Best Ever Albums

Re: Female artists in popular music

Johnnyo — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:12:35 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 04/17/2026 17:12

MadhattanJack wrote:

Not to be picky, but how are you counting them? If you're counting actual female singing voices that can be heard on albums in the BEA Top 100, I'm only coming up with 11, and that's assuming we count Clare Torry on Dark Side of the Moon, and Fleetwood Mac counts as two. I'm even counting Kim Deal on Doolittle, even though she doesn't take a solo lead vocal on any of the tracks.

Aside from that, I like your chart! :)

Just wanted to say that I’m really encouraged by the amount of conversation going on on this thread. Hopefully we can keep it going and have more join in. So really interesting points raised so far

Re: Female artists in popular music

Romanelli — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:28:25 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 04/16/2026 14:28

From my collection: either female solo artists or bands with female members:

Bjork - Bush

Bjork
Black Country, New Road (Georgia Ellery, May Kershaw)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Leah Shapiro)
Black Uhuru (Puma Jones, Jennifer Niyah)
Blackfoot (Stacy Michelle)
Blake Babies (Freda Love, Juliana Hatfield)
Carsi Blanton
Bloc Party (Louise Bartle, Sarah Jones)
Blonde Redhead (Kazu Makino, Toko Yasuda)
Blondie (Debbie Harry)
Blue Mountain (Laurie Stirratt)
Bon Iver (Jenn Wasner)
Karla Bonoff
Boston (Beth Cohen, Kimberley Dahme)
The Breeders (Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs, Tanya Donelly, Carrie Bradley)
The Brian Jonestown Massacre (Sara Neidorf, Miranda Lee Richards, Vanessa Hopkins)
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (Edie Brickell)
Phoebe Bridgers
Sarah Brightman
Broken Social Scene (Ariel Engle, Leslie Feist, Jo-Ann Goldsmith, Emily Haines, Jill Harris, Lisa Lobsinger, Amy Millan, Julie Penner, Elizabeth Powell)
Jonatha Brooke
Alison Brown
Bryndle (Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman)
Built To Spill (Melanie Radford)
Kate Bush

(the purpose of this ongoing list is to recognize that, indeed, there are a lot of women making the music we love. they aren't all singers...women play many instruments on albums we listen to. and this list is nowhere near a complete one.)

Re: Female artists in popular music

Liedzeit — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 08:51:59 GMT

Author: Liedzeit

Posted: 04/16/2026 12:51

MadhattanJack wrote:

Not to be picky, but how are you counting them?

I admit, I did not count. I thought someone in this thread mentioned 17 but I was wrong there. So, okay, there are not enough female voices in the BEA top 100.

Re: Female artists in popular music

MadhattanJack — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 06:35:32 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 04/16/2026 10:35

Liedzeit wrote:

Do we have a bias against women in music? I do not think so. 17 female voices in the Top 100 does seem quite right.

Re: Female artists in popular music

Liedzeit — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:57:07 GMT

Author: Liedzeit

Posted: 04/16/2026 08:57

Do we have a bias against women in music? I do not think so. 17 female voices in the Top 100 does seem quite right. I have 21 in my own Top 100. There are just not that many women in music or at least there were not in the sixties and seventies (the defining decades). But that is a different thing. We are maybe a bit too quick to accuse ourselves of racism or bias in general these days.

Here is a list of female singers I like.

https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=87579

Re: Female artists in popular music

Johnnyo — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:26:15 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 04/16/2026 07:26

Romanelli wrote:

From my collection: either female artists or bands with female members:

