Women Rock! Portraits in Popular Music

Women Rock! honors the unique contributions of 50 female artists with noteworthy contributions to music.
 
Women played crucial roles in the history of rock music. Without Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a gospel-singing electric guitarist, rock might never have been born. Janis Joplin and Grace Slick were forefront in the growing hippie subculture that marked a decade. Aretha Franklin gave sound to the civil rights movement. Riot Grrrl brought forward both feminism and punk. These women are inspirational figures who have encouraged generations of girls to pursue their dreams—musical and otherwise. The profiles in this book make salient points about these women as musicians, performers, artists, and people with something to say.

Philip Auslander is a professor of performance studies and popular musicology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author of numerous articles and seven books, including Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music and In Concert: Performing Musical Persona. He is the editor of The Art Section: An Online Journal of Art and Cultural Commentary, and is also a screen actor.