70s pop stars full#

Image Credit: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesĪn underrated force in '80s mainstream music, Lisa Lisa led Cult Jam in dance songs like “I Wonder If I Take You Home,” “Head to Toe” and “Lost in Emotion” while closely working with hit-making team Full Force. One cannot discuss synth-pop - specifically '80s British synth-pop - without acknowledging the impact of the Eurythmics, which paired daring vocalist Annie Lennox and brilliant instrumentalist Dave Stewart and crafted a handful of classics, including “Here Comes The Rain Again” and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” The Perry siblings - with Kimberly leading brothers Reid and Neil - have taken the country world by storm, following the success of their single “If I Die Young.” In the first half of the 2010's, the trio released a pair of best-selling albums and played to arenas across the globe. Image Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images This Swedish pop-rock duo was darn near unstoppable as the '80s came to close, with international hits like “The Look,” “Listen To Your Heart” and “It Must Have Been Love” marked by Marie Fredriksson’s gorgeous voice and dotting prom dances for decades. Tragically, the female vocalist passed away in 1983 after a battle with anorexia nervosa, but The Carpenters' legacy as a pop duo lives on. 1 hit and instant classic, but the soul act’s run extended long after that 1973 hit.Īfter beating artists like Elton John and the Partridge Family for the best new artist Grammy in 1971, the Carpenters - brother Richard and sister Karen - enjoyed a monumentally successfully run for the rest of the decade, behind Karen’s heavenly voice. Gladys Knight and her crew of male backup vocalists helped shape the sound of Motown in the 60’s and 70’s: “Midnight Train to Georgia” was a No. With Debbie Harry leading the quintet, Blondie pushed new wave in complex new directions without sacrificing a drop of attitude. 1 album after its April, 21 2015 release.īlondie not only scored a mountain of hit singles - “Call Me,” “Heart of Glass” and “Atomic” among them - but changed the way a female can be perceived in rock music. 2012 debut Boys & Girls earned the Alabama Shakes a best new artist nod at the Grammys, while follow-up LP Sound & Color became the group’s first No. The rock crew fronted by Brittany Howard has built an electric, festival-ready live show out of the soulful Americana featured on its first two albums. Image Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Here are 30 of our favorite bands fronted by inspiring female artists. “Tell them that having a voice and going against the grain is good.” “There’s enough women that are rad and have great points of view and great things to say who can start encouraging that in one another and the people who are coming to shows instill something else in them that is not being told to them through society and magazine covers,” she added. “By the fifth or sixth time, I realized that I’m the one with the microphone. “I remember playing North Star Bar and this guy yelled ‘take off your shirt!” probably 10 times,” she once recalled to Rolling Stone. Just take a look at Paramore’s Hayley Williams, who’s called out the music industry’s sexism on several occasions. That’s not to say these women aren’t perfectly capable of sticking up for themselves, however. From Garbage’s Shirley Manson to Evanescence’s Amy Lee, an ever-growing list of women rockers have spent decades proving that their talents are just as deserving of respect and notoriety, even in testosterone-dominated genres - and if you don’t agree, their supporting male bandmates probably have a thing or two to say to you.

The history of rock includes a myriad of collectives in which a strong female voice provides the group’s identity while being supported by male backing musicians - and thank the heavens for it, because a new generation of these acts have made women all the more present in modern rock, country, pop and electronica.Īnd although there’s no rule that bands made up of all men, all women or a mix of genders are any less cool, there’s just something magical about watching a female artist lead the charge with a group of guys standing behind her onstage.

70s pop stars