Her Radio Celebrates Women’s History Month
HONORING HER STORY
Join Her Radio in saluting some of the powerful women, ultra talents and multifaceted artists who broke barriers and set trends in music & dance.
While Queens are power moving and shaking up the scene in their respective fields daily, March is always a special time to reflect, celebrate and salute the many women who've made history and a tremendous impact on life as we know it today. We're honoring #HerStory with a toast to the women who shaped, changed and broke barriers throughout Music's history. The list of women in music who made a difference is never ending and still growing. From ladies first in Hip Hop, to Rhythm & Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Dance and the origins Country, the girlies were serving up Black Girl Magic as far back as the 1920s. #HerList takes a look back over 20 of the leading ladies who stepped outside of categories and created #HerGenre as simply performers…
Because she believed she could!
🎀 SYLVIA ROBINSON
Crowned 'The Mother of Hip Hop', Robinson stepped on the scene in the 70s and ultimately helped push Hip-Hop to global heights, paving the way for women in music. She produced GOAT records like 'Rapper's Delight' & 'The Message'. Robinson founded Sugar Hill Records, signing some of Hip Hop's first artists, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five x the first female rap group The Sequence & more.
🎀 ARETHA FRANKLIN
Crowned The Queen of Soul for her historic music messaging on records like Respect & Natural Woman, she dedicated her life's work to the civil & women's rights movements these songs became anthems for. Blending gospel with jazz & blues in the 60's led to a spot in the #RockHall as the first woman ever to receive the honor + an endless list of accolades that are carved in history.
🎀DONNA SUMMER
Crowned The Queen Of Disco, Summer influenced different forms of dance music. She was the first female solo recording artist to record three number one singles in the same calendar year. Her journey sent a song to the top 40 for ten consecutive years.
🎀 MC SHA-ROCK
Crowned "Mother of the Mic" the NC native got her start as a local b-girl / break dancer who would become Hip Hop's first Female Rapper.
She was Crowned as the first woman in Rap to perform on national TV, alongside her group Funky 4 + 1 in 81 on SNL
🎀RUTH BROWN
Crowned The Queen of R&B, her success in the 50s established Atlantic Records as the era's premier R&B label. The singer-songwriter / actress became an activist for musician rights, whose push led to royalty reform + the distribution of millions of dollars to musicians in need.
🎀 JOSEPHINE BAKER
renowned Performer, World War II spy, and activist who became the most successful African American artist in French history. She was also an actress who became the first Black Woman to star in a major motion picture.
🎀 ROXANNE SHANTE
Homegirl played no games with the bars. K... At 14, her single release “Roxanne’s Revenge,” was Crowned the first diss record in Hip-Hop’s history. Her response to group U.T.F.O. later propelled the Roxanne Wars, a series of Rap beefs that saw over 50 released tracks between 35 artists in the 80s.
🎀 GERTRUDE ‘MA’ RAINEY
Crowned The Mother of the Blues & recognized as the first great professional blues vocalist. She turned the genre into a cultural force and influenced a generation of R&B singers. Negotiating her own contracts x running her touring company when women were underpaid insured fair compensation + paved the way for Black Women in show business today.
🎀 TINA TURNER
The ‘Queen of Rock 'n' Roll’ was the first woman to merge sound & movement in rock history, becoming one of the greatest cultural icons of all time. Her trailblazing path showed women how to rise on their own merits.
🎀 QUEEN LATIFAH X SALT N PEPA🎀
#AllThatMagic All in the same night!
1995 marks the year the Recording Academy properly recognized Women In Hip Hip. Queen Latifah became the first first solo female rapper to win a Grammy. Salt n Pepa also took home the historic win for Best Rap Performance by a Duo, making them the first female MCs to eva do it.
🎀 MEMPHIS MINNIE
In a field dominated by male instrumentalists, there was Lizzie Douglas. Better known as Memphis Minnie, the vocalist & songwriter was one of the first blues guitarists to go electric, helping form the roots of Chicago blues, R&B and rock. Starting out on the banjo at age 7, she would go on to record 200 songs in her 30 year career.
🎀LAURYN HILL
More than a Femcee, L-Boogie is Hip Hop Royalty. After releasing her solo debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the album topped the Billboard 200 chart for four weeks with several # 1 singles to follow, ultimately delirious reviews and sold 19 million copies At the 1999 Grammy Awards, Hill broke a number of records, becoming the first woman to be nominated in ten categories in a single year, and the first woman to win five trophies in one night. That project is arguably amongst the greatest Hip Hip / R&B albums of all time.
🎀 ELLA FITZGERALD
Crowned "The First Lady of Song," Fitzgerald revolutionized the jazz genre. Her signature style included her iconic vocal range, clear tone, and ability to improvise with her hallmark scat singing. After going solo in 1942, she crossed the musical and vocal bridge between the swing and bebop eras, and her groundbreaking use of scat established her reputation as an innovator
🎀SISTER ROSETTA THARPE
Blending Gospel & Rock, The ‘God Mother of rock and roll pioneered the guitar technique that influenced the development of British blues.You can find her style in music from the likes of Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis and many more.
🎀 MC LYTE
In 1988, Lyte as a Rock was the first ever full length LP release by a female MC. The 1993 heavy hitter 'Ruffneck' was the first Gold record by a solo female rapper. Thee MC Lyte is one of the dopest Hip Hop voices of all time.
🎀 THE SUPREMES
Originally The Primettes, the 60s iconic girl group would later achieve massive success as the top charted american band of all time. Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard laid the foundation for sounds like doo-wop & disco while becoming Motown's most commercially successful act.
🎀 SARAH VAUGHAN
1940s jazz singer & pianist, whose work & performance influenced the formation of bebop nusic.
🎀BEYONCÉ
The number of times singer, songwriter, actress and renowned performer THEE Queen Bey has made history are countless. She is the essence of women’s empowerment and continues to inspire us though every trendsetting, trailblazing move. Most notably,, Beyoncé set the all-time record for the most Grammy Awards won by an artist, with her now having won 32 Grammys. More recently, the “Renaissance World Tour” became the highest-grossing tour by any Black artist ever. And just last year, she became the first Black woman to debut No.1 on Billboard’s top country albums chart.
🎀BILLIE HOLIDAY
Billie Holiday, also known as "Lady Day," made history as the first African American woman to work with an all-white band. Despite having no formal musical training, she developed a deeply moving and individual singing style that was influenced by jazz and blues. Despite poverty, racism, and being widely criticized for her public bi-sexuality, she became a Grammy-winning legend, also heralded as a modern icon amongst openly LGBTQ musicians.
🎀LINDA MARTELL
Linda Martell was the first commercially successful black female artist in the country music field. Her album, a mix of honky-tonk spunk and heartbreak balladry, infused with her roots in gospel and R&B, led her to become the first solo Black woman country artist to play the Grand Ole Opry in 1969
A Toast. Here’s to the women who paved the roads ahead for our favorite performers today! 🥂