March is Women’s History Month – a month where we celebrate the accomplishments and impacts women have made in history as we continue to support and uplift women today. I wanted to take the time to acknowledge some amazing women who are absolutely crushing it in the music industry right now and have really bright futures ahead of them. Even though this last year has been extremely difficult and unexpected, they still managed to make some awesome work to get us through.
Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion kicked off 2020 with the release of “Diamonds” featuring Normani for the Birds of Prey soundtrack. In March, Megan released her EP Suga which includes “Savage”. “Savage” quickly went viral on TikTok and in April, Beyoncé featured on the remix, gaining even more traction with a dance trend. The “Savage” remix was Megan’s first #1 on the Billboard charts. Last summer, Megan featured on “WAP” with Cardi B and released “Girls in the Hood”, leading up to the release of her debut studio album Good News in November of 2020. On top of all her music releases, Megan has become a Global Brand Ambassador for Revlon, was nominated for countless award show nominations, and featured on Time’s 100 Most Influential People list. Most recently, she featured on Ariana Grande’s “34+35 Remix” alongside Doja Cat. Megan has had a jammed-pack year with releasing music and professional accomplishments, and it doesn’t seem like she’s slowing down anytime soon.
Taylor Swift
There’s rarely a year where Taylor Swift isn’t booked and busy, but 2020 was something else. She started the year by releasing her self-directed music video for “The Man” from her 2019 album Lover. As she was gearing up for Lover fest, a festival to promote that album, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and it was postponed, then eventually canceled. Taylor decided to drop a surprise album folklore in July without any previous promotion, which was unlike anything she had ever done before. In November, Disney+ released Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, where Taylor teamed up with album co-writers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner to perform each song from the album. Just when fans finally relaxed from the surprise album, Taylor decided to drop folklore’s sister album, evermore in December of 2020. This was shortly followed by Taylor announcing in February 2021 that she had re-recorded her second album Fearless and her new version of “Love Story” would come out in time for Valentine’s Day. Within the span of one year, Taylor has released content from four different albums.
Hayley Williams
Taylor Swift wasn’t the only one who released two albums in less than a year. Hayley Williams, the lead singer of Paramore, released her debut studio album Petals for Armor in May 2020 after releasing the lead single “Simmer” that January. The album charted at #18 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. In February 2021, Hayley released Flowers for Vases/Descansos, her second studio album. On top of these albums, Hayley also runs her own vegan and cruelty-free hair dye brand, Good Dye Young, alongside her makeup and hair artist Brian O’Connor. Petals for Armor and Flowers for Vases/Descansos were very well critically acclaimed, and I’m happy to see her solo projects doing really well. Don’t worry Paramore fans, Hayley has confirmed multiple times that Paramore is still going strong and will continue making music soon.
Phoebe Bridgers
Indie artist Phoebe Bridgers has also had a very eventful year. Phoebe collaborated on multiple songs featured on The 1975’s album Notes on a Conditional Form which was released in May of 2020. They were supposed to tour together over the summer, but the tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Phoebe released her second studio album Punisher in June of 2020, featuring the lead single “Kyoto”. In October 2020, it was announced Phoebe was starting her own record label, Saddest Factory, alongside record label Dead Oceans. On February 6th of this year, she performed “Kyoto” and another song from the album, “I Know the End” on Saturday Night Live. To close out a year of accomplishments, Phoebe is nominated for four Grammys this year, including Best New Artist and Best Rock Song.
Rosalía
Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía had a successful and busy 2020. She started the year off by being nominated for two Grammys, one of which she won, and she made history by being the first Spanish-singing act to be nominated for Best New Artist. Her performance at the 62nd Grammy Awards also marked the first Spanish female artists to perform at the awards. Rosalía featured on many popular tracks this past year, including “Highest in the Room” with Travis Scott and Lil Baby, “TKN” with Travis Scott, a remix of “Relación” with Sech, Daddy Yankee, Farruko, and J Balvin, “La Noche De Anoche” with Bad Bunny, which they performed on Saturday Night Live together, and “Lo Vas a Olvidar” with Billie Eilish for a special episode of Euphoria. “TKN” and “Relación” helped Rosalía earn her first and second entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rosalía also featured on a remix of “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, which was one of the most popular songs of 2020. Rosalía has such a successful and impactful year on music, and it’s exciting to see where she is headed.
Olivia Rodrigo
Many new artists have emerged in the last year, and one of the most notable is Olivia Rodrigo. Olivia stars in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, in which she wrote the critically acclaimed song “All I Want” last year. She signed with Interscope and Geffen Records in 2020, and in January of 2021, Olivia released her debut single “Driver’s License”. The song was an instant hit, and she broke the record for most daily streams for a non-holiday song, and then broke the record again the very next day, Genius reports. It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became a TikTok sensation. Based on the success of her debut single, Olivia has a bright future ahead of her.
It’s so awesome to see so many amazing women accomplishing these goals and creating such critically acclaimed music. All of these women are so talented and I look forward to their future projects. Happy Women’s History Month!