I’m the first to admit that I didn’t listen to many women growing up. I was a fan of The Beatles at the age of six and went straight into Indie and Rock music during my teens. Queens of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Incubus, Kings Of Leon, Foo Fighters, The Killers, etc. Not a single female singer in sight!
We would attend music festivals on a yearly basis and would notice the lack of great women in the line-up. Amongst the few women we got to see were Amy Winehouse (lucky us), Florence and the Machine, and Robyn. While these are still a few of my favorites, we always noticed about 90% of the line-up being men. And had to admit that about 90% of our own playlists were consistent out of male singers.
We’re living in a unique moment in time where female singers such as Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande are leading the charts. This means that there are plenty of popular female singers in 2019! That is so freaking cool! According to Music Business World, Billie Eilish even crushed all records by entering 14 songs in the Billboard 100 simultaneously, the most ever by a female singer.
I’ve noticed a massive surge in female singers in my own playlists and it’s time to share the fun. Here are eight female singers that you should be listening to. Massively popular or a little bit underground, they are all amazing!
8 Female Singers You Should Listen To
1. Billie Eilish
Billie is probably going to end up being the most popular female singer in 2019 and is therefore hardly undiscovered. The whole world is obsessed with her, including me. Billie is definitely my -and many of my friends’- Strange Addiction. There is something about Billie, the “I don’t give a f*ck” attitude, the different rhythms in one song, the diversity on her break-through album and her voice, ugh!
She’s grown more than 3 million Instagram followers since the release of her first album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”. Reaching over 20 million Instagram followers the past week, the world -and I- cannot stop listening. As Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) has said before, Billie Eilish is 2019’s proof that Rock is not dead. And that for a 17-yo girl, beyond impressed!
After seeing her on Groovin in the Moo the past weekend, I can now also vouch for her live performances. In one performance she reminded her fans to be kind to each other, to get ALL of their phones out and then put them away for an in-the-moment “When The Party’s Over”. Her concerts are definitely one big singalong and we weren’t complaining. This girl is good!
It’s hard to pick a fav when it comes to Billie, but if you are new to her, start with the wonderfully dark and relatable “When The Party’s Over” and move on to the earworm “Bad Guy”.Get your tickets to Billie’s next show in the US here. If you’re reading in from Belgium, she’s performing at Pukkelpop this summer!
2. LP
“Let’s raise a glass or two, to all the things I’ve lost on you”, one of my favorite quotes from LP’s most famous song “Lost On You”. Cuts right through your soul the first time you hear it and LP went straight to becoming one of my obsessions from the past year.
As a very different artist to your industry pop-star, androgynous LP has the most amazing voice. I love that she features her girlfriend in her videos and is fully herself in all her music and visuals.
She loves playing the ukulele in her music, an instrument I’ve been aspiring to learn for a few years now and is known to whistle in many different ways. LP’s true strength comes through when she performs live. She has one hell of a voice! The aforementioned song, “Lost On You” is about an expected break-up with one of her ex-girlfriends. Funny enough LP loves to thank her and the heartbreak for paying for her new house. With 271 million views, I’m definitely not the only one loving this song!
Once you’re done replaying that one in amazement, I would like to introduce to you “Tightrope”.3. Angie McMahon
‘Loving you is lonely” is part of Angie McMahon’s “Missing Me” and is super relatable. Then again I may have a thing for women who are singing about heartbreak in a way that cuts straight through my heart (like LP’s “Lost On You” does every single time). Spotify lead me in the direction of Angie and I fell in love with her straight away.
4. FKA Twigs
I first discovered FKA Twigs in the Triple J Hottest 100, which is an Australian radio station’s top list for hits that year. It was during my first lap around Australia back in 2015 (ha, saying it like I’m doing a second one -for sure-) and her song “Two Weeks” went on repeat many, many times.
She recently came out with Cellophane and both the song and the video are just magical.
5. Rosalia
During my past week’s deep dive into the Interwebs, I discovered Rosalia. She’s currently one of the hottest artists in Latin music. Living in Sydney has definitely introduced me into a world of Latin music I never even knew existed. Rosalia’s Reggaeton beats will probably stay around for a while.
While I’m listening to her Game of Thrones song on Triple J, “Me Traicionaste“, she really is here to stay. Oh, and she’s currently also collaborating with Billie Eilish, that should be good. If you love both Billie Eilish and Rosalia’s looks, it’s because they both get styling help from stylist and artist Samantha Burkhart. Find tickets to Rosalia’s next shows here.
6. King Princess
Another cool, original chick who is blazing through the music industry with her middle finger up and I love it! Again super young at 19 years old, this legend is singing about heartbreak “if I drink enough, I swear I’ll wake up next to you”, female empowerment and about being a young queer woman. My personal favorite is “1950”!
7. Anitta
Ok, so I had never heard of Anitta before. For a large part of the world, this is absolutely insane because she’s basically Brazil’s Beyonce. This women is well known to so many people that it is crazy her name never made it across the Latin borders. Even with being the best known Latin artists of the past few years, most of my European friends would have never heard of her.
I love discovering new music, even if I can’t understand a single word. Anitta sings in Portugees, Spanish, and English, but the majority is definitely in Portugees. And no matter how much I hang out with Brazilians, I’m not getting it, who can relate?
Anitta introduced me into Brazilian Funk and it’s a great genre to party to (just don’t translate the words or you might be shocked). Her music may not be your thing, but she’s definitely worth getting to know. And don’t be mistaken, she might be only wearing black tape in this video, but this girlboss is running the show!
8. Black Pink
Talk about music that I usually would never listen to, this girl band is happening. They are massive all over the world, breaking streaming records like it’s nothing and recently dominated Coachella. I’m talking Black Pink of course. The K-Pop group is perfectly coordinated and trained (for years!) by a massive label. Why am I including them even if their music would not really be in any of my playlists? Because I love that a genre from all the way across the world is loved by so many people and because these hardworking women are to be admired to their super hard work.
9. There are so many more!
I would love to include your favorite female singer in this article! Who have I not heard from yet and is a must-listen? Comment down below!
I’ve also gathered the female artists I want to listen to the most in a Spotify playlist which you can download for your next roadtrip!
