Favorite Female Musicians

1. Grace Slick

Grace Slick was born on October 30, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for American Hustle (2013), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) and Brooklyn's Finest (2009). She was previously married to Skip Johnson and Jerry Slick.

2. Joni Mitchell

Soundtrack | Two Weeks Notice

Joni Mitchell is one of the most highly regarded and influential songwriters of the 20th century. Her melodious tunes support her poetic and often very personal lyrics to make her one of the most authentic artists of her time. As a performer she is widely hailed for her unique style of playing ...

3. Carly Simon

Soundtrack | All Good Things

Carly Simon has an unparalleled career that spans five decades of openhearted storytelling both in song and print. Joining the singer-songwriters of the early 1970s, Simon changed the public's conception of pop music to an honest, sensitive and intelligent craftwork. Simon's biggest success came ...

4. Carole King

Soundtrack | A League of Their Own

Carole King is an American composer and singer-songwriter.

She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the USA, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1999. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making ...

5. Aimee Mann

Soundtrack | Magnolia

Aimee Mann is a Grammy- and Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter. She has released 9 albums including Bachelor No. 2, @#%&*! Smilers, Lost in Space, and Mental Illness in January 2017. Her work includes the soundtrack from the critically acclaimed film Magnolia. "Save Me" was later nominated for an ...

6. Cass Elliot

Soundtrack | Free Guy

Cass Elliot was born Ellen Naomi Cohen on September 19, 1941, in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in the Washington D.C. environs and in her senior year of high school, performed in a summer stock production of "The Boyfriend" at the Owings Mills Playhouse, where she played the French nurse who ...

7. Cindy Wilson

Soundtrack | Rising Sun

Cynthia Leigh Wilson is a vocalist, songwriter, instrumentalist, and founding member of the dance-rock new wave band the B-52s. The band formed in 1976 in Athens, GA, and released their first single "Rock Lobster". The song featured on their self-titled album in 1979. The song became one of their ...

8. Brenda Lee

Soundtrack | Joy Ride

Brenda Lee was born on December 11, 1944 in Lithonia, Georgia, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for Joy Ride (2001), Dick Tracy (1990) and Reindeer Games (2000). She has been married to Charles Ronald 'Ronnie' Shacklett since April 24, 1963. They have two children.

9. Connie Francis

Soundtrack | When the Boys Meet the Girls

Singer, composer, actress, entertainer and publisher Connie Francis was educated at Arts High School and was a music student of her father. At age 11 she appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (1948) as a singer and accordionist. She has toured the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and ...

10. Loretta Lynn

Soundtrack | The New Mutants

Loretta Lynn was born on April 14, 1932 in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, USA. She was a music artist and actress, known for The New Mutants (2020), High Crimes (2002) and Logan Lucky (2017). She was married to Oliver Lynn. She died on October 4, 2022 in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, USA.

11. Patsy Cline

Soundtrack | Assassin's Creed

Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia. Her brush with show business came at age four when she won a prize in an amateur tap dancing contest. By the time she entered grade school, her family was fully aware of her musical talent. On her eighth ...

12. Bonnie Raitt

Soundtrack | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Bonnie Raitt was born on November 8, 1949 in Burbank, California, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), Nick of Time (1995) and Ladder 49 (2004). She was previously married to Michael O'Keefe.

13. Julee Cruise

Soundtrack | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Julee Cruise was born on December 1, 1956 in Creston, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Blue Velvet (1986) and Scream (1996). She was married to Edward Grinnan. She died on June 9, 2022 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA.

14. Emmylou Harris

Soundtrack | Brokeback Mountain

Emmylou Harris was born on April 2, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for Brokeback Mountain (2005), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and Lawless (2012). She was previously married to Paul Kennerley, Brian Ahern and Tom Slocum.

