Beth Gibbons

If you are not a fan of the trip-hop movement, you may not have heard the name “Beth Gibbons,” but this sultry songstress is more than worthy of worldwide recognition. Gibbons has a way of allowing her soul to speak through her songs, and if you have not listened to her music yet, you are truly missing out on an amazing sound.

Beth Gibbons really broke into the spotlight with the group Portishead during the year 1991, but she has also done many different solo acts throughout her career. Gibbons has worked with many influential artists throughout her career, and her 2002 release of the album entitled “Out of Season” is a true testament to her unmatched talent. Gibbons is praised within musical circles throughout the world, and nearly every singer within the music industry has recognized her gifts as one point or another.

Gibbons recently joined Annie Lennox and twenty-two other female vocalists in order to create the single “Sing,” which will help to send much needed funds to unborn children within Africa that are affected with the HIV virus. Although Beth is an avid smoker, she once told press that “suffering for your art is most definitely overrated but I do get a certain, I don’t know, satisfaction from being able to deal with my paranoia and insecurity.” An artist through and through, Gibbon’s “paranoia” is the precise thing that makes her so incredibly real, and fans all over the world are anxiously awaiting her next album release.

Golden Girl Gwen Stefani

She’s just a girl with a knack for gaining the spotlight. If there is such as thing as a “woman’s woman,” then Gwen Stafani is it. This actress, songwriter, singer, and fashion designer all rolled into one knows just what girls want, and she aims to give it to them.

Gwen started out as the face of ska band No Doubt back in 1992, and she has been rocking the word of female voice since then. No Doubt’s number one album, Tragic Kingdom, had nearly every girl in the country belting out Stefani’s heart felt tunes to the beat of her soulful voice, but Gwen wasn’t content to stop there. During the year 2004, Stefani released a solo album entitled “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.” that rose to instant start status, and fans simply could not get enough of her talented musical skills.

Stefani release another single album during the year 2006 called “The Sweet Escape,” in which she worked with various other artists in order to produce a truly interesting sound. Unfortunately, Gwen’s last album did not gel well with critics who found it to be far too geared towards the dance club scene, and less towards Stefani’s true vocal talents. Other than being a true role model within the music world, Stefani began a clothing line in 2004 called “L.A.M.B.” Women immediately adored Stafani’s line of whimsical clothes, and many celebrities can be found strutting Stefani’s stuff throughout the streets of Los Angeles. From the start, Gwen was a star, and today this bright rock and roller has found many different niches within the world in which to share her amazing talents.

Fiona Apple

If ever a female rock star was simply born into musical talent, this famed singer would have the name Fiona Apple, and fans would love her simply for who she is. Fiona was born into a very long line of musicians and entertainers, and from her grandparents to her step brothers this native Manhattanite seems to have notes and chords running through her veins.

When it comes to Fiona Apple, there is really no beginning to her story – nor is there an end in sight. Fiona did not start singing at any age, it seems as though this girl always had a tune on her tongue. However, Apple did gain a “big break” when her record was passed to music producer Andy Slater who just adored her unusual voice. The year 1996 brought a lot of success for Fiona, and her single “Criminal” jumped straight to the top of the charts upon release. Apple released another album entitled “When the Pawn” (the title of this album is actually much longer than this!) during the year 1999, but it did not receive positive reviews, and the album hardly got any play time at all.

Since the year 1999, Apple has been working with other artists and releasing a few albums of her own, but none of her recent work has really gained that much fan attention. Fiona helped record “Sally’s Song” for “The Nightmare Before Christmas” special edition soundtrack during 2006, and today the singer is traveling and touring with other female vocalists. Rumor has it that Fiona will be appearing with Sheryl Crow, Avril Lavigne, and other artists during the First Annual GirlFrenzy Festival, which should be held sometime next year.

PJ Harvey

Can our childhood influence the type of adult that we become? According to Polly Jane Harvey (PJ), the way in which we grew up has more to do with who we are as adults than one may think. PJ grew up on a sheep farm smack in the middle of the English countryside, but she made her career within the fast pace of the city playing rock and roll music on her guitar. So, how does a small town country girl end up exposing her breasts for all the world to see on the cover of a British magazine? Well, it all begins with the girl’s parents, of course.

As a child, Harvey “was brought up listening to John Lee Hooker, to Howlin’ Wolf, to Robert Johnson, and a lot of Jimi Hendrix and Captain Beefheart.” Well, if you can picture a small Harvey blasting the guitar chords of Jimi Hendrix amidst a small, sunny, farm full of curious sheep, you can imagine what it must have been like to grow up amidst Harvey’s childhood. Of course, as Harvey grew and her musical taste evolved, she swapped Beefheart for U2, The Police, Duran Duran, and Spandau Ballet. As her teenage years began to pass by, Harvey found herself smack in the middle of a record label contract, a small fan base, and feelings of conflicted feminine anguish.

