This summer marks the 10th anniversary of Lilith Fair, the all-female music festival founded by Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. Now we celebrate the new generation of women who have taken up the torch passed by McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Fiona Apple and other ladies of Lilith, and who continue to redefine what it means to be a woman who rocks.
*10 - Beth Ditto
Birthplace: Searcy, Ark.
Sound: Dance punk
Frontwoman for the Gossip, Ditto — a plus-sized lesbian with a Southern drawl and a soulful howl — challenges the skinny white boy indie-rock canon with riot grrrl mentality and a disco backbeat. Her firecracker social consciousness has earned an avid fan in Rosie O’Donnell, who toured alongside Ditto on this summer’s True Colors tour.
*9 - Feist
Birthplace: Amherst, Nova Scotia
Sound: Indie rock
Leslie Feist, who, in addition to recording solo, is also member of Broken Social Scene, crafts wistful tunes that will both break and mend the heart. This former flatmate of fellow Canadian Peaches first dropped jaws with the playfully hushed song ‘Mushaboom,’ off her second album, ‘Let It Die.’ When McDonald’s ask to use the song for $1 million in their commercials, Feist, proving herself a little punk, said no.
*8 - M.I.A.
Birthplace: London
Sound: Garage hip-hop
Manthangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, a.k.a. M.I.A., is a Sri Lankan artist who was raised in London after her family was forced to flee the nation during its civil war. Her debut album, 2005’s ‘Arular,’ was a politically potent, musical free-for-all where dancehall, hip-hop and electro clashed in its own sonic war zone. M.I.A.’s lyrics and artwork have gotten her subsequently banned from MTV and denied a U.S. visa, but she marches on, defiant in her personal doctrine.
*7 - Tegan and Sara
Birthplace: Calgary, Alberta
Sound: Folk punk
Tegan and Sara Quin are out and proud identical twin singer-songwriters from Canada. The two have released five albums of hearty folk-punk, and garnered mainstream attention after the White Stripes covered ‘Walking With a Ghost,’ off the sisters’ album ‘So Jealous’ — a record Rolling Stone named on their 50 Best Albums of 2004 list.
*6 - Amanda Palmer
Birthplace: Lexington, Mass.
Sound: Cabaret punk
Palmer — one-half of Boston’s Brechtian punk cabaret duo the Dresden Dolls — ain’t no damsel in distress. The former street artist chokeholds her demons, teetering between sinister screeches and whimsical whispers of alcohol, self-mutilation and sexual exploration, while discordantly pummeling the piano — stocking-clad legs akimbo — in a sultry, sinful self-deprecation exorcism.
*5 - Regina Spektor
Birthplace: Moscow
Sound: Anti-folk
Part oddball, part girl next door, the Russian-born, Bronx-raised Spektor is an anti-folk ivory tickler who crashes quirky head on with profound. Her one-two punch of lilting melodies and vocal gurgles juxtapose something fierce, while her myriad of styles surface best live, where Spektor’s likely to offer up two kinds of beatings: that of a drumstick on her piano bench, or the beatbox flurry that buzzes from her lips.
*4 - Jenny Lewis
Birthplace: Las Vegas
Sound: Indie rock
Just as the brassy Lewis can curl toes with a sleepy, girly-crooned tune about jumping ship and falling deep despite herself, she’ll just as soon haunt with done-wrong tales buoyed by a soul-scraping howl. As both a solo artist and member of indie rock darlings Rilo Kiley, this former child actor is more Joan Collins than Jett, more Laura Nyro than Veirs.
*3 - Karen O
Birthplace: South Korea
Sound: Art punk
From orgasmic screeches to epileptic body-thrashing, the New Jersey-raised Karen O is more than an idiosyncratic rocker with an unnatural affinity for Spandex. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman is a self-possessed force of nature who’ll dizzy you up with lyrical riddles, douse you in beer and then sing you a love song to rest your pretty little head.
*2 - Lily Allen
Birthplace: London
Sound: Reggae pop
This lippy Limey was listed on Entertainment Weekly’s Top Albums of 2006 with ‘Alright, Still’ — thanks to the much MySpace-buzzed tune ‘Smile’ — despite any proper album release. Allen, whose Godfather is late Clash guitarist Joe Strummer, has since turned heads for her unapologetic verbal barrages. Among her tussles: Kylie Minogue, Lady Sov, Pete Doherty, James Blunt, Madonna, the jerks who stole her dog and the NME.
*1 - Amy Winehouse
Birthplace: London
Sound: Girl-group soul
The tatted-up, beehive sportin’ British neo-soul chanteuse is unapologetic about two things. One is her drinking, which is formidable. The second is the uncanny way in which she meshes modern urban attitudes with classic blues, soul and girl-group sounds. Her second album, ‘Back to Black,’ was recently certified gold, no doubt in part to its lead single, the middle-finger lush anthem ‘Rehab.’
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