15. Dolly Parton

Soundtrack | The Porter Wagoner Show

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee and raised in Sevierville, Tennessee to Avie Lee Parton, a housewife & Robert Lee Parton, a tobacco farmer. At 12, she was appearing on Knoxville TV and at 13, she was already recording on a small label and appearing at ...

16. Dusty Springfield

Soundtrack | Pirate Radio

Dusty Springfield has been acknowledged around the world as the best female soul singer that Britain ever produced. With her oddly erotic, throaty voice, she racked up a string of hits from the 1960s onwards. Born in London to Irish parents, Dusty grew up in and around London. Her early work ...

17. Dionne Warwick

Soundtrack | Alive

Dionne Warwick was born on December 12, 1940 in East Orange, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Alive (1993), The Happytime Murders (2018) and Bird Box (2018). She was previously married to William Elliott.

18. Wanda Jackson

Soundtrack | '71

Singer/songwriter Wanda Jean Jackson has enjoyed a long and successful music career which encompasses such diverse genres as country, gospel, and rockabilly. Wanda was born on October 20, 1937 in Maud, Oklahoma. Her father Tom was a former country singer who had to quit music because of the Great ...

19. Nico

Soundtrack | Allegiant

Model and singer Nico was born in Cologne, Germany in 1938. She was a part of the Andy Warhol "scene" in the 1960s. A member of The Velvet Underground experimental rock band (with John Cale), circa 1967, she made several solo albums during the 1970s. A heroin addict for the latter part of her life,...

20. Marianne Faithfull

Actress | Marie Antoinette

Daughter of Eva, the Baroness Erisso, and Major Glynn Faithfull, a WWII British spy. Recorded the first song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "As Tears Go By" (1964). Involved in a major drug scandal with Jagger, Richards, and others, which ultimately turned public opinion favorably ...

21. Vashti Bunyan

Soundtrack | Labor Day

Vashti Bunyan was born in 1945 in London, England, UK. She is an actress and composer, known for Labor Day (2013), Away We Go (2009) and Babyteeth (2019).

22. The Roches

Soundtrack | Step Brothers

The Roches is known for Step Brothers (2008), Hit and Runway (1999) and Crossing Delancey (1988).

23. The Shangri-Las

Soundtrack | Killers

The Shangri-Las is known for Killers (2010), xXx: State of the Union (2005) and Goodfellas (1990).

24. Christine McVie

Soundtrack | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

English singer, keyboardist, and songwriter for British-American rock band, Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie was born Christine Anne Perfect on July 12th, 1943 in the Lake District village of Bouth, England (then Lancashire, now Cumbria), and grew up in the Bearwood area of Smethwick near Birmingham....

25. Ronnie Spector

Soundtrack | Jingle All the Way

Ronnie Spector is an American singer. Spector was the lead singer of the rock/pop vocal girl group The Ronettes, who had a string of hits during the early to mid-1960s such as "Be My Baby", "Baby, I Love You", and "The Best Part of Breakin' Up". Subsequently, Ronnie Spector launched her solo career...

26. Patti Smith

Soundtrack | Noah

Patti Smith was born on December 30, 1946 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Noah (2014), Song to Song (2017) and Barb Wire (1996). She was previously married to Fred 'Sonic' Smith.

27. PJ Harvey

Soundtrack | The Basketball Diaries

Polly Jean Harvey was born in England on October 9th 1969. The daughter of a quarryman father and an artist mother, Polly Jean, or PJ as she is more commonly known, was raised on a sheep farm in Yeovil, Somerset. She learned to play a number of instruments as a child (including guitar, saxophone, ...

28. Astrud Gilberto

Soundtrack | V for Vendetta

Mention the name Gilberto and Bossa Nova immediately comes to mind. Astrud was the original 'Girl from Ipanema' (composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes), famously singing the iconic hit song first featured on the classic 1963 album Getz/Gilberto. Released by Verve Records as a ...

29. Rickie Lee Jones

Soundtrack | Jerry Maguire

Rickie Lee Jones was born on November 8, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Jerry Maguire (1996), The King of Comedy (1982) and Friends with Money (2006).

