Keeping Our Heads Up in 2022: Honoring women in pop music

2022 has been a largely disappointing year for women. Though the estimable judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed as the first African-American woman on the Supreme Court her Senate hearings were unnecessarily dramatic and contentious. The Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade and revert reproductive rights to the states was also a significant setback for public health professionals and reproductive rights advocates.

Though the ride continues to be bumpy female creatives have offered us various forms of respite amid the challenges of the pandemic, threats to democracy, the climate crisis and global economic strain. The New Museum honored key works of the visionary artist Faith Ringgold through its exhibit Faith Ringgold: American People. Dame Jane Campion became the second female director to win the Academy Award as Best Director for her acclaimed masterpiece The Power of the Dog.  Authors Zakiya Dalila Harris, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Deesha Philyaw, and Dawnie Walton, wrote some of the most original and acclaimed fiction debuts in years.

Women also continue to define the pop landscape in music. Adele, Mariah, and Taylor Swift continue breaking sales and chart records.  Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Ellish have become conduits for their generation. Singers like Mickey Guyton and Brittany Howard are breaking down genre barriers. And it is a given that when Beyoncé and Lizzo release albums it’s an event. Further, some of the finest recent writing on popular music has focused on the unique contributions of women in pop music including Lesley Chow’s You’re History: The Twelve Strangest Women in Music (Repeater, 2021), Gerrick Kennedy’s Didn’t We Almost Have It All: in Defense of Whitney Houston (Abrams, 2022), and Danyel Smith’s Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop (Roc Lit 101, 2022).

From Tuesday, August 2-Thursday, August 4, 2022 Riffs, Beats, & Codas celebrates women in popular music in a series of daily posts.

My original 2015 blogpost has been a perennial reader favorite. This week it gets remixed and updated for the 21st century.

·       First, on Tuesday, August 2 I expand and remix 2015’s “100-ish most Influential Women in 20th Century Popular Music” by reframing this question in late 20th/21st century terms which means welcoming some new “inductees” to this esteemed group. I also update readers on the lives and careers of the original 100-ish artists listed. (Original link: http://www.riffsbeatsandcodas.com/blog/2015/7/25/100-most-influential-female-vocalists-in-20th-century-popular-music)

·       Second, on Wednesday, August 3 I revisit 2017’s “Essential Voices: 150 Best Albums by Female Artists: A personal list” by exploring several 2017-22 albums with great potential to become “future classics.” Also included are a few albums from the mid-1950s-2017 I didn’t include the first time around that warrant inclusion. (Original link: http://www.riffsbeatsandcodas.com/blog/2017/8/3/essential-voices-150-best-albums-by-female-artists-a-personal-list-1950-1973-part-1)

·       Finally, on Thursday, August 4 I share a list of 150 outstanding singles recorded by female artists from 1972-2022. The list is special for its stylistic range and its focus on artists beyond those included on the 100-ish list and the albums list. This was a cool list to compile because it includes many female artists whose most notable works are not always recognized as “important” because the artists are not considered canonical. It also recognizes that some genres, such as dance pop and girl groups, emphasize hit singles over albums.  I’ve created four thematic playlists based on the list for your listening enjoyment which I look forward to sharing.

Stay tuned! (and keep your head up)

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