Women Who Changed Rock

Let’s make a list of women who changed the face of rock. That’s a tough list to narrow down — this subject could easily be a full-fledged novel. The genre wouldn’t be what it is today without the vital contributions of these women and many others. From inspiring songwriting and soulful singing to precise percussion, these women showed the world what it meant to rock. Women are vastly underrepresented when it comes to “best in rock” articles, so I’ll aim to set the record straight with pointed dives into a selection of rock’s most powerful personae. These women penned classics that still touch our hearts and minds today. The world just wouldn’t be the same without them. These are the women who changed rock, grouped by the instruments they played!

Guitar

Bass

Keyboard

Drums

Songwriting

Vocals

Guitar

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Kicking off our list is one of the most powerful and pivotal guitarists in rock ’n’ roll history: Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Although her contributions to the roots of the genre have been underrepresented, this prodigious guitarist and singer has started to receive overdue acknowledgement in recent years. Tharpe gained recognition in her early life for her virtuosic guitar playing that accompanied her mother’s gospel tours. By her 20s, she proved she had more up her sleeve with her own takes on the music around her.

Proud of her roots and seeing new avenues of possibility, she stunned listeners with her fusion of the gospel music she’d grown up on and contemporary Delta blues and New Orleans jazz. The musicians she inspired include Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, and many more. She’s known as the godmother of rock ’n’ roll for good reason!

Joan Jett

An undeniable icon of rock ’n’ roll whose powerful riffs will bowl you over, Joan Jett has inspired legions of young women to pick up the guitar and rock hard. Jett’s uncompromising personality combines with her guitar chops to create one of the most memorable acts in rock history. From hits like “Cherry Bomb” with the Runaways to “Bad Reputation” as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, she’s had a hand in steering the fate of rock music. This tenacious rocker shows, even in an industry that can tear women down, that women like her will get back up, wipe the blood from their chin, and jump back into the fray with unyielding energy.

Memphis Minnie

We all know rock ’n’ roll planted its roots in the blues, and Memphis Minnie is an excellent example of a woman who stamped an indelible mark on what would become rock music. When prospects for African American women in the South were limited to domestic labor or service positions with low pay, Memphis Minnie carved out a life for herself with her voice and guitar. Her playing often relied on a kind of Spanish-style picking that exemplified her virtuosic talent.

Memphis Minnie and her husband and recording partner at the time, Kansas Joe McCoy, wrote “When the Levee Breaks,” a song that was famously covered by rock royalty Led Zeppelin. Contemporary poet Langston Hughes captured Minnie’s personality well in his review of her performance, titled “Here to Yonder: Music at Year’s End,” in the Chicago Defender.

Bass

Carol Kaye

Any list of bassists would be remiss without the inclusion of heavy hitter Carol Kaye, an integral part of the Wrecking Crew. This woman’s powerful Precision Bass lines stamped their iconic mark on thousands of songs, including soundtracks and hundreds of hits in the ’60s and ’70s. Kaye started out as a guitarist but pivoted to the Precision Bass as her preferred instrument after she got into session work. She then became one of the most sought-after session musicians of all time, lending her unique lines to songs that then had a high probability of becoming hits. At a time when women weren’t highly respected as musicians in a male-dominated field, Kaye carved out a career for herself that continues to inspire bassists everywhere.

Kim Deal

Kim Deal made substantial contributions to alternative rock, punk, and grunge in her time as bassist of the Pixies and the Breeders. She penned songs that received attention from Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain, who sought to re-create that sound with his own music. It was the sound of the Pixies that helped shape the rock genres of the decades to come, a type of rock that rejected cliches and brought new life to an ever-evolving genre. Deal knew the secret to this: don’t overthink it. She anchored the band in a way that gave them the chance to be spirited when the song called for it but never so much that it alienated core listeners. Kim Deal continues to inspire women in music, including Olivia Rodrigo, who Deal has supported on her tour for GUTS.

Tina Weymouth

Songs such as Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” and Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” show how bassist Tina Weymouth could lay down a killer bass line. Though her bandmate David Byrne drew most of the attention, Weymouth’s bass playing made an indelible mark on the band’s incredibly recognizable sound. Her work with Talking Heads and with her side project Tom Tom Club has made her an inspiration to generations of bass players who crave the talent to churn out funky lines and attention-capturing grooves. In fact, it is a testament to Weymouth’s power as a musician that her sound wasn’t even confined to a single bass-guitar model. Her tone was in her fingers, and she was wholly unique.

Keyboard

Christine McVie

Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie were two of the most powerful singing and songwriting female collaborators in history. As keyboardist and singer, McVie was responsible for writing some of Fleetwood Mac’s most loved songs, including “Don’t Stop” and “You Make Loving Fun.” Far from just being “one of the girls in the band,” McVie was a pivotal driving force, and her talent at the keyboard gave Fleetwood Mac’s music a character that stood apart. What McVie brought to the band’s songwriting continues to inspire a legion of hopeful creatives due to the way she put her soul in her songs and merged her heart with her hands at the keys. She changed the trajectory of rock not only by playing in one of its most popular and enduring bands but also by helming the music itself.

Drums

Meg White

Meg White was to the White Stripes what Ringo Starr was to the Beatles: she kept the music in line while adding an unobtrusive character. Her voice can even be heard on songs such as “Rag and Bone” and “In the Cold, Cold Night.” Her percussion had a compelling quality that perfectly suited the garage-rock style of the White Stripes. The White Stripes have received criticism, like any band, often the same uncreative quips to the effect of “Jack White can’t sing, and Meg White can’t drum.” The truth is that rock music was never founded on such principles, and the White Stripes go hard. It’s the soul of the percussion, the quality of the musical content, and the raw nature of the White Stripes’ sound that made them such a well-needed act in rock music. Let’s be honest, it’s an exercise in restraint not to tap your foot to “Seven Nation Army.”