30. Joan Armatrading

Soundtrack | Kill List

Joan Armatrading was born on December 9, 1950 in Basseterre, St. Kitts, British West Indies [now Saint Kitts and Nevis]. She is an actress and composer, known for Kill List (2011), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and The Wild Geese (1978).

31. Phoebe Snow

Soundtrack | Running with Scissors

Phoebe Snow was born on July 17, 1950 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Running with Scissors (2006), Kicking and Screaming (1995) and Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom (2008). She was married to Philip Kearns. She died on April 26, 2011 in Edison, New Jersey, USA.

32. Minnie Riperton

Soundtrack | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Minnie Riperton was born November 8, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, to Thelma Inez (Matthews) and Daniel Webster Riperton, a Pullman porter. At a young age, Riperton, the youngest of eight children, began taking dancing and ballet. Once she reached high school, she began singing in the Hyde Park A ...

33. Shirley Bassey

Soundtrack | Moonraker

Shirley Bassey was born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales, and raised in the nearby working class neighborhood of Splott. Her mother was originally from Yorkshire, and her father was a Nigerian seaman who left the family when she was less than two. She later helped to support her family by working in an...

34. Peggy Lee

Actress | Lady and the Tramp

Peggy Lee was Born Norma Dolores Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, on May 26, 1920. At age four her mother died. Peggy's father, a railroad station agent, remarried but later left home, leaving Peggy's care entrusted to a stepmother who physically abused her. Peggy later memorialized this in the ...

35. Billie Holiday

Soundtrack | Minority Report

Billie Holiday was a true artist of her day and rose as a social phenomenon in the 1950s. Her soulful, unique singing voice and her ability to boldly turn any material that she confronted into her own music made her a superstar of her time. Today, Holiday is remembered for her masterpieces, ...

36. Nina Simone

Soundtrack | Point of No Return

Nina Simone was born on February 21, 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA. She was a music artist and actress, known for Point of No Return (1993), Repo Men (2010) and Miami Vice (2006). She was married to Andrew Stroud and Donald Ross. She died on April 21, 2003 in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, ...

37. Pat Benatar

Soundtrack | Deadpool 2

Pat Benatar was born Patricia Andrzejewski in Brooklyn and raised in suburban Lindenhurst, Long Island. Her mother Millie had sacrificed her own career as an opera singer to bring up Pat and son Andrew. Years later, it was Pat who sang classically, honing the powers of her 4.5-octave voice as a ...

38. Terri Nunn

Soundtrack | Better Off Dead...

Terri Nunn was born on June 26, 1959 in Baldwin Hills, California, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Better Off Dead (1985), Thank God It's Friday (1978) and Banished (2007). She has been married to Paul Spear since May 17, 1998. They have one child.

39. Martha Davis

Soundtrack | Mr. Church

Martha Davis was born on January 19, 1951 in Berkeley, California, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Mr. Church (2016), Death Warrant (1990) and Something Wild (1986). She was previously married to Ronald Francis Paschall.

40. Norah Jones

Soundtrack | Ted

Norah Jones (born Geetali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is a daughter of sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar and Sue Jones. She is Anoushka Shankar's half-sister.

In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the ...

41. Natalie Merchant

Soundtrack | One Fine Day

Natalie Anne Merchant was born on October 26, 1963 in Jamestown, New York, USA. The third of four children, Natalie displayed a love for music at an early age, though she never thought of it as a career choice. Natalie originally wanted to become a teacher, but that changed when she met Robert Buck...

42. Nancy Sinatra

Soundtrack | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Nancy Sandra Sinatra was born the first child of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Barbato Sinatra on June 8, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her first television appearance was with her father and Elvis Presley in 1959. She first appeared as a film actress in For Those Who Think Young (1964) and Get ...

43. Cher

Actress | Moonstruck

The beat goes on ... and on ... and as strong as ever for this superstar entertainer who has well surpassed the half-century mark while improbably transforming herself from an artificial, glossy "flashionplate" singer into a serious, Oscar-worthy, dramatic actress ... and back again! With more ups ...

44. Melody Gardot

Soundtrack | 360

Melody Gardot was born on February 2, 1985 in New Jersey, USA. She is an actress, known for 360 (2011), The Line (2009) and The Starling (2021).

45. Kate Bush

Soundtrack | The Line, the Cross & the Curve

Kate Bush began playing piano at a young age and, by her mid-teens, had composed over 200 songs. Her talent caught the notice of David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) who assisted in arranging her contract with EMI. The first song she released, "Wuthering Heights", soared to #1 in England in 1978. Since ...

46. Madeleine Peyroux

Soundtrack | From Paris with Love

Madeleine Peyroux was born on January 1, 1973 in Athens, Georgia, USA. She is an actress, known for From Paris with Love (2010), Definitely, Maybe (2008) and Failure to Launch (2006).

47. Lucinda Williams

Soundtrack | X-Men

Lucinda Williams was born on January 26, 1953 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for X-Men (2000), Wild (2014) and Transamerica (2005). She has been married to Tom Overby since September 18, 2009. She was previously married to Greg Sowders.

48. Maria McKee

Soundtrack | Road House

Maria McKee was born on August 17, 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Road House (1989), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Days of Thunder (1990). She is married to Jim Akin.

49. Laurie Anderson

Soundtrack | Heart of a Dog

Began career as a performance artist in the late 1960s, began recording in the late 1970s. Rose to popularity in early 1980s when 8-minute single, "O Superman" made it to No. 2 on the British pop charts. Early magnum opus was the two-night extravaganza "United States Parts I-IV" in 1983. Latest ...

50. Judy Collins

Actress | Junior

Judy Collins was born on May 1, 1939 in Seattle, Washington, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for Junior (1994), Hereditary (2018) and Starsky & Hutch (2004). She has been married to Louis Nelson since April 16, 1996. She was previously married to Peter A. Taylor.

51. Judee Sill

Soundtrack | Greenberg

Judee Sill was born on October 7, 1944 in Oakland, California, USA. She was a writer and composer, known for Greenberg (2010), Elizabethtown (2005) and The Education of Charlie Banks (2007). She was married to Samir Ben Taieb Kamoun and Robert Maurice Harris. She died on November 23, 1979 in North ...

52. Joan Jett

Soundtrack | Light of Day

Joan Jett rose to fame in the 1970s all-girl rock band The Runaways. Her cover of "I Love Rock and Roll" was a number one hit in 1982; "Crimson and Clover" was another hit for her. Jett has appeared as Columbia in the Broadway production of "The Rocky Horror Show".

53. Heart

Soundtrack | Captain Marvel

Heart is known for Captain Marvel (2019), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) and The Virgin Suicides (1999).

54. El Perro Del Mar

Soundtrack | Emmas film

El Perro Del Mar is known for Emmas film (2009), Love During Wartime (2010) and El Perro Del Mar: In The Woods (2016).

55. Ella Fitzgerald

Soundtrack | Sphere

On Saturday, June 15th, 1996, an era in jazz singing came to an end, with the death of Ella Fitzgerald at her home in California. She was the last of four great female jazz singers (including Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Carmen McRae) who defined one of the most prolific eras in jazz vocal ...

56. Bonnie Bramlett

Soundtrack | The Guardian

Bonnie Bramlett was born on November 8, 1944 in Alton, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for The Guardian (2006), The Doors (1991) and Ghost Rider (2007). She was previously married to Danny Sheridan and Delaney Bramlett.

57. Johnette Napolitano

Soundtrack | Barb Wire

Johnette Napolitano was born on September 22, 1957. She is an actress and composer, known for Barb Wire (1996), Point Break (1991) and Dead Silence (2007).