There is this ridiculous stereotype within the world that goes something like this: if you happen to be a successful female rock and roll star, you are automatically a feminist. This ignorant assumption angers most women, and it definitely struck a chord with Harvey when she was accused of being part of the “riot grrrl” movement. When one journalist penned a story to the effect that Harvey was just another feminist, she responded by stating, “I think I’d find it quite patronising to be called a Riot Grrrl if I was one of them, but they obviously don’t think so. I don’t ever think about (feminism). I mean, it doesn’t cross my mind.” Today, this non-feminist, non-conforming rocker has turned to the piano as a means of inspiration, and her latest album “White Chalk” is almost entirely composed of piano ballads. From sheep farm to rocker to pianist, PJ Harvey is, if nothing else, one woman who consistently challenges herself – and isn’t that what great music is really made of?

The Donnas

When it comes to rock music, if one woman is good, then four is better. At least that is the case with the female rock group The Donnas. They came into existence in 1993 on the West Coast, and have gone through several names as well as the horrible experience of junior high school together. The group consists of Allison Robertson, Maya Ford, Torry Castellano, and Brett Anderson on lead vocals. They recorded their first album back in 1996, and have been rocking out ever since.

The Donnas signed with the indie record label, Lookout Records, which was once home to punk band Green Day. The record producer that they met through Lookout Records, Darin Rafaelli, was responsible for coming up with the image of The Donnas that we have today. His vision was a kind of Ramones-inspired sound. They released three albums on this label: The Donnas, American Teenage Rock N’ Roll Machine, and Get Skintight. They eventually made the switch to major record label and released their Atlantic Record debut with Spend the Night. The girls had developed an image of hard-partying rocker chicks, although most of that was strictly light-handed sarcasm. Still, they decided a change of pace was in order and released Gold Medal, which was a completely different sound than anything that they had done before.

The direction that they will take next still remains to be seen, but The Donnas have already proved that they have staying power and the artistic talent and vision to rock for a long time.

Amy Winehouse

While Amy Winehouse has many issues in her life, she remains an astounding musical talent. Her vocals are indicative of the smoky Jazz clubs of New Orleans, her style is soulful and chaotic at the same time.

This talent hails from the Southgate area of Enfield, London where she was born into a family of Jazz musicians. Her father, Michell is a taxi driver, her mother Janis is a pharmacist and she also has one brother, Alex. She grew up in the suburbs of Southgate and was a rebel even at age 12. She was expelled from the Sylvia Young Theatre School for "not applying herself" and of course, for piercing her nose. When she was 13 she received her first guitar and by 16 she was singing professionally. Her friend Tyler James, a soul singer, shopped her demo around and A&R picked it up.

From there it wasn't long before her career blossomed. Her debut album, "Frank" was released in October of 2003 and she has been on the rise since then. In 2004 her album had reached the upper levels of the UK charts and she was nominated for several awards before her album went platinum.

2006 brought her music to the States via the Mark Ronson radio show on East Village Radio. Tracks like "Rehab" and "Wake Up Alone" caught the public's ear and Mark inspired her to work on a second album. Winehouse tells us; "After Frank I didn’t write for 18 months but when I met Mark [Ronson] I pretty much wrote the album in six months — he was so inspiring."

From there was more career success with a bright and shining prospect for even more success. Winehouse is in the news frequently due to alleged drug use, alcohol issues and a fiery temper. In spite of this, Winehouse continues to receive accolades and praise for her work.

"The Wasp", Janis Joplin

You simply can not talk about women in music without mentioning Janis Joplin, Rock & Roll's first female super star. On January 19th, 1943 the world was given an icon in Janis Lyn Joplin when she was born to Seth and Dorothy in Port Arthur, Texas. No one could have imagined the life that was about to be led by this raw ironed soul.

Playing at college campuses and local bars, she discovered that what she wanted to do was entertain. She left Texas and headed out to L.A. with a few friends in the 60's and once she was there, she changed the face of Rock. Her style could only be described as a psychedelic rock & roll acid trip. She loved the bottle and hated men, although she truly wished for love and her lyrics told her story more than she imagined. Janis struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, but it would be difficult to know if she would have made such a mark without them.

Joplin's life was full of rejection and pain; she could never seem to get out from under the throws of deep depression. She was rejected by her peers when she was young due to her acne scarred face and the personality that emerged because of her self image. This continued on as the 'norm' for her life experiences and later her career. This is how she became known as a blues momma, and true to blues momma form, she was hard lining, hard loving, and a hard substance user.

After leaving us with such industry changing songs like "Me and Bobby McGee", the a cappella "Mercedes Benz" and the unforgettable "Piece of My Heart", Janis succumbed to her addiction. She died of a drug overdose on October 4th, 1970 at the age of 27.