Lead Females

Stevie Nicks on “Good Morning America” (PR Photo)

Female lead singers, they tend be overlooked when people make “Best of” lists so I decided to make a top 20 female lead singers list myself.  One thing they all have in common is…they are totally bad ass musicians. Without these ladies music would suck, without these ladies we would not have some of the greatest songs in music history, without these ladies we wouldn’t have a complete understanding of music.

#20: Jesika von Rabbit from Gram Rabbit: She may not be a household name or a mainstream chart topper but let me you, this lady has been a force in the local L.A. music scene for a few years and shows no signs of slowing down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9IAsQKySms

#19: Wendy- O from the Plasmatics: Look, sometimes you don’t need a great voice or the ability to play an instrument to be a great musician. I know it sounds odd but Wendy-O was not a great vocalist, she had one style and it was RAW, throaty gurgles. But guess what? It worked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1KyQ-1kDbk

#18: Shirley Manson from Garbage: Fiery, Sexy and one of the best voices of the 90’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yiNioiul74&list=PL14984BC8FC29AD81

#17: Kat Bjelland from Babes in Toyland. You get early grunge at its best here. Kat can bust out screams, growls, grunts, and killer guitar riffs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZ9ihZ_TUw

#16: Susanna Hoffs from The Bengals: Look if you grew up in the 80’s/90’s and loved MTV and great movies like Less Than Zero you have to love Susanna Hoffs.  Not to mention she is married to the guy that directed Austin Powers, The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and Borat, to name a few.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFRx4PkXeVM

#15: Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star: Really one of the most incredibly subtle voices of my generation. Her voice makes you feel the lyrics, she digs deep into your inner being and makes you think, that my friends is not an easy task.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hun_yAPDR2Y

#14: Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons: Before there was a Lady Gaga or a Madonna you had Dale Bozzio. A Glam Queen that was a protégé of Frank Zappa, a trend setter bringing fashion and ultra sexy outfits to the main stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3CF7xwoglU

#13: Skye Edwards from Morcheeba: I’ve mentioned Skye in the past will continue to give her tons of credit; she has one of the most amazing voices I’ve heard in years. Jazz, soul, R&B and alternative all mixed into one voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5n99LwW92M

#12: Chrissy Amphlett from the Divinyls: Musical Porn? I really don’t have a way to describe it but with a very distinctive voice and a knack for singing about sex it was to ignore her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMSyumchMWA

#11: Exene Cervenka from X: You want PUNK? You got PUNK, LOS ANGELES STLYE! It’s actually more than Punk, you can’t put a genre tag on it to be honest, it’s just X. Even though she split vocals with John Doe, Exene was the face and the voice of the band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_62dTNARGbQ

#10: Johnette Napolitano from Concrete Blonde: Smokey, sultry and eirie vocals can best describe Johnette. “Joey “ may be her most popular song but her abilities are more far reaching that that one song. Concrete Blonde is an often forgotten band but because they are not on the tongues of so called “Music Journalists” doesn’t mean they are not an amazing band, and to be frank.. they are great only because of Johnette.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axnCMV-on9Q

#9: Dolores O’Riordan from the Cranberries: Irish folk with an amazing range. Matching her voice with gritty guitars was damn GENIUS! I don’t believe in Angels but if they are real I bet the all sing like Dolores.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts

#8: Annie Lennox from the Eurythmics: 80’s synth-pop at its finest! Annie made being Metro Sexual cool before it was even a word. She has such a haunting voice that pairs perfectly with the synth style that David Stewart worked so well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg

#7: Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders: AKRON OHIO IN THE HOUSE!!!! Name one bad song they did…name one!   Oh you can’t? I don’t think they made a bad song, some were better than others but in the end I think they, under the leadership of Hynde, made near perfect music. Even Smelly Cat was solid, because Hynde was a part in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7Hy7uAb_eU

#6: Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees: Emo before Emo, Goth before Goth. Siouxsie is one of the most if not the most influential alternative artists of all time. Bands like Garbage, Tricky, Massive Attack, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, and The Jesus and Mary chain have all sited they were influenced by Siouxsie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBMHnJqAvM

#5: Joan Jett from the Runaways and the Blackhearts: I know many of you would have her at higher but guess what, she is my number 5 so deal with it. One could argue the top 5 could be switched around in any way and still be damn awesome. Joan is, was and always will be a rocker and I love her for that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz9JNDlcTgA

#4: Debbie Harry from Blondie: Disco, Pop, Rock and even Rap, Debbie Harry did it all, she was sexy, edgy and had the vocals to match the attitude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHCdS7O248g

#3: Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane: The Grandmother of Rock and Roll!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2yQLXTuctA

#2: Ann Wilson from Heart: ROCK AND ROLL! Powerful vocals, a great group of musicians behind her and a sister that can play the Guitar as well as anybody in the business helped land Ann at #2. I picked a song that they covered and had some help singing, but Ann makes you feel it, when a singer can give you goose bumps they are doing something right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyxpUS7msGo

#1: Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac: In my opinion the best female vocalist of all time. I love her voice, I love her stage presence and love how SOOOOOOO many have tried to copy her and failed. Look folks there is only one Stevie and as quirky as she may be she has the absolute best female voice in music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py3w5fttedA