58. Cleo Laine

Soundtrack | The Third Alibi

Cleo Laine was born on October 28, 1927 in Southall, Middlesex, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Third Alibi (1961), The Concrete Jungle (1960) and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961). She was previously married to John Dankworth and George Langridge.

59. Cat Power

Soundtrack | My Blueberry Nights

Charlyn "Chan" Marie Marshall is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and occasional actress. She adopted the name Cat Power for her first band in 1992, and has since used the name as a moniker for all of her musical endeavors. Raised in the South primarily by her grandmother, Marshall showed ...

60. Karen Carpenter

Soundtrack | Paul Williams: Still Alive

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen Carpenter moved with her family to Downey, California, in 1963. Karen's older brother, Richard Carpenter, decided to put together an instrumental trio with him on the piano, Karen on the drums and their friend Wes Jacobs on the bass and tuba. In a battle of the...

61. Bette Midler

Soundtrack | Beaches

Multi Grammy Award-winning singer/comedienne/author Bette Midler has also proven herself to be a very capable actress in a string of both dramatic and comedic roles. Midler was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 1, 1945. She is the daughter of Ruth (Schindel), a seamstress, and Fred Midler, a ...

62. Roberta Flack

Soundtrack | X-Men: Days of Future Past

Roberta Flack was born February 10, 1937 (1939 according to some sources), in Black Mountain, North Carolina, a small town located about 10 miles (18 kilometers) from the city of Asheville, North Carolina. She is best known for her love ballad "Killing Me Softly With His Song", released in 1969. ...

63. Chrissie Hynde

Soundtrack | Happy Feet

Chrissie Hynde was born on September 7, 1951 in Akron, Ohio, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Happy Feet (2006), Stealth (2005) and The Living Daylights (1987). She was previously married to Lucho Brieva and Jim Kerr.

64. Loreena McKennitt

Soundtrack | Soldier

Loreena McKennitt was born in Manitoba and began her music career peforming in a number of places including Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada before settling in Ontario. Her music was widely used in the TV series EZ Streets and is now heard in Roar.

65. Sandy Denny

Soundtrack | Crush

Sandy Denny was born on January 6, 1947 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Crush (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (2002) and The Subject Was Roses (1968). She was married to Trevor Lucas. She died on April 21, 1978 in Wimbledon, London, England, UK.

66. Beth Orton

Soundtrack | Vanilla Sky

Beth Orton was born on December 14, 1970 in Norfolk, England, UK. She is an actress and composer, known for Vanilla Sky (2001), Stir of Echoes (1999) and Monster (2003). She has been married to Sam Amidon since 2011. They have one child.

67. Zooey Deschanel

Actress | New Girl

Zooey Deschanel was born in 1980 into a showbiz family. Her father, Caleb Deschanel, is an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer (perhaps most notably for The Passion of the Christ (2004)) and her mother, Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir), is an actress who appeared in Twin Peaks (1990). Her paternal ...

68. Petula Clark

Soundtrack | Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Petula Clark was a star at the age of 11. She starred in British concert halls and on BBC radio singing for the troops during WWII. She was a child star in a series of British films from the end of WWII through to the early 1950s,and by 1954 was having hit records. After a move to France in 1960, ...

69. Janis Joplin

Soundtrack | Watchmen

Janis Lyn Joplin was born at St. Mary's Hospital in the oil-refining town of Port Arthur, Texas, near the border with Louisiana. Her father was a cannery worker and her mother was a registrar for a business college. As an overweight teenager, she was a folk-music devotee (especially Odetta, ...

70. Lisa Gerrard

Soundtrack | Gladiator

With a vision and vocal style that is as unique as it is precise and all-embracing, Lisa Gerrard has established herself as one of the world's most highly acclaimed film composers, winning a Golden Globe for her work on the score for 'Gladiator' with Hans Zimmer.

Lisa also received an Oscar ...