In the 1980s while pursuing a struggling acting career, Ruth, along with her lawyer and Reverend Jesse Jackson, petitioned Atlantic Records to forgive the $30,000 she supposedly owed the label for receiving advance money during her heyday as a singer. 1 record “5-10-15 Hours,” and her early hits helped to establish Atlantic Records as a force to be reckoned with in the music business. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 as an Early Influence. She toured England with Muddy Waters as part of the Blues and Gospel Caravan in 1963, which brought her to the attention of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards. She blended gospel and folk licks with a jumped-up swing rhythm that anticipated rock ‘n’ roll. She sang in churches and nightclubs and was the rare woman to play electric guitar onstage. She even paid him for it and that helped inspire him to become a performer. It was his first public show outside of church. She was Little Richard’s favorite singer when he was a child-and she asked Richard to join her onstage in Macon, GA. She came out of a gospel background in Arkansas and began rocking early: her 1945 song, “Strange Things Happening Every Day,” was the first gospel record to cross over to Billboard’s “race chart,” later renamed the R&B chart. Sometimes called “the Godmother of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the daughter of two cotton pickers who were also singers. In 2012, she released yet another album, Unfinished Business.Ĭheck out Wanda Jackson playing her rockabilly track “Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad ” from 1956. She continued to perform throughout her life, and at age 73 released a 2011 album with Jack White of the White Stripes. Like many of her male counterparts, she was originally a country western artist who crossed over to rock ‘n’ roll. She shared the stage with Elvis Presley in the mid-’50s and became known as the Queen of Rockabilly. Wanda JacksonĮarly rocker Wanda Jackson had a robust career. You will find links to the music of most of these artists in the article, but we also recommend checking out our playlist. As we enter Women’s History Month, let’s take a look at some of the women who defied the odds, changing the landscape of rock for years to follow.Įxcerpted from Steve Morse’s Berklee Online course Rock History, this list chronicles some of the most influential females up to the turn of the century. There are many hurdles that women have to jump through to make it in the music business, and that was especially true in the early days of rock ‘n’ roll, and even more so for women of color. If we created a list of the most influential male rockers through the decades, it would have to be a book instead of a succinct article. The sheer fact that we’re able to compile a list of the most influential female rockers indicates just how underrepresented women are in the music industry.
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