Black Women Who Shaped Rock & Roll

These days, we take it for granted that black women make up the vanguard of popular music. But decades before Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, and Janelle Monáe, that was already the case — a fact that’s sometimes overlooked in standard histories of rock and its many related styles. In honor of Black History Month, we look back at some of the women who left their mark on the genre, from early blues pioneers to girl-group icons and punk upstarts.