Women Who Rock

The Age

Thursday May 2, 1996

Big Mama Thornton (born Willie Mae Thornton, 1926, died 1984).

The pioneer of tough female singers in fifties rhythm and blues who made her name with the original version of `Hound Dog'. Arguably, perhaps the biggest single influence on Janis Joplin.

Tina Turner (born Annie Mae Bullock, 1938).

After separating from Ike Turner in 1975, she became one of the most dynamic and spectacular performers of the 80's.

Dusty Springfield (b. Mary O'Brien, 1939).

With her trademark husky voice, the most distinctive white female singer to emerge from Britain in the sixties with her R&B rock and emotion-drenched balladeering.

Aretha Franklin (b. 1942).

The role model for all gospel-based singers, she was the single most important female vocalist to emerge from the mid-sixties soul music boom.

Janis Joplin (b. 1943 d. 1970).

The finest white blues and soul singer of her generation who dominated San Francisco rock in the late sixties.

Marianne Faithfull (b. 1946).

A pop-folk ballad singer and associate of the Rolling Stones in the 60's, she returned with powerful post-punk protest material in the 80's.

Patti Smith (b. 1946).

Writer and poet, one of the most striking members of the New York punk scene in the 70's through her unorthodox singing and songwriting.

Bonnie Raitt (b. 1949).

One of the best female singers of the 70's and 80's. She is the daughter of Broadway singer John Raitt (The Pyjama Game) and the spiritual child of blues slide guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell.

Annie Lennox (b. Griselda Annie Lennox 1954).

Her imposing androgynous stage persona and strong voice made the Eurythmics one of the most dynamic rock bands of the 80's.

Madonna (b. Madonna Louise Vernon Ciccione, 1958).

One of the most popular and iconoclastic teenage idols of the 80's with a mix of self-assertion and coquetry that keeps her fans and critics guessing.

Tori Amos.

Quickly becoming the thinking woman's pop idol of the '90s, with powerful lyrics about issues such as rape, religion, and of course, love lost.

Courtney Love (b. 1966).

Musically she can't escape the widow-of-Kurt Cobain tag, but her gutsy ``chick with a pick" guitar-pop has made her the pin-up queen of the 90's and a challenger to Madonna for tabloid newspaper exposure.

-- with the assistance of the Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music.