B - Big

The B-52's (Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson)
Babble (Alannah Currie)
Babe Ruth (Jenny Haan, Ellie Hope)
Babe The Blue Ox (Rose Thomson, Hanna Fox)
Babes In Toyland (Kat Bjelland, Lori Barbero, Clara Salyer, Maureen Herman, Jessie Farmer, Michelle Leon, Cindy Russell, Kris Holetz)
Susana Baca
Erykah Badu
Joan Baez
Sibylle Baier
Anita Baker
Bananarama (Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward, Siobhan Fahey, Jacquie O'Sullivan)
Band Of Susans (Susan Stenger, Alva Rogers, Susan Lyall, Susan Tallman, Page Hamilton, Karen Haglof, Anne Husick)
Sara Bareilles
Courtney Barnett
Baroness (Gina Gleason, Summer Welch)
The Be Good Tanyas (Frazey Ford, Samantha Parton, Trish Klein, Jolie Holland)
Beach House (Victoria Legrand)
Beirut (Heather Trost, Kristin Ferebee)
Belle & Sebastian (Sarah Martin, Isobel Campbell)
Belly (Tanya Donelly, Gail Greenwood)
Pat Benatar
Berlin (Terri Nunn, Virginia Macolino, Toni Childs)
Best Coast (Bethany Cosentino)
Beyonce
Big Brother & The Holding Company (Darby Gould, Kate Russo Thompson, Janis Joplin, Kathi McDonald, Cathy Richardson)
Big Thief (Adrianne Lenker)

I think that these lists, which I really like, put into perspective that there are a fair few female artists in our collections and actually your educating me on some of these bands for example, I don't own anything by Berlin but I do own a could of Toni Childs albums. I never realised that she was in the band so it's peaked my interest in checking a few of these out.

Also interesting that theirs are actually three Susans in Band Of Susans!

Re: Female artists in popular music

Romanelli — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:46:01 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 04/15/2026 13:46

From my collection: either female artists or bands with female members:

B - Big

The B-52's (Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson)
Babble (Alannah Currie)
Babe Ruth (Jenny Haan, Ellie Hope)
Babe The Blue Ox (Rose Thomson, Hanna Fox)
Babes In Toyland (Kat Bjelland, Lori Barbero, Clara Salyer, Maureen Herman, Jessie Farmer, Michelle Leon, Cindy Russell, Kris Holetz)
Susana Baca
Erykah Badu
Joan Baez
Sibylle Baier
Anita Baker
Bananarama (Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward, Siobhan Fahey, Jacquie O'Sullivan)
Band Of Susans (Susan Stenger, Alva Rogers, Susan Lyall, Susan Tallman, Page Hamilton, Karen Haglof, Anne Husick)
Sara Bareilles
Courtney Barnett
Baroness (Gina Gleason, Summer Welch)
The Be Good Tanyas (Frazey Ford, Samantha Parton, Trish Klein, Jolie Holland)
Beach House (Victoria Legrand)
Beirut (Heather Trost, Kristin Ferebee)
Belle & Sebastian (Sarah Martin, Isobel Campbell)
Belly (Tanya Donelly, Gail Greenwood)
Pat Benatar
Berlin (Terri Nunn, Virginia Macolino, Toni Childs)
Best Coast (Bethany Cosentino)
Beyonce
Big Brother & The Holding Company (Darby Gould, Kate Russo Thompson, Janis Joplin, Kathi McDonald, Cathy Richardson)
Big Thief (Adrianne Lenker)

Re: Female artists in popular music

Johnnyo — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 04:58:18 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 04/15/2026 08:58

We have listed a few great female artists and one area that I feel deserves attention are guitar players. There are some phenomenal female guitar players out there, and one of the absolute best is Samantha Fish

I think that her albums are fine but it’s when you see and hear her play live that you really appreciate what a phenomenal guitar player she is. Having said that her album with Jesse Dayton

Death Wish Blues (2023) by Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton

is well worth checking out

A great (predominantly) blues, but I’d also argue heavy blues artist, Having said that she also brings elements of rock, a smattering of country and a bit of funk into her playing.

Fish has cited Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones as her influences# and you can totally see that in her playing especially SRV

There’s a story that in 2013, Fish was called up on stage to play with a sceptical Buddy Guy who was so impressed with her playing, he declared with a beaming smile to his audience, "When this kind of shit happens, I'll play all night!” That pretty much sums up my feelings of seeing Samantha play live.

The last two times that I've seen her play live she kicked off her set with Kick Out The Jams and never let up. She’s kick ass brilliant and incendiary. She just doesn’t let up for the entire gig. Love her and love her playing.

Going to post videos separately to prevent this post getting toooooooooo long

Re: Female artists in popular music

Romanelli — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:44:36 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 04/13/2026 18:44

From my collection: either female artists or bands with female members:

# / A

10,000 Maniacs (Natalie Merchant, Mary Ramsey, Teri Newhouse, Debbie Heverly, Leigh Nash)
4 Non Blondes (Linda Perry, Christa Hillhouse, Dawn Richardson, Shaunna Hall, Wanda Day)
Ace Of Base (Linn Berggren, Jenny Berggren, Clara Hagman, Julia Williamson)
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals (Cindy Cashdollar, Catherine Popper)
Adele
The Adverts (Gaye Advert, Laurie Driver)
The Alarm (Jules Jones Peters)
Alvvays (Molly Rankin, Kelli MacLellan, Sheridan Riley, Abbey Blackwell)
Amadou & Mariam (Mariam Doumbia)
American Music Club (Lisa Davis)
Tori Amos
And All Because The Lady Loves… (Nicky Rushton, Rachel Collins)
Laurie Anderson
Antony & The Johnsons (Julia Kent, Mazz Swift)
Fiona Apple
Arcade Fire (Regine Chassagne, Sarah Neufeld)
Jann Arden
India Arie
Joan Armatrading
Arrested Development (Dionne Farris, Nadirah Shakoor, Astrid Maure, Nyasa Sullivan, Tasha Larae, Nicha Hillyard)
Asleep At The Wheel (Chris O'Connell, Maryann Price, Cindy Cashdollar, Barbara Lamb, Elizabeth McQueen, Katie Shore, Emily Gimble, Chloe Feoranzo)

Re: Female artists in popular music

Johnnyo — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:32:54 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 04/13/2026 16:32

Top albums of all time by female artists by Johnnyo

This is my initial attempt at a chart of my favourite albums by female artists.

I’ve included female fronted bands as well ie Cold Blood who were fronted by the phenomenal Lydia Pense.

Early days and will change a bit over time. I’m also going to endeavour to enter notes again each album so going to become a bit of a labour of love I think

I have to own the album for it to be included

Re: Female artists in popular music

Johnnyo — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:25:10 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 04/13/2026 16:25

MadhattanJack wrote:

I counted 13 artists in the Overall Top 100 that are either female solo artists or bands that have, or had, at least one female member (for example, the Velvet Underground had Mo Tucker and Nico, Arcade Fire have Régine Chassagne, Talking Heads had Tina Weymouth, etc.). That's still pretty bad though, and yes, I'm just as bad myself — In my case, I think you'd have to go all the way to 2013 or so in my year charts to find one that has majority-women (going by this looser definition) in that year's Top 10. Whereas in the last 5 years or so, I think all of them are.

With the all-time lists though, the male bias is probably unavoidable because pop music was so male-dominated up until the 2010s. Older albums have had far more time to gain fan support, the bias reflects that, and the only way around it would be to weight more-recent releases... which nobody is going to be in favor of.

Hi madhattanjack. Yes, agree with all of that. I was only going for all female solo or bands. 13 is still not a great number though.

Male bias has been around for decades at all levels of the music industry. Just thought that I’d try to highlight some great female led music and I’m really pleased with the response to this thread. I’m going to be doing some posts about individual artists or albums and see where it leads.

Re: Female artists in popular music

MadhattanJack — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 02:52:31 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 04/13/2026 06:52

Johnnyo wrote:

So, we are saying that there are no more than three albums by female artists worthy of inclusion in the top 100? I'm not sure that's correct but I'm almost as guilty myself. Female artists are seriously underrepresented in my charts as well.

Re: Female artists in popular music

Johnnyo — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 01:34:57 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 04/13/2026 05:34

Romanelli wrote:

The only way in which female artists are underrepresented is that we don't talk about them enough.

That's easy enough to change. Just do it.

Not sure that I'd agree with that. We (the BEA collective) have only three albums in the top 100 by female artists with the highest placed being

Hounds Of Love (1985) by Kate Bush @ 53.

So, we are saying that there are no more than three albums by female artists worthy of inclusion in the top 100? I'm not sure that's correct but I'm almost as guilty myself. Female artists are seriously underrepresented in my charts as well.

Pastel Blues (1965) by Nina Simone for example is at 555 in the overall chart!

& it's not unique to BEA. Most lists don't include female artists in any great numbers

I think that this will change over time as so many of the best artists around right now are female but it will take quite a while to redress the balance so I was hoping to celebrate the impact of female artists and it might be working a little as there's a fair amount of traffic here which is great

Keep talking and highlight your female greats

Re: Female artists in popular music

MadhattanJack — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:39:34 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 04/13/2026 04:39

Romanelli wrote:

I'd make a list, but it would be too long. And we all know who so many of them are. 35 is an extremely small number. Don't hold back. Make a massively long thread that will never hold them all. Make a chart with multiple editions, because you'll never get them all.

Yeah, but it's the internet, so you have to worry about things like cognitive-capacity limits, reader-engagement off-switching, and listicle fatigue.

The ideal number for something like this is either 7 or 17, according to internet psychiatrists. That's because people like the number 7, but if you go to 27 or 37 then they get suspicious that you're trying to manipulate them with "high sevens." (And it's true, that's exactly what I would've been doing.) Besides, I didn't want it to look like I was trying to "take over" the thread either, because it's always a disaster when I even just appear in a thread, much less take it over. Still, I could maybe see adding Blondshell and Weyes Blood just to get to 37... I don't think I'd want to go any higher than that, though.

Re: Female artists in popular music

Romanelli — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 20:51:04 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 04/13/2026 00:51

The only way in which female artists are underrepresented is that we don't talk about them enough.

That's easy enough to change. Just do it.

I'd make a list, but it would be too long. And we all know who so many of them are. 35 is an extremely small number. Don't hold back. Make a massively long thread that will never hold them all. Make a chart with multiple editions, because you'll never get them all. Remember that without female artists, popular music would be dull and one dimensional. Solo artists or not. I can't imagine loving music the way I do without them.

Let it all out! Do it!

Re: Female artists in popular music

kokkinos — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:38:16 GMT

Author: kokkinos

Posted: 04/12/2026 23:38

MadhattanJack wrote:

I'd put them in a custom chart, but that seems unfair to the ones who haven't made any solo albums.

The benefit of a custom chart would be that it would highlight the best effort(s) of each artist, acting as a guide for someone who is unfamiliar with one or more of them and wants to get into their music. I guess you could include non-solo albums in that chart and simply add to the notes below said entries that female artist X contributes in this or that way.
Either way, that's a great list, thanks for sharing.

Re: Female artists in popular music

Johnnyo — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 07:02:41 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 04/11/2026 11:02

MadhattanJack wrote:

Is 35 too many? I'd put them in a custom chart, but that seems unfair to the ones who haven't made any solo albums.

My problem is that as I've gotten older, I've gradually come to prefer female singers to male ones, so now I'm discovering all these female singers I didn't know about before and it's getting hard to keep track of them all. And most of them have been making records only during the last 20 years or so, during the digital era, so I'm not reminded of them every time I walk past my record collection like I am with the older stuff. So that also seems unfair.

This list is roughly in order of my degree of respect for their musical and performing talent, so it might seem a teensy-weensy bit jarring and idiosyncratic.

Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins)
Charlotte Hatherley (Ash)
Emma Pollock (The Delgados)
Diana Ross (The Supremes)
Rachel Goswell (Slowdive)

Kate Bush
Marissa Nadler
Miki Berenyi (Lush)
Emma Anderson (also Lush)
Charlotte "Sea Oleena" Loseth

Kim Field (The Stargazer Lilies)
Victoria LeGrand (Beach House)
Stina Marie Claire Tweeddale (Honeyblood)
Sarah "Noveller" Lipstate
Susan "Siouxsie Sioux" Ballion (Siouxsie And The Banshees)

Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays)
Rachel Browne (Field Mouse)
Carole King
Billie Holiday
Esperanza Spalding

Marnie Stern
Barbara Gogan (The Passions)
Tracey Thorn (Everything But The Girl)
Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders, Valve Bone Woe Ensemble)
Kaitlyn Ni Donovan (The High Violets)

Kim Deal (Pixies, The Breeders, The Amps)
Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth)
Kristeen Young
Shirley Manson (Garbage, Angelfish)
Dominique Durand (Ivy)

Tanya Donnelly (Throwing Muses, Belly)
Juliana Hatfield (The Lemonheads, The Juliana Hatfield Three)
k.d. lang
Shana Falana
Courtney Barnett

Not too many at all. I'm totally with you on preferring female singers as I've got older. I've really started getting into jazz in quite a big away over the last few years and people like Nina Simone & Billie Holiday move me to tears on a regular basis

I think that we can use a lot of your list as a starting point for some further discussion.

Re: Female artists in popular music

Johnnyo — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 06:59:58 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 04/11/2026 10:59

JOSweetHeart wrote:

Alison Krauss, LeAnn Rimes, and Tanya Tucker are my top three lady musketeers.

God bless you and them always!!!

Holly (a fan of Miss Tanya for 35 years now)

I do love a bit of Alison Krauss. The Albums that she has done with Robert Plant are all right up there

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Re: Female artists in popular music

MadhattanJack — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 03:24:01 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 04/11/2026 07:24

Is 35 too many? I'd put them in a custom chart, but that seems unfair to the ones who haven't made any solo albums.

My problem is that as I've gotten older, I've gradually come to prefer female singers to male ones, so now I'm discovering all these female singers I didn't know about before and it's getting hard to keep track of them all. And most of them have been making records only during the last 20 years or so, during the digital era, so I'm not reminded of them every time I walk past my record collection like I am with the older stuff. So that also seems unfair.

This list is roughly in order of my degree of respect for their musical and performing talent, so it might seem a teensy-weensy bit jarring and idiosyncratic.

Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins)
Charlotte Hatherley (Ash)
Emma Pollock (The Delgados)
Diana Ross (The Supremes)
Rachel Goswell (Slowdive)

Kate Bush
Marissa Nadler
Miki Berenyi (Lush)
Emma Anderson (also Lush)
Charlotte "Sea Oleena" Loseth

Kim Field (The Stargazer Lilies)
Victoria LeGrand (Beach House)
Stina Marie Claire Tweeddale (Honeyblood)
Sarah "Noveller" Lipstate
Susan "Siouxsie Sioux" Ballion (Siouxsie And The Banshees)

Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays)
Rachel Browne (Field Mouse)
Carole King
Billie Holiday
Esperanza Spalding

Marnie Stern
Barbara Gogan (The Passions)
Tracey Thorn (Everything But The Girl)
Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders, Valve Bone Woe Ensemble)
Kaitlyn Ni Donovan (The High Violets)

Kim Deal (Pixies, The Breeders, The Amps)
Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth)
Kristeen Young
Shirley Manson (Garbage, Angelfish)
Dominique Durand (Ivy)

Tanya Donnelly (Throwing Muses, Belly)
Juliana Hatfield (The Lemonheads, The Juliana Hatfield Three)
k.d. lang
Shana Falana
Courtney Barnett

Re: Female artists in popular music

JOSweetHeart — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:56:01 GMT

Author: JOSweetHeart

Posted: 04/11/2026 03:56

Alison Krauss, LeAnn Rimes, and Tanya Tucker are my top three lady musketeers.

God bless you and them always!!!

Holly (a fan of Miss Tanya for 35 years now)