This weeks Illustrated Women in History was submitted by James Purvis. Nadia Boulanger was a French composer and conductor who amongst her other achievements became the first woman to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1912. As a child she was sensitive to music, and a story is told of her hearing a fire alarm …
Today’s Illustrated Woman in History was illustrated by Rebecca Warren and written by Christie Brewster @spawnartisticdirections. Kate Bush, classic and influential musical artist, is many things to many people. A sophisticated pop composer whose gift for melody, chords and arrangement ranks with the best of her contemporaries. Writer and performer of hits that still stand out on …
Dolly Parton is an American singer-songwriter, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian, known primarily for her work in country music. She is the most honoured female country performer of all time. Parton was born in 1946 in Sevier County, Tennessee. From a young age, she would sing in church and at the age of 7 she …
Missy “misdemeanor” Elliott is a Grammy Award-winning singer, rapper, songwriter and producer who has achieved great success while breaking boundaries in the male-dominated world of hip-hop. Missy Elliott was born Melissa Arnette Elliott in 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia. She was the only child of Patricia, a power-company dispatcher, and father Ronnie, a U.S. Marine. She …
Laura Jane Grace is an American musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!. Grace was born in Fort Benning, Georgia in 1980. Her family moved frequently between military bases and lived briefly in Fort Hood, Texas; Pennsylvania; Ohio; Germany; and at a NATO post …
Poly Styrene was a British musician, singer-songwriter, and front-woman of the punk rock band X-Ray Spex. Styrene was born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said in 1957 in Bromley, Kent, England. She was raised in Brixton, London by her mother. Styrene left home at 15 with only £3. She hitchhiked between musical festivals and stayed at hippie crash …
Marian Anderson was an American singer and one of the finest contraltos of her time. She became the first African American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1955 and an important figure in the struggle for black artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States. Anderson was born in South Philadelphia …
Beyoncé is an American multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning recording artist and actress. She is a philanthropist and co-founder of Chime for Change, a global campaign to raise funds and awareness for girls and women around the world. Beyoncé started singing at an early age, her talent was discovered by her dance instructor who was impressed when …
Joan Jett is an American musician. She became a female pioneer in the male-dominated world of rock music while frontwoman for The Runaways. Jett got her first guitar when she was 14 and quit lessons after her teacher would only teach her folk songs since that was all that was deemed appropriate for a girl. …
Kathleen Hanna is an American musician, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. She is best known for being one of the founding members of the Riot Grrrl band Bikini Kill. Hanna was born in 1968 in Portland, Oregon. She became a feminist at a young age, inspired by Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, the feminist …