As Women’s history month is upon us it’s important we recognize all the amazing women that have paved the way. Especially women in music, so many amazing women have made such an impact on the industry and music we listen to today.
Elizabeth Grant, better known as the famous Lana Del Rey, started singing at clubs and bars before she got her big break. She recorded her first demo album in 2006, Sirens, which was created under the pseudonym May Jailer, never being released until its leak in 2012. Then her first self titled album Lizzy Grant with her original stage name was released in 2010. She later changed her stage name to Lana Del Rey creating a new direction for herself and her music. No longer being Lizzy Grant she left behind her unreleased albums, releasing her first album as Lana in 2012, Born to Die making waves with her amazing voice and original style tapping into themes of americana and melancholia with “Video Games”, “Radio”, and her most streamed song to this day with over a billion streams “Summertime Sadness”. Almost instantly gaining a fan base drawn to her dreamy voice and amazing lyricism. The success of the first album led to the release of Born to Die: The Paradise Edition in the same year with a much longer track list of 23 songs making the entire album over an hour long. Paradise Edition brought many new songs like “Ride”, “Burning Desire”, and “Cola” giving a new side to Del Rey and her voice. Later releasing them on their own album, Paradise. Releasing her first single featured on the big screen, Young and Beautiful made its debut in the 2013 movie The Great Gatsby, the song telling a story of a love she knows will never die. This became another of her most streamed songs also having over one billion streams. Del Rey then released the sad girl classic Ultraviolence in 2014 giving us “West Coast”, “Pretty When You Cry”, “Sad Girl”, and the song we all have cried to “The Other Woman”. Through this album Del Rey finds an outlet to express her extreme sadness and hurt, bringing a new wave of emotion to her music unseen before. These albums and many more have cemented her as an Icon in music history.
Taking the stage at 16 Lesley Gore recorded her first song “It’s My Party” which was an instant success reaching number one in 63’. After this amazing success she continued to be one of the most successful solo singers that perfectly captured the classic 60s girl group sound in her music. Releasing her first album I’ll Cry If I Want To featuring many songs focusing around crying like “Judy’s Turn to Cry”, “Cry”, “Cry Me A River”, and “Just Let Me Cry”. The same year, 63’, Gore released another album, giving us the classic and Gore’s signature song “You Don’t Own Me”. A masterpiece calling to all women looking for the strength to break away at a time where women were viewed as weak. In the context of time this song was extremely empowering for women giving them a sense of strength unheard of.
Aretha Franklin the queen of powerhouse vocals, Ms Aretha Franklin has made waves in the music industry from the moment she picked up a microphone. Her vocals are unmatched, being powerful while conveying an immense amount of emotion. She is also known as the queen of soul most known for her hit song “Respect”. Being named greatest singer of all time twice and receiving numerous hall of fame nominations across multiple genres. Franklin was raised religious singing gospel music which was the genre of her first album, Songs of Faith: Aretha Gospel which she released in 56’. It had many extraordinary songs like “ There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood” in which she showcased her vocal abilities at the time. Over the course of the 60s Franklin released 17 albums, Yeah!!! , Soul Sister, Aretha Now, and I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You just to name a few. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, contains her most popular song “Respect” and another well known hit “A Change is Gonna Come”. Franklin had immense success over the course of her career releasing a total of 38 studio albums and 6 live albums. Aretha Franklin has changed music forever and left her mark in the world with her amazing voice, giving herself a legacy that will last for ages.
As I’ve unfortunately only covered a few artists there are many more extremely talented women that can not be forgotten and deserve recognition. Remember to honor all these amazing women by indulging in their music.
