albums (Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count and Heroine) before he started releasing his own music on MySpace. She is . Frankie Cosmos (the stage name for one Greta Kline) began as a solo act on the sidewalks of NYC before becoming a fully fledged band. Another relative newcomer to the scene, Time magazine named LizzoEntertainer of the Year in 2019. The distinctive 1963 Doctor Who TV theme, one of the first to be created entirely through electronics, was arranged by the genius that is Delia Derbyshire. The rap mogul born Sean Combs in 1969 has had more than his fair share of name changes throughout his career. If Perrys 2008 single I Kissed a Girl was considered racy by mainstream standards, imagine the reaction from her earliest fans. spawned six singles that ranged from electro pop (What You Waiting For?) to hip hop (Hollaback Girl) to dancehall (If I Was a Rich Girl). Recently, she launched a non-profit program, Elevate Oakland, to promote art in the public schools of Oakland, California, and help create opportunities for inner-city youth. One of the best female guitarists of all time, Sister Rosetta Tharpe set modern standards for the instrument during the 1930s and 40s, with her innovations paving the way for electric blues and rocknroll. GOT7 Junior to Jinyoung. She was also deeply respectful of Black culture, and in 1964 was deported from South Africa for playing to a racially integrated audience, in defiance of government apartheid policy at the time. Her lyrics often contain political and philosophical commentary, a distinctive combination that allowed her to become one of the first artists to rise to fame via the power of the internet (her first work was largely shared and listened to via MySpace). Along with her colleagues at the Radiophonic Workshop, she drew from musique concrte and used cutting-edge technology to soundtrack the fabric of British life between 1962 and 1973. Hardly a "mid-career" name change. MGK is now known to surprise his audience with covers by Paramore, Rage Against the Machine, and even Rihanna. We all know Snoop Dogg is a hip-hop legend, but lets not forget his brief phase as Snoop Lion. The New York-born pop singer has released a number of albums in her signature melancholy pop/jazz lounge style, but beyond those artistic offerings very little is known about her personal life. However, did you know that it was once their band name as well? Unfortunately, theyre just rarely given the same accolades and recognition as their male counterparts. Nick DeRiso Published: June 12, 2023 Adrian Borromeo, UCR Their names are forever etched in our collective memory - or are they? She was the first solo female artist elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame, but her importance goes way beyond her sales and celebrity. Singers may choose to go by a single stage name to stand out, sound distinctive, or as a part of their culture. Check out our list of artists who switched genres mid-career and find out how their efforts were received. Fans didnt abandon him for the sudden 180in fact, they wholeheartedly embrace it. Unfortunately, her career has essentially been halted for a number of years as shes been embroiled in an abuse case against her former producer Dr. Luke. Eventually switching majors from piano to vocal performance, she began making money by accompanying opera singers on piano, but her vocal coach urged her to give pop music a try. Must hear: Down Where The Valleys Are Low. As a result, Pink has sold over 16 million albums, had 23 songs hit the Billboard Top 40, and headlined Super Bowl halftime shows, international tours, and SNL.. By 2008, he began producing and performing under his current moniker. Having won virtually every award available for singers, Fitzgerald subsequently had many awards named after her a clear recognition of her immense talent. Their high-pitched, lighthearted vocals, which are layered over intense, hardcore instrumentation, are unlike anything else being produced right now. An early 00s pop princess, Gwen Stefani first rose to fame as a member of the band No Doubt. To that end, most Stacker stories are freely available to However, Phair surprised fans when she released her self-titled album in 2003. Here are the names you might not recognise.. Camila Cabello Real name: Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao Rag'n'Bone Man Real name: Rory Graham Bruno Mars Real name: Peter Gene Hernandez Rihanna Real name: Robyn Rihanna Fenty P!NK Going on to influence an array of artists, among them New Order (whose Blue Monday was inspired by Summers 1979 cut Our Love) and Selena Quintanilla, Summers place among the most influential female singers of all time is assured. Enyas influence is vast, reaching into the hip-hop and R&B communities shes a favourite of Brandy and Nicki Minaj as well as present-day avant-garde artists such as Weyes Blood and FKA twigs. He re-introduced himself as Chris Gainesa fictional, raven-haired Australian rock star who bore no resemblance to the Friends in Low Places singer from Oklahoma. v t e Women in music include women as composers, songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, music scholars, music educators, music critics / music journalists, and in other musical professions. Age Aint Nothing But A Number, her debut album, was released when she was 15 and it was brilliant, but it was what she created in the short years afterwards that really earn her such a high place on this list of the most influential female musicians. His latest release, From Tha Streets 2 Tha Suites, received positive reviews for Snoops return to West Coast rap. A singer-songwriter for the ages, indie-rock artist Phoebe Bridgers released her breakout album Punisher in 2020. Elles Lizzy Goodmansummed up Karens influence best, writing, Even to her peers she was something rare and special: the wildest, freest, dirtiest, most unencumbered rock star of her era.. He also stays busy with plenty of side projects, including Jack (with fellow DJ Diplo) and Dog Blood. Be the first to hear about new releases, upcoming events, and more from Dig! Despite her untimely end at the age of 27, and her struggles with drugs and alcohol, Amy Whinehouse is still largely remembered for her outsized vocals and incredible influence on pop music. In August 2021, Rihanna becamethe worlds richest female musician and the second wealthiest female entertainer behind Oprah Winfrey. However, they never expected that by 2003 she would release the surprisingly well-received electro pop album 0304. What was so clear for others to hear her feel for a song, her versatility, her deep emotion was difficult for her to appreciate in herself. One of the most fascinating singer-songwriters of her generation, Amos was a piano prodigy who earned a scholarship to the Peabody Institute aged just five. In 2002, Norah Jones gifted her voice to the world with the release of a moody recordtitled Come Away With Me. Since then, the jazz singer has won nine Grammy Awards and had her songs streamed over 6 billion times. The most notable of these is Golden Hour, which took home the Grammy, CMT, and ACM awards for Album of the Year. The following year, she recorded Lullaby, a combination of original childrens songs and nursery rhyme covers. She is cited as an influence everywhere, from her obvious impact on singer-songwriters, through to her effect on techno, punk, R&B, emo and beyond. One of Gagas greatest strengths remains her ability to reinvent herself and her sound, a skill that has allowed her to branch out into acting, business, and activism. The following years Blue album remains a landmark recording for singer-songwriters, even as Mitchell pushed far beyond the boundaries of what was expected of solo musicians in the 70s. SZA only released her first album, Ctrl, back in 2017, but shes already become a major player in the R&B game.