Karen Carpenter

Another heavy hitter in the percussion world, drummer Karen Carpenter once beat John Bonham in a drummers poll — Bonham was quite furious at this result. Yet another quality that testifies to Carpenter’s talent was her ability to sing while drumming, and with a stunning voice at that. She garnered praise from figures including Madonna, Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Shania Twain, Buddy Rich, and Kim Gordon. She noted that it just felt natural when she first picked up the drumsticks. Anyone who saw her play could tell that was absolutely true. Karen Carpenter’s enthusiasm for her instrument was a boon to pop and rock music that continues to inspire women and men alike to pick up a pair of sticks. Check out the video below to get a glimpse of this woman’s powerful grasp on percussion — she was the real deal!

Songwriting

Joni Mitchell

A multitalented individual, Joni Mitchell has built an impressive body of work that includes her songwriting craft, vocal abilities, guitar chops, paintings, and more. Her creativity seems to know no bounds, and at present she has released a staggering 19 studio albums. Though she herself didn’t attend Woodstock, the song she penned about the festival has been claimed to truly capture the essence of the event. Her lyrics flow as poetry, and her musicianship moves with grace like a paintbrush. To quote a passage from Friedrich Nietzsche’s book Thus Spake Zarathustra, which Mitchell cites as a powerful influence on her, “of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with his blood. Write with blood, and thou wilt find that blood is spirit.” Mitchell has embodied this philosophy throughout her career, and it was this commitment to songwriting from a place of true vulnerability that inspired other artists of the ’60s and beyond.

Kate Bush

Kate Bush made history when the “Wuthering Heights” single from her album The Kick Inside topped the UK singles chart, making her the first woman to achieve this feat with an original song. Since then, Bush has held on to that same creative energy with a fierceness for pushing boundaries in search of something new. This songwriter started penning her own songs when she was 11 years old. Though her songs can be classified in a type of “rock” vein, they are altogether something that cannot be categorized in the normal sense. Kate Bush is one of a kind. Audiences can’t seem to forget her either, as “Running up That Hill” hit the number one slot in the UK after featuring in Stranger Things, becoming her second number one single since “Wuthering Heights.”

Patti Smith

Before Patti Smith started writing songs, she was a poet. The merger of her desire to reignite the fervor of rock music and her unique approach to poetic lyrics created something wholly different in the genre. She released her first album, Horses, a year before the Ramones released theirs. She has often been labeled the godmother of punk despite her attempts to save her image and music from confinement in a particular box. As far as she is concerned, she’s always been herself — which puts her in good company with the other songwriters in this section. Smith certainly revived lost energy in rock ’n’ roll and showed that there are always new ways to innovate. Instead of writing poetry into her songs, she wrote songs into her poetry. Despite not feeling like a gifted singer, Smith nevertheless possesses a voice that perfectly fits her songs with a raw charm that communicates her poetry better than black typeface on a page. Smith, in a Jim Morrison-esque way, proved that rock ’n’ roll could be more than three chords and a backbeat.

Vocals

Janis Joplin

One of the most recognizable voices in all of rock history belonged to Janis Joplin. Joplin wasn’t the traditional pick for fame during most of her life. She was so different from most of her peers that they often bullied her. Though it bears mentioning that Joplin’s life was shrouded with drug and alcohol use and that she was a member of the “27 Club,” her voice left a mark on rock music that refuses to die. Her powerful, soulful vocal personality drew from blues and folk music, and her onstage antics set her apart even from contemporaries in the scene. She became an icon of the historic Summer of Love era, singing and performing her heart out at events including the Monterey International Pop Festival and Woodstock. Cass Elliot’s reaction to Joplin in the video below is priceless.

Stevie Nicks

You can’t talk about female singers in rock history without mentioning Stevie Nicks, who, incidentally, felt inspired by the likes of Janis Joplin. Nicks is uber-recognizable both by the way she sings and by the way she dresses — mystical, passionate, free-spirited. Her time with Fleetwood Mac and her solo career proved she had boundless talent as a singer and songwriter. In fact, her song “Dreams” turned out to be Fleetwood Mac’s only number one Billboard Hot 100 single. Her voice holds an emotive passion expressed through its raspy charm and confident vibrato. It can feel featherlight one moment and deeply powerful the next. I think we all feel the piercing power of “Edge of Seventeen” no matter how many times we hear that song.

Tina Turner

Tina Turner had a powerful personality mirrored by the soulful prowess of her vocal cords. Onstage, she had a knack for energetic performance packed with explosive character that felt contagious. This presence was also captured in her performance in the Who’s rock-opera film Tommy — a must-see for lovers of film or rock. In 1967, Tina Turner graced the cover of the second issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Throughout her life, she retained an indomitable spirit, believing in her dreams and artistic aspirations even through difficult times. Turner had a unique way of thinking about her performance as an exchange of energy, recharging the audience and seeking to bring them happiness through her own energy. Not only through her music but also through her deep connection to spirituality, Tina Turner continues to inspire men and women around the globe. Check out the video below of a performance from when Turner was 69 — that’s pep!

Thanks to These Inspiring Women!

I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. Women in rock sure have something special. No matter your gender, I hope you’ve been inspired to put faith in who you are as a person by seeing what these women made — especially if you’re a musician or artist. Who knows, you may just inspire others in the way that these women still inspire us today. And if you’re looking for gear to realize your creative vision, then give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700.
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