LABELS AND TEXT PANELS - National Museum of Women in the Arts

@ National Museum of Women in the Arts (Sep. 7, 2012–Jan. 6, 2013) 

LABELS AND TEXT PANELS 

LADY GAGA EXHIBIT TEASER 

Lady Gaga Piano, c. 1966 

Everett 

Collection of Lady Gaga 

Lady Gaga’s paternal grandparents bought this piano in 1966 for $780. When Gaga was not even a year old, her 

grandparents gave the piano to her parents. According to Gaga’s mother, “When Stefani started to crawl, she 

would use the leg of the piano to pull herself up and stand, and in doing so, her fingers would eventually land on 

the keys. She would stay there and just keep pressing the keys to hear the sound. We would then start to hold her 

up or sit on the bench and let her tinker, you know, things like ‘Chopsticks’ and ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’” Gaga 

began taking piano lessons when she was four. She wrote her first song when she was five. It was called “Dollar 

Bills” and was inspired by Pink Floyd’s “Money.” She continued to play this piano until her parents bought her a 

baby-grand piano for her 13 th birthday. 

Lady Gaga Childhood Photographs and Sheet Music 


INTRODUCTORY TEXT PANEL 

Women have been the engines of creation and change in popular music since the early days of the 

recording industry. And as women have transformed the art form, female music icons have “pushed the frontiers 

of what it means to be female,” in the words of author Cathay Che. 

There is no one “typical male” sound or style or artist in music, so it follows that there is no one 

archetypal “female” sound or style, attitude or artist. This exhibit highlights the flashpoints, the firsts, the best, the 

celebrated – and sometimes the lesser-known – women who have moved popular music and American culture as a 

whole forward. 

Despite the best of intentions to present the most complete and accurate exhibit, so many deserving 

women have been left with their stories yet to be told here. No one exhibit could capture the entire magnitude of 

women’s contributions to music history. However, the women highlighted here can hold their own among any of 

the most significant artists in history, regardless of gender. 

In the words of pioneering artist and musician Yoko Ono, “In the beginning there was music. Two sounds 

playing with each other and generating energy have created the universe…. We are now seeing the world dancing 

to our songs and our music. One day we will come together and the world will be as one, and a better place for all. 

‘Til then, sisters, let’s keep rocking!” 

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SUFFRAGETTES TO JUKE-JOINT MAMAS: THE FOREMOTHERS OF ROCK 

The story of the birth of the blues conjures an image of a lone, itinerant bluesman, walking slowly into the 

sunset, obscured by dust and waves of heat rising from the road he’s traveling. The fact is, as far as the history of 

recorded blues, the bluesmen were left in the dust, as blueswomen like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith were the first 

– and for a while, the only – artists to record the blues. Mother Maybelle Carter was another trailblazer, making 

the first country-music recordings in 1927, after bouncing down a dusty mountain road in a Ford Model T, eight 

months pregnant with her first child. Their exceptional musical talents aside, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Mother 

Maybelle were like many everyday American women of this era. America was just a few decades beyond its 

frontier era, so women had to be trailblazers. American women of this generation made great strides toward 

gaining equality and basic human rights for themselves and others in society, including attaining the right to vote 

and working toward social justice. The 20th century was a wide-open opportunity for American women to step 

away from the strictures and provincialism of the 19th century. The telephone, the radio, the movies, the 

phonograph and the automobile all helped women embrace the modern world, outside of the traditional bounds 

of the home. 

BILLIE HOLIDAY 

Billie Holiday was the preeminent jazz singer of her day and among the most revered vocalists of the 

century. Though her life was fraught with tragedy and she died at age 44, Holiday left a rich legacy of recorded 

work. Her pearly voice, exquisite phrasing and tough-tender persona influenced the likes of Janis Joplin and Diana 

Ross, among others. She performed and recorded in a jazzy "swing-sing" style from 1933 to 1958 with band 

leaders Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Count Basie. She was also closely associated with jazz saxophonist 

Lester "Prez" Young; he dubbed her "Lady Day," and the nickname stuck. 

Born Eleanora Fagan Gough, she chose the stage name Billie Holiday after film star Billie Dove. In 1933, 

she was discovered performing in a New York club by Columbia A&R man John Hammond. In 1939, she recorded 

her signature songs: "Strange Fruit," a harrowing song about black lynchings in the South, and "God Bless the 

Child," a self-penned classic. At her peak, she headlined New York's Town Hall and toured Europe. She became 

addicted to heroin in the mid-Forties and ultimately died from its ravages in 1959. Lady Sings the Blues, a 

biographical film starring Diana Ross, was a major box-office success in 1972, rekindling interest in Holiday's career 

and music. Billie Holiday was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence in 2000. 

Billie Holiday Fox-Fur Stole, c. 1948 

Collection of the Estate of Louis McKay 

Billie Holiday, c. 1948 

New York, New York 

Collection of the Estate of Louis McKay 

Fox fur stoles were status symbols for fashionable women of means throughout the first half of the 20th century, 

becoming especially popular in the 1940s. In addition to her influence as a performer, Billie Holiday was also a 

fashion icon. Her ultra-feminine hair, makeup and clothing style presented an interesting contrast to her selfassured, 

powerful performances, her strong personality and the harsh realities of her background and experiences. 

Lover Man, 1951 

Billie Holiday 

Collection of Jerry Zolten 

“Lover Man” was written specifically for Billie Holiday, and her recording of the song has been called one of her 

defining moments as an artist. Holiday’s recording reached Number Five on the R&B chart and Number 16 on the 

pop chart. 

“God Bless the Child” Sheet Music, 1941 

Written by Arthur Hertzog Jr. and Billie Holiday 

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Recorded by Billie Holiday 

Collection of Cheese Borger 

Billie Holiday got the idea for this song after an argument with her mother over money. The song received a 

Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1976. 

Trombone Arrangement for "Ain’t Nobody’s Business," c. 1949 

Gift of Terry Stewart 

Billie Holiday first recorded a version of this song in August 1949. The song was written by Clarence Williams, 

Bessie Smith’s accompanist, and was a hit for Smith in 1923. The lyrics tell an unapologetic story of domestic 

abuse, especially the couplet “I swear I won’t call no copper, if I’m beat up by my poppa, ain’t nobody’s business if 

I do.” 

Billie Holiday Handbill, 1938 


Collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum 

Opened in the West Village in 1938, Café Society was the first integrated nightclub in America. Featuring some of 

the greatest names in jazz, Café Society became a second home for Billie Holiday. It was there in 1939 that Holiday 

first performed “Strange Fruit,” her signature song and one of the most important compositions of the 20th 

century. 

Billie Holiday Concert Poster, 1948 



In May 1947, Billie Holiday was arrested for possession of narcotics in her apartment in New York City. She was 

subsequently convicted and incarcerated. Shortly after her release in March 1948, Holiday headlined this 

comeback concert at Carnegie Hall. Even though she had not had a hit record for nearly three years, both shows 

sold out. 

BESSIE SMITH 

Bessie Smith earned the title “Empress of the Blues” by virtue of her forceful vocal delivery and command 

of the genre. Her singing displayed a soulfully phrased, boldly delivered and nearly definitive grasp of the blues. In 

addition, she was an all-around entertainer who danced, acted and performed comedy routines with her touring 

company. She was the highest-paid black performer of her day and arguably reached a level of success greater 

than that of any African-American entertainer before her. 

Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1894. Like many of her generation, she dreamed of 

escaping a life of poverty by way of show business. As a teenager she joined a traveling minstrel show, the Moss 

Stokes Company. Her brother Clarence was a comedian with the troupe, and Smith befriended another member, 

Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (a.k.a. the “Mother of the Blues"), who served as something of a blues mentor. After a 

decade of seasoning on the stage, Smith was signed to Columbia Records in 1923. Her first recording – “Down 

Hearted Blues”/“Gulf Coast Blues” – sold an astounding 800,000 copies. Smith recorded more than 160 songs for 

Columbia and was backed by many of the greatest musicians of her era, including Louis Armstrong and Fletcher 

Henderson. She died in a car crash near Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1937. Bessie Smith was inducted into the Rock 

and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence in 1989. 

Session Card for “Any Woman’s Blues,” 1923 

Bessie Smith 

Collection of Sony Music Entertainment 

Session Card for “Moonshine Blues,” 1924 

Bessie Smith 


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This song was written by Ma Rainey, who was the main attraction in the minstrel troupe Bessie Smith joined in 

1912 at age 18. 

Session Card for “Taint Nobody’s Biz-Ness If I Do,” 1923 

Bessie Smith 


Bessie Smith’s version of this song reached Number Nine. 

Session Card for “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate,” 1925 

Bessie Smith 


This song would become one of the most popular songs of the 1920s, and Bessie Smith made the very first 

recording of it, though it was never commercially released. Smith used the song as her audition for Okeh Records 

in January 1921. The label rejected her for being “too rough.” 

“Far Away Blues”/“I’m Going Back to My Used to Be,” 1925 

Bessie [Smith] and Clara Smith 


Clara Smith was known as the “Queen of the Moaners,” and many consider her late-Twenties recordings as second 

in quality only to her label-mate Bessie Smith’s work. They were not related. Bessie and Clara recorded three duets 

in 1923 and 1925. 

"Back-Water Blues"/“Preachin’ the Blues,” 1927 

Bessie Smith 


Bessie Smith played the Bijou Theater in Nashville from December 30, 1926, to January 9, 1927. During that time, 

the Cumberland River in Nashville grew to almost three miles wide in places following five days of rain. More than 

10,000 people were left homeless. Smith wrote “Back-Water Blues” about the Great Flood a month after having to 

evacuate the Bijou Theater in a rowboat to get to the train station. 

“Oh Daddy Blues” Sheet Music, 1923 

Written by William Russell and Ed Herbert 

Recorded by Bessie Smith 


Hot Chocolates Handbill, 1933 



Connie’s Inn, located at the then-epicenter of Harlem, was a club that featured black entertainers but whites-only 

audiences. The Fats Waller/Andy Razaf musical Hot Chocolates debuted at Connie’s Inn and ran for more than 200 

performances. Two of the biggest stars of jazz, Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong, were featured in the show. 

Bessie Smith Handbill, 1928 



The Lafayette Theater, located in Harlem, was the first theater in New York City to allow integrated audiences. As a 

leading figure in the growing field of jazz music, Bessie Smith was a star attraction. 

MA RAINEY 

By the time Gertrude “Ma” Rainey made her first recording in 1923, she had been a star on the minstrel 

circuit for years. Her varied sound incorporated Delta-style guitars and New Orleans horns. If Bessie Smith is the 

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acknowledged “Queen of the Blues,” then Ma Rainey is the undisputed “Mother of the Blues.” As music historian 

Chris Albertson has written, “If there was another woman who sang the blues before Rainey, nobody remembered 

hearing her.” Rainey fostered the blues idiom, and she did so by linking the earthy spirit of country blues with the 

classic style and delivery of Bessie Smith. 

Rainey began performing at age 14 with a local revue and, in her late teens, joined the touring Rabbit Foot 

Minstrels. After more than a quarter-century as a performer, Rainey was signed to Paramount Records in 1923, at 

age 38. She recorded more than 100 sides during her six years at Paramount. Her most memorable songs were 

often about the harsh realities of life in the Deep South for poor blacks, including such classics as “C.C. Rider,” “Ma 

Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Bo Weevil Blues.” When the blues faded from popularity in the Thirties, Rainey 

returned to her Georgia hometown, where she ran two theaters until her death from a heart attack in 1939. Ma 

Rainey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence in 1990. 

“Cell Bound Blues” / “Ya Da Do,” 1924 

Ma Rainey and Her Georgia Jazz Band 


"Lost Wandering Blues" / "Dream Blues," 1924 

Ma Rainey 

Collection of Jim Prohaska 

Unlike some blues women of her day, Ma Rainey wrote a lot of her own material. She composed both sides of this 

single. 

The Voice of “Ma” Rainey, Volume 1, 1941 

Ma Rainey 


This set of eight sides, originally recorded in 1927, includes the Ma Rainey compositions “New Bo Weevil Blues” 

and “Moonshine Blues.” It was released posthumously. 

The Famous Alabama Minstrels Tent Show Poster, c. 1922 

Collection of Jim Prohaska 

Reproduction 

Typical of tour shows of that time, the Alabama Minstrels featured multiple performers, including Ma Rainey and 

her band. The pianist pictured is Thomas Dorsey, later known as the "Father of Gospel Music." 

SISTER ROSETTA THARPE 

Born in Arkansas in 1915, Rosetta Nubin began singing and playing guitar as a child. After her family 

moved to Chicago in the late 1920s, she played blues and jazz in private, while performing gospel music in public 

settings. Her unique style reflected those secular influences: she bent notes the way that jazz artists did and picked 

guitar like Memphis Minnie. 

After marrying preacher Thomas Thorpe (from which "Tharpe" is a misspelling) in 1934, she moved to 

New York City. On October 31, 1938, she recorded for the first time - four sides with Decca Records backed by 

Lucky Millinder's jazz orchestra. Her records caused an immediate furor: many churchgoers were shocked by the 

mixture of sacred and secular music, but secular audiences loved them. Appearances in John Hammond's 

extravaganza From Spirituals to Swing later that year and Café Society and with Cab Calloway and Benny Goodman 

made her even more popular. Songs like "This Train" and "Rock Me," which combined gospel themes with bouncy, 

up-tempo arrangements, became smash hits among audiences with little previous exposure to gospel music. 

Tharpe was so popular by the Forties that she was one of only two African-American artists to record "V" Discs for 

American servicemen abroad. In the Fifties, Tharpe recorded some straight blues songs, outraging her religious 

constituency. She nonetheless managed to win back that audience, and she is regarded as one of the greatest 

gospel singers of her generation. 

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The Wedding Ceremony of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Russell Morrison, 1951 

Sister Rosetta Tharpe 

Collection of Terry Stewart 

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was married to her third husband and then-manager, Russell Morrison, in front of 25,000 

paying ticket-holders at a Washington, DC baseball stadium in 1951. Tharpe followed the ceremony with a concert 

performance, and the ceremony and concert were recorded and released commercially. 

Gospel Train, 1956 

Sister Rosetta Tharpe 

Collection of Terry Stewart 

Sister Rosetta Tharpe with Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra, 1938 

Collection of Indiana University Archives of African-American Music 

Left to right: Lucky Millinder, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her agent, Moe Gale 

Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s recordings with Lucky Millinder’s jazz orchestra caused a scandal in the gospel-music world 

because of the unprecedented mixture of secular and sacred music. 

Billboard Magazine, April 24, 1954 

Collection of Indiana University Archives of African-American Music 

This ad features some of the most popular recording artists of the day, including Sister Rosetta Tharpe, her 

sometime singing partner Marie Knight and Ella Fitzgerald. 

MAHALIA JACKSON 

Mahalia Jackson did more than any other single artist to popularize gospel music. Inspired by Bessie 

Smith's haunted, brooding testifying, Jackson developed a muscular style that coupled a blues sensibility with a 

deeply held faith in the higher power of God. Unlike some gospel performers, Jackson never strayed from church. 

"Blues are songs of despair," she once said. "Gospel songs are the songs of hope. When you sing gospel, you have a 

feeling there's a cure for what's wrong. When you're through with the blues, you've got nothing to rest on." 

Jackson was born in 1911 in New Orleans, where she listened to both Bessie Smith and Mamie Smith. She 

migrated north to Chicago in 1927. There, she met Thomas Dorsey, and the two performed as a duo at church 

meetings. In 1937, she made her first commercial recordings for Coral Records. In 1954, legendary talent scout 

John Hammond signed her to Columbia Records. From that point on, she became the most famous gospel singer in 

the world. She sang for Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, performing at the latter’s inauguration. A favorite of 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson sang at his request immediately before his “I Have a Dream” speech at the 

March on Washington in August 1963. She died on January 27, 1972. Mahalia Jackson was inducted into the Rock 

and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence in 1997. 

Mahalia Jackson Concert Poster, 1962 

Topeka, Kansas 


Mahalia Jackson was the rare devotional-music performer who could headline concerts in large, non-church 

venues. 

APEX Pomade Point-of-Sale Display, c. 1954 


Despite her reticence to record secular music, Mahalia Jackson agreed to promote this hair- care product. 

The World’s Greatest Gospel Singer, 1954 

Mahalia Jackson 


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Other than some notable jazz performers, there were very few African-American performers on Columbia Records 

when Mahalia Jackson signed to the label in 1954. This is her first full-length album for the label. 

MOTHER MAYBELLE CARTER 

Mother Maybelle Carter was born in 1909 in Nickelsville, Virginia. In 1927, she, her brother-in-law A.P. 

Carter and his wife, Sara, who was Maybelle’s cousin, were among the artists recorded by Ralph Peer in Bristol, 

Tennessee. These sessions, which also included Jimmie Rodgers, became the foundation for recorded country 

music. The Carter Family incorporated devotional songs with folk songs that had been handed down through 

generations. Maybelle Carter’s guitar style, which combined strumming and melodic picking, revolutionized how 

the guitar was played. With daughters Helen, Anita and June, she performed for decades as Mother Maybelle and 

the Carter Sisters. Maybelle Carter died in 1978. 

The Carter Sisters Concert Poster, 1955 

Columbia, Kentucky 

Collection of Mitch Diamond 

The children of Carter Family co-founder Mother Maybelle Carter – June, Anita and Helen Carter – were longtime 

members of the Grand Ole Opry. 

Mother Maybelle Carter Dress, c. 1955 

Designed by Maybelle Carter 

Collection of John Carter Cash 

Maybelle Carter made many of the dresses she and her daughters wore for performances. 

Mother Maybelle Carter Guitar 

1964 Gibson L5 Custom 


Until the late Sixties, Mother Maybelle Carter toured and performed with the same Gibson L5 guitar she had used 

since the Carter Family began recording in 1927. Her daughter June and son-in-law Johnny Cash thought the 

original L5 was too significant to risk damaging, so they had this guitar custom-made for her. It became her main 

instrument until she retired from performing in the mid-Seventies. The original L5 is in the permanent collection of 

the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. 

Mother Maybelle Carter Bowling Shirt, c. 1959 

Design by Lady Amberley 


Maybelle Carter was an avid bowler and played in a league in Madison, Tennessee. The team was sponsored by 

Buckley’s Record Shop, a store on Lower Broadway in Nashville. 

The Carter Family Album of Smokey Mountain Ballads Song Folio, 1941 


Reproduction 

GET OUTTA THAT KITCHEN, RATTLE THOSE POTS AND PANS: ROCK EMERGES 

Like the birth of the blues, the birth of rock and roll involved the hard work and dedication of many 

women. R&B royalty Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker, Etta James, Big Mama Thornton and Dinah Washington, Zola 

Taylor of the Platters, Bo Diddley’s gal guitar-slingers Peggy Jones (Lady Bo) and Norma Jean Wafford (the 

Duchess); rockabilly fire-cats Wanda Jackson, Cordell Jackson, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, and Connie Francis; and 

songwriters Dorothy LaBostrie (who cleaned up Little Richard’s original dirty lyrics for “Tutti Frutti,”) Felice Bryant 

(who, with her husband, wrote hits for the Everly Brothers) and Sharon Sheely (who wrote “Poor Little Fool” for 

Rick Nelson) all were there as rock was making its first squeals and howls. The early rock and roll road was rough. 

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African-American women in the early days of rock had an especially hard time in the segregated South, often the 

only women on the bus, with nowhere on the road to meet their most basic needs. Ruth Brown was nearly killed in 

a horrific car crash while traveling to her audition for Atlantic Records. The road proved fatal for country chanteuse 

Patsy Cline, who had cheated death twice previously in serious car crashes. Eager to see her children after weeks 

on the road, she declined a friend’s offer of a ride and decided to take a plane, which crashed just minutes away 

from her home. But the women of rock persevered. As the 1960s began, women had managed to become part of 

the fabric of the new rock and roll industry, not just as singers, but as instrumentalists, songwriters, producers and 

record-label owners, paving the way for the next generation of female rockers. 

BRENDA LEE 

Known as “Little Miss Dynamite,” Brenda Lee could sing rockabilly, country and pop standards with equal 

conviction, and her versatility as an interpreter has allowed her a career of exceptional longevity. Brenda Lee was 

born Brenda Mae Tarpley in Atlanta. She won her first talent contest at age five and became a regular on a 

Saturday-afternoon TV show at age seven. In 1956, she auditioned for country singer Red Foley and wound up 

joining the cast of Ozark Jubilee, a Missouri-based country-music TV show. That May, she signed to Decca Records, 

inaugurating a prolific and hit-filled recording career. 

Her impact on rock and roll in the late Fifties and early Sixties had much to do with her youthful ability to 

belt out a tune. She cut material in a variety of styles, verging on rockabilly in her twangy remake of Hank Williams’ 

“Jambalaya,” sounding like a gospel singer on “One Day at a Time” and rocking hard on the vocal showcase 

“Dynamite,” from which she acquired her nickname. After the pop hits subsided, she became a highly successful 

country-music artist in the Seventies and Eighties. Brenda Lee has sold more than 100 million records around the 

world and charted in more categories – including pop, rhythm & blues, rock, easy listening and country – than any 

other woman in the history of recorded music. Brenda Lee was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 

2002. 

Brenda Lee Paper Dolls, 1961 


Brenda Lee Telegram from Dusty Springfield, 1964 

Collection of Brenda Lee 

Brenda Lee Stage Dress, c. 1962 

Design by Helena Barbieri 

Collection of Brenda Lee 

This dress was worn by Brenda Lee for an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. 

LAVERN BAKER 

With "Tweedlee Dee," a huge hit single in 1954 on both the pop and R&B charts, LaVern Baker became 

one of the first women to capture the essence of rock and roll. With her rich musical background and flamboyant 

personality, Baker was a natural figure to help usher in the rock and roll era. The niece of blues singer Memphis 

Minnie, Baker (born Delores Williams) was blessed with a powerful voice, which she put to use as a teenager 

singing in nightclubs under the stage name Little Miss Sharecropper. She recorded under that and other 

pseudonyms (including Bea Baker), finally adopting the name LaVern Baker while singing for Todd Rhodes and His 

Orchestra. Her recording career swung into high gear with her signing to Atlantic Records in 1953. While on 

Atlantic, Baker cut half a dozen singles that rose to high positions on both the pop and R&B charts, including 

"Tweedlee Dee" and "Jim Dandy." Coming at a time when jazz singing was swiftly evolving into an earthier, more 

down-home and emotionally fervent style known as rhythm & blues, Baker proved to be one of the key vocalists 

who furthered that transition. She scored her biggest pop hit in 1959 with "I Cried a Tear." 

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After leaving Atlantic in 1962, Baker continued to record and tour. In 1990, she was among the first eight 

recipients of a Career Achievement Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 1991, Baker was inducted into 

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She died in 1997. 

"Tweedlee Dee" Sheet Music, 1954 

Written by Winfield Scott 

Recorded by LaVern Baker 


"Tweedlee Dee" / "Tomorrow Night," 1955 

LaVern Baker and the Gliders 


“Tweedlee Dee” was LaVern Baker’s first hit, reaching Number Four on the R&B chart and Number 14 on the pop 

chart in 1955. 

LaVern Baker Cashbox Award, 1956 

Gift of LaVern Baker 

Cashbox magazine honored LaVern Baker as Best R&B Female Vocalist in 1956. 

LaVern Baker, c. 1960 


LaVern Baker Dress, c. 1960 


WANDA JACKSON 

Wanda Jackson emerged from a small town in Oklahoma to become the first “Queen of Rockabilly.” She 

started out her career singing with the likes of Hank Thompson and Red Foley, who hosted the Ozark Jubilee. She 

had a country hit in 1954 with “You Can’t Have My Love,” a duet with Billy Gray. With encouragement from Elvis 

Presley, whom she met while on a package tour in 1955, Jackson moved in the direction of rock and roll. In 1957, 

Jackson gave the full-blown rockabilly treatment to a rhythm & blues number called “Fujiyama Mama.” Though it 

missed the U.S. charts, it became a hit in Japan. Jackson topped herself as a rock and roll singer with “Let’s Have a 

Party,” a song previously recorded as “Party” by Elvis Presley (for the film Lovin’ You) and the Collins Kids. The song 

became Jackson’s first Top 40 hit, reaching Number 37. 

She recorded more rock and roll on the albums There’s a Party Goin’ On (1961) and Rockin’ with Wanda 

(1963). Jackson had two more Top 40 hits in 1961 - “Right or Wrong” and “In the Middle of a Heartache” – but 

both were portrayed more country than rockabilly, and that’s ultimately the direction she pursued, racking up 30 

country hits between 1954 and 1974. Jackson has returned to rock and roll from time to time. Rock ‘n’ Roll Away 

Your Blues was released in 1986. In 2009, she returned to her roots once again with I Remember Elvis, a tribute to 

her old friend and touring partner. And in 2011, she released The Party Ain’t Over, produced by Jack White of the 

White Stripes. Wanda Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence in 2009. 

Two Sides of Wanda, 1964 

Wanda Jackson 


Two Sides of Wanda presented the best of both of Wanda Jackson’s musical worlds. Side one of the album 

highlighted her formidable rock and roll chops with such tracks as “A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” while side two 

features such country classics as Kitty Wells’ “Making Believe.” 

Wanda Jackson Tour Ledger, 1955 

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Collection of Wanda Jackson Entertainment 

Reproduction 

Wanda Jackson toured with Elvis Presley in 1955. Presley suggested to Jackson that she break out of country and 

start writing and recording rockabilly songs. 

Wanda Jackson Acoustic Guitar, c. 1958 

Martin D-18 

Collection of Wanda Jackson Entertainment 

Vintage Martin D-18s are favorites of guitarists and are among the most costly and collectible of vintage guitars. 

Wanda Jackson played this guitar throughout her career. 

Wanda Jackson Dress and Shoes, c. 1959 

Dress Designed by Wanda Jackson 

Shoes Designed by Alexander Green 

Collection of Wanda Jackson 

"I was the first one to put some glamour in the country music – fringe dresses, high heels, long earrings," Jackson 

said of her outfits. This dress was designed by her and made by her mother, Nellie Jackson, who was a professional 

seamstress. 

RUTH BROWN 

Atlantic Records was often called "the House that Ruth built," owing to the fact that Ruth Brown made the 

Billboard charts 24 times during the Fifties. Born in Virginia, Brown signed with Atlantic in 1948. She gave the 

fledgling company its second-ever hit with “So Long,” a simple, bluesy showcase for her torchy, church-and-jazzschooled 

voice. “Teardrops from My Eyes,” her second R&B hit, brought out her more swaggering, aggressive side, 

and she was rewarded with her first Number One R&B hit. For the duration of the Fifties, Brown dominated the 

R&B charts and even crossed over into rock and roll with some success with “Lucky Lips” and “This Little Girl’s 

Gone Rockin’.” But her best work was to be found on such red-hot mid-Fifties R&B sides as “5-10-15 Hours” and 

“(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean.” No less a rock and roll pioneer than Little Richard has credited Brown 

with influencing his vocal style. After many years out of the public eye, Ruth Brown returned in the late Seventies 

with vital new records and a Tony Award-winning Broadway performance. She died in 2006. Ruth Brown was 

inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. 

B.B. King / Ruth Brown Concert Poster, 1957 

Chattanooga, Tennessee 


Ruth Brown Dress, 1988 

Collection of Ron McPhatter 

Ruth Brown wore this dress in her role as Motormouth Maybelle in the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. 

Ruth Brown Eulogy from President Bill Clinton, 2006 

Collection of Ron McPhatter 

Ruth Brown’s funeral was held in her native Portsmouth, Virginia, on November 22, 2006. 

Ruth Brown Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theater, 1989 

Collection of the Estate of Ruth Brown 

Ruth Brown won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical in 1989 for her role in 

Black and Blue. 

"Teardrops from My Eyes" Sheet Music, 1950 

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Written by Rudolph Toombs 

Recorded by Ruth Brown 

Gift of Barbara and Larry Siegel 

"Teardrops from My Eyes" was Ruth Brown’s second single and her first to reach Number One, where it stayed for 

11 weeks. The smash hit earned her the nicknames “Miss Rhythm” and “The Girl with the Teardrop in Her Voice.” 

"(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" / "R.B. Blues," 1953 

Ruth Brown 


Ruth Brown reached the top of the R&B chart for the third time with "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean." 

The lyric tells the story of a woman fed up with mistreatment from an abusive lover and states her resolve to “find 

a good man…one that’s gonna treat me right.” 

WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW: THE EARLY 1960S 

The roots of the girl-group era date back to 1956, the year when a vocal group called the Teenagers 

featuring Frankie Lymon lit up the charts with “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.” Mary Wilson of the Supremes 

remembers that many girls around her neighborhood weren’t content just to listen to Frankie Lymon sing on their 

transistor radios – they wanted to be Frankie Lymon. Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes auditioned for her future 

producer and husband, Phil Spector, by singing “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” when they met in 1962. In 1957, the 

Chantels scored the first real girl-group chart hit with a song called “He’s Gone.” The fact that Chantels’ lead singer 

Arlene Smith co-wrote “He’s Gone” was a bit of an anomaly in the male-dominated music industry of the time. In 

the girl-group world, most of the actual performers were teenage girls, as were some of its most prolific 

songwriters, including Ellie Greenwich and Carole King. Even one of the most successful girl-group record labels, 

Scepter, was owned and run by a woman, Florence Greenberg, who had been a housewife in the New Jersey 

suburbs of New York City. Greenberg also managed the Shirelles, the most successful of the girl groups. But again, 

Greenberg’s executive position was the exception to the rule of the male-dominated music industry. However, the 

girl groups, while sometimes seen as puppets manipulated by unseen and mostly male handlers, were an authentic 

manifestation of the worldview of teenage girls – a group just coming into its own in the early 1960s and 

increasingly recognized for its growing economic power as consumers and arbiters of style. The girl groups 

reflected teenage girls’ explorations of their world, their limitations and their limitless potential. Groups like the 

Shangri-Las, the Shirelles and the Ronettes gave voice to those explorations and the possibilities that waited down 

the street — or just around the corner. 

LESLEY GORE 

Lesley Gore was born in New York City and was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey. Gore was 16 years old in 

1962, when the Grammy-nominated "It's My Party" became a Number One hit. Gore recalled, "I was a 16-year-old 

with no technique who had been in the occasional high-school show. I sang from the heart. I did onstage what 

came naturally to me.” “It’s My Party” was followed by a string of hits, including "Judy's Turn to Cry," “She's a 

Fool," "You Don't Own Me," "Maybe I Know" and "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows." Gore’s records were 

produced by Quincy Jones, who would go on to produce the history-making Michael Jackson albums Off the Wall, 

Thriller and Bad. Instead of continuing to record and tour, Gore chose to attend Sarah Lawrence College, which 

limited her career to weekends and summer vacations. She took some stage roles and made the occasional 

television appearance, including a turn as Catwoman’s sidekick on the Batman series in 1966. In 1983, she was 

nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song for “Out Here on My Own” from the film Fame. She still tours and 

records, in addition to appearing in theater productions. Gore recalled in a 1999 interview, "The song I treasure 

most is 'You Don't Own Me.' Every time I get up on a stage, that song grows, gets larger and larger to me. I 

remember when my producer, Quincy Jones, and I heard 'It's My Party' - I had an instant relationship to it. What 

was it about that song? Probably the little middle-class white rebel in me was trying desperately to get out. And 

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'You Don't Own Me' made it more so. So I was choosing material that seemed to be earmarking where I was going 

to go philosophically. Those songs shaped my career in terms of ideology." 

Musical Arrangement for “It’s My Party,” 1963 

Arrangement by Billy Byers, Al Cohn and Quincy Jones 

Gift of Lesley Gore 

“It’s My Party” was Lesley Gore’s first hit. It reached Number One on both the pop and R&B charts in 1963. Gore’s 

expression of teenage broken-hearted petulance in “It’s My Party” evolved into full-blown proto-feminist defiance 

with the release of 1964’s “You Don’t Own Me,” which reached Number Two. Eminem’s “Untitled,” from 2010’s 

Recovery, features a sample of “You Don’t Own Me.” 

“You Don’t Own Me” / “Run, Bobby, Run,” 1964 

Lesley Gore 

In Memory of Cecile Rhe Frame Rutledge 

Lesley Gore’s expression of teenage broken-hearted petulance in “It’s My Party” evolved into full-blown protofeminist 

defiance with the release of 1964’s “You Don’t Own Me,” which reached Number Two. Eminem’s 

“Untitled,” from 2010’s Recovery, features a sample of “You Don’t Own Me.” 

“Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows” / “You’ve Come Back,” 1965 

Lesley Gore 

Gift of Aurelia Campbell 

Lesley Gore received a Grammy nomination for “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows,” which she performed in the 

1965 Frankie Avalon film Ski Party. 

Lesley Gore Music Score Case, 1963 


Lesley Gore’s producer, Quincy Jones, gave Gore this music score case on the eve of her first tour of the U.K., in 

1963. The case was painted by a fan of Gore’s during her residency at Lulu’s Roadhouse near Toronto, a 

preeminent nightclub in North America at the time. 

Lesley Gore Dress, 1969 

Design by Cosmo Sirchio 


Lesley Gore wore this dress at her New York nightclub debut at the Persian Room of the Plaza Hotel. Gore changed 

into the dress for performances of her encore, recalling, “The dress was so heavy I could only wear it for one 

number!” 

THE SHIRELLES 

The Shirelles were one of the earliest and certainly among the very best girl groups from the late Fifties 

and early Sixties. No less a rock and roll expert than John Lennon proclaimed the Shirelles his favorite group in the 

early days of Beatlemania. Shirley Alston-Reeves, Addie “Micki” Harris, Doris Kenner Jackson and Beverly Lee were 

high-school students in Passaic, New Jersey, when they formed the group in 1957. A fellow student heard the 

Pequellos, as they called themselves, perform at a school talent show. She brought them to the attention of her 

mother, Florence Greenberg, who owned a small record label. Renaming themselves the Shirelles, they released 

their first single, “I Met Him on a Sunday,” on Greenberg’s Tiara Records. It was picked up for national distribution 

by Decca and narrowly missed the Top 40 in 1958. The single established the Shirelles and helped Greenberg 

launch the legendary Scepter label. 

In 1959, they first released the classic “Dedicated to the One I Love.” Though it barely dented the Top 100, 

it soared to Number Three upon re-release in 1961. Among their other hits were “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” - 

the first Number One single by a girl group - “Soldier Boy” and “Baby It’s You.” The only thing that could stop the 

Shirelles, ironically, was the Beatles – or, more precisely, the British Invasion, which basically brought about a 

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major shift in popular music. The Shirelles would never crack the Top 40 after 1963. Still, the group continued 

recording, and to this day, a version of the Shirelles led by original member Beverly Lee remains active and Shirley 

Alston-Reeves continues to perform as a solo artist. The Shirelles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of 

Fame in 1996. 

The Shirelles 


Clockwise from left: Addie “Micki” Harris, Beverly Lee, Doris Kenner Jackson and Shirley Alston-Reeves 

Shirley Alston-Reeves of the Shirelles Dress, c. 1965 

Collection of Shirley Alston-Reeves 

The Shirelles set the tone for girl-group style with their elegant gowns and impeccable grooming. 

Spontaneous Combustion, 1967 

The Shirelles 


This live album was recorded at a Shirelles’ performance at Columbia University. 

Baby It’s You, 1962 

The Shirelles 


This album includes the Number Eight hit title track and “Soldier Boy,” which reached Number One. 

“Foolish Little Girl” Sheet Music, 1963 

Written by Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller 

Recorded by the Shirelles 

Gift of Les Zakarin 

The Shirelles berate the “Foolish Little Girl” of this song for having second thoughts about a former lover who has 

moved on. The single reached Number Four. 

THE SUPREMES 

The Supremes were the most successful female group of the Sixties, amassing 12 Number One pop hits in 

a five-year span. The original trio of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, who grew up together in 

Detroit’s Brewster housing project, was Motown personified; no other Motown act fit so well into the hit-making 

machinery of Berry Gordy’s label. Working hand-in-hand with the songwriting-and-production team of Brian 

Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, the Supremes began their run of hits with “Where Did Our Love Go” in 

1964. It was followed by such classics as “Baby Love,” “Come See about Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “I Hear 

a Symphony,” “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” 

During this period the Supremes were a national phenomenon. They appeared on Ed Sullivan’s TV show 

and on the cover of Time magazine. They were hanging out in England with the Beatles and touring with the 

Motown caravan. With their glittering gowns and sophisticated look, the Supremes were even able to break into 

the high-stakes world of New York supper clubs and Las Vegas showrooms, fulfilling Gordy’s crossover dream. 

Ballard left in 1967 and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong. In early 1970, Ross left to pursue a solo career. The group 

carried on in different incarnations until the late Seventies, with Mary Wilson at the helm. The Supremes were 


Diana Ross and the Supremes Sing and Perform Funny Girl, 1968 

The Supremes 


Mary Wilson of the Supremes Dress, 1968 

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Courtesy of the Mary Wilson/Supreme Legacy Collection 

Mary Wilson purchased this dress at a boutique on Hollywood Boulevard in California. She wore it on the cover of 

the album Diana Ross and the Supremes Sing and Perform Funny Girl. 

The Supremes, 1968 

Courtesy of Universal Music 

Left to right: Cindy Birdsong, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross 

Mary Wilson of the Supremes Dress, 1968 

Design by Michael Travis 

Courtesy of the Mary Wilson/Supreme Legacy Collection 

First worn on the Ed Sullivan Show’s Tribute to Irving Berlin special in May 1968, this gown was also pictured on the 

gatefold of the TCB soundtrack album. 

DARLENE LOVE 

Darlene Love was a high-school sophomore in California with a powerful church-choir voice when she 

joined the popular girl group the Blossoms as their first lead singer in 1958. They shot to immortality in 1962, 

when producer Phil Spector used them as surrogates on his new Crystals’ singles. With “He’s a Rebel” and “He’s 

Sure the Boy I Love,” Darlene Love turned into a familiar (though uncredited) voice on radio and records; she also 

became a member of Spector’s Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. Love’s own 1963 hits – “(Today I Met) The Boy I'm 

Gonna Marry,” “Wait ‘til My Bobby Gets Home,” “A Fine Fine Boy,” “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” – made 

her a household name. By 1964, the Blossoms, who were regulars on TV’s Shindig!, had graduated to first-call Alist 

session singers (see them on Elvis Presley’s 1968 comeback special). Love left in 1973 to start a family, but the 

early-1980s roots-rock revival drew her back. She starred in the Broadway “jukebox” musical Leader of the Pack 

(based on the Ellie Greenwich songbook). U2 later invited her to sing on their 1987 remake of “Christmas (Baby 

Please Come Home).” Ever since, Love’s annual wall-of-sound performance of the song (with Paul Shaffer and the 

CBS Orchestra) on David Letterman’s final pre-Christmas-hiatus show has been a high point of the season. Darlene 

Love was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. 

Darlene Love Dress, c. 1981 

Collection of Darlene Love 

Darlene Love wore this dress when she was a member of the backing band on the television series Solid Gold. 

Hep Magazine, February 1966 

Collection of Darlene Love 

Hep magazine was Sepia’s sister publication, and, like Sepia, Hep presented the accomplishments of the African- 

American community, but with more of a youth and entertainment-industry focus. Darlene Love’s vocal group, the 

Blossoms, were featured prominently in this issue, discussing their regular appearances on the ABC-TV musical 

variety show Shindig! 

CAROLE KING 

Carole King has had a long, successful career as a songwriter, singer and pianist. Born Carol Klein (she 

added the “e” to her first name) in 1942 in New York City, she began playing piano and singing while still in high 

school. She changed her last name to “King,” and in 1960, she formed a songwriting partnership with Gerry Goffin. 

They were married that same year. Their first hit was “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” recorded by the Shirelles. The 

song became the first Number One hit by a girl group. Goffin and King went on to compose a string of classic hits 

and cherished album tracks for a variety of artists during the Sixties. A brief sampling: “Up on the Roof” (the 

Drifters), “One Fine Day” (the Chiffons), “I’m into Something Good” (Herman’s Hermits), “Will You Love Me 

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Tomorrow” (the Shirelles), “Take Good Care of My Baby” (Bobby Vee), “Chains” (the Cookies), “Don’t Bring Me 

Down” (the Animals), “Take a Giant Step” (the Monkees) and “Goin’ Back” (the Byrds). 

The couple divorced in 1968, and King went on to become one of the most popular singer-songwriters of 

the Seventies. Her 1971 album, Tapestry, contains such classics as “It’s Too Late” and “You’ve Got a Friend.” A tour 

de force of confessional songwriting and understated performances, Tapestry held down the top spot on the 

album chart for 15 weeks. King continues to record, and her 2010 tour with James Taylor was a major success. 

Carole King and Gerry Goffin were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. 

"You’ve Got a Friend" Sheet Music, 1971 

Written by Carole King 

Recorded by Carole King 


Carole King’s version of "You’ve Got a Friend" appeared on Tapestry, her landmark solo record. James Taylor’s 

version was his first Number One hit, just a few weeks after King herself occupied the top spot with the song. 

"It Might as Well Rain until September" Sheet Music, 1962 

Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King 

Recorded by Carole King 


This was Carole King’s first hit record. It reached Number 22 in 1962. Other than a minor hit in 1963, she didn’t 

return to the charts until “It’s Too Late” went to Number One in 1971. 

"Chains" Sheet Music, 1962 

Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King 

Recorded by the Cookies 


The first of five hits for the Cookies, this record hit Number 17 in 1962. Two of this group’s singers, Margie Hendrix 

and Ethel “Darlene” McCrea, became core members of the Raelettes, Ray Charles’ female vocal accompanists. The 

Beatles recorded this song at their first recording session for Parlophone Records. 

CYNTHIA WEIL 

Cynthia Weil was born in New York City in 1940. She was trained as an actress and dancer, but while still 

in her teens, Weil demonstrated a songwriting ability that eventually led to her collaboration with Barry Mann, 

whom she would marry in August 1961. With Weil writing the words and Mann the music, they came up with a 

number of songs that addressed such serious subjects as racial and economic divides (“Uptown,” a hit for the 

Crystals) and the difficult reality of making it in the big city (“On Broadway,” a Number Nine hit for the Drifters in 

1963 and a Number Seven hit for George Benson in 1978). “Only in America,” a hit for Jay and the Americans, 

tackled segregation and racism, while “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” which the Animals took to Number 13, 

became an anthem for Vietnam soldiers, antiwar protesters and young people who viewed it as an anthem of 

greater opportunities. 

Some of Mann and Weil’s best writing was done for the Righteous Brothers. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” 

cowritten with Phil Spector, is a perfect union of song, arrangement, production and performance that carried 

popular music to a new level of sophistication in the mid-Sixties. “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” – written by 

Mann and Weil and produced by Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers in a Spector-like style – was nearly as good 

and also went to Number One. Other notable numbers they wrote for Phil Spector’s stable of artists include 

“Walking in the Rain” (Ronettes) and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” (Crystals). Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann were 


“Somewhere Out There” Sheet Music, 1986 

Written by James Horner, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil 

Recorded by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram 

15


“Somewhere Out There” was the theme from the animated film An American Tail. It won two Grammy Awards in 

1988. 

"Johnny Loves Me" Sheet Music, 1962 

Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil 

Recorded by Shelley Fabares 


“Johnny Loves Me” was the follow up to Shelley Fabares’ Number One hit “Johnny Angel.” Fabares spun off a 

music career from her role as Mary Stone on the television sitcom The Donna Reed Show. Fabares would go on to 

co-star in three Elvis Presley films and in the television sitcom Coach. 

“Kicks” Sheet Music, 1966 


Recorded by Paul Revere and the Raiders 


“Kicks” was originally written for the Animals, but lead singer Eric Burdon declined to record it. Paul Revere and 

the Raiders’ version reached Number Four. “Kicks” was also recorded by the Monkees, the Nazz, Everclear and Del 

Shannon. 

“Uptown” Sheet Music, 1962 


Recorded by the Crystals 


“Uptown” was quite groundbreaking for its day. The song’s lyrics squarely confronted the strivings of poor 

minorities, a subject seldom addressed by pop music in the early 1960s. The song reached Number 13. 

THE SHANGRI-LAS 

The Shangri-Las formed in 1963 in the borough of Queens in New York City. The group was composed of 

sisters Betty and Mary Weiss and twin sisters Margie and Mary Ann Ganser. The four girls (who performed live as a 

trio, as Betty didn’t tour) worked up a repertoire of popular songs of the day, started performing locally and were 

noticed by record producer George “Shadow” Morton. On Morton’s way to the Shangri-Las’ first recording session, 

he realized he didn’t have a song. He pulled his car to the side of the road and quickly wrote “Remember (Walking 

in the Sand).” The song became the Shangri-Las’ first hit, reaching Number Five in 1964. The group’s biggest hit, 

“Leader of the Pack,” followed later in 1964 and reached Number One. Ellie Greenwich, who wrote “Leader of the 

Pack” for the Shangri-Las, remembers being afraid of “those scary girls from a rough neighborhood in Queens. I 

thought they had razors in their hair.” Despite the group’s carefully crafted street-tough image, the girls’ look and 

appeal was accessible and marketable enough for them to appear in television commercials and print ads for 

Revlon makeup and public-service announcements for dating etiquette. The Shangri-Las continued to record and 

hit Number Six with “I Can Never Go Home Anymore” in 1965. Mary Ann Ganser died in 1970, her twin Margie 

died in 1996. Mary Weiss recalled, “I came from an extremely poor family. The Gansers were relatively poor. 

Nobody had any money…so considering where the four of us came from…it’s a miracle in itself to have come from 

those circumstances and have hit records, so I’m very grateful.” 

Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las, 1966 

The Shangri-Las 


I Can Never Go Home Any More, 1965 



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This album’s melodramatic, teen-angst-soaked title song reached Number Six. 



Left to right: Margie Ganser, Betty Weiss and Mary Weiss 

ELLIE GREENWICH 

Ellie Greenwich was a singer, songwriter and record producer. She was born in Brooklyn in 1940 and 

began composing songs when she was a teenager. In 1959, while attending Hofstra University, she met Jeff Barry, 

who would eventually become her husband and main songwriting partner. Before marrying Barry, Greenwich 

wrote songs with different partners. She was also a session singer, recording so many demos that she became 

known as New York's “Demo Queen.” Her biggest hits during this period were written with Tony Powers. The 

Greenwich-Powers team made the charts with such songs as "He's Got the Power" (the Exciters), "(Today I Met) 

The Boy I'm Gonna Marry" (Darlene Love) and "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts?" (Bob B. Soxx and the 

Blue Jeans). 

In October 1962, Barry and Greenwich married, and shortly afterward they decided to write songs 

exclusively with each other. The voluminous Barry-Greenwich catalog includes five songs that went to Number 

One: “Chapel of Love” (Dixie Cups), “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” (Manfred Mann), “Leader of the Pack” (Shangri-Las), 

“Hanky Panky” (Tommy James and the Shondells) and “Da Doo Ron Ron” (Crystals). 

Greenwich and Barry broke up in 1965, but Greenwich continued on as a major songwriter. She also 

recorded two solo albums, Ellie Greenwich Composes, Writes and Sings (1968) and Let It Be Written, Let It Be Sung 

(1973), and she helped write and appeared in the Broadway musical Leader of the Pack, a spirited celebration of 

her and Barry’s songs. Greenwich died in 2009 of a heart attack following a bout of pneumonia. Ellie Greenwich 

and Jeff Barry were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. 

Leader of the Pack: The Songs of Ellie Greenwich Showbill, 1984 

Collection of the Family of Ellie Greenwich 

Leader of the Pack was a jukebox musical made up of Ellie Greenwich-penned hits from the 1960s and loosely 

based upon her life story. The musical previewed at the Bottom Line nightclub in 1984 and opened on Broadway in 

1985. It ran for 120 shows. 

“River Deep-Mountain High” Handwritten Score, 1966 

Written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich 


“River Deep-Mountain High” revisited the collaboration between Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich that 

began with “Be My Baby.” Ike and Tina Turner’s recording of “River Deep,” showcasing Tina Turner in a tour de 

force performance, became an international cult favorite, though in the U.S. it never achieved the success of 

Spector’s previous “Wall of Sound” productions. 

“Do Wah Diddy Diddy” / “What You Wanna Do,” 1964 

Manfred Mann 


“Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, was originally recorded in 1963 by the Exciters. 

Manfred Mann’s version of the song reached Number One. 

“Be My Baby” Sheet Music, 1963 

Written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry 

Recorded by the Ronettes 


Reproduction 

17

“Be My Baby” was the Ronettes’ first, biggest and most enduring hit and is often cited as the greatest 

achievement of Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound.” The song reached Number Two in October 1963. 

“Babying My Baby,” c. 1965 

Written by Ellie Greenwich 

Unrecorded 


Ellie Greenwich, c. 1963 


Letter from Bobby Darin to Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, June 4, 1965 


Bobby Darin, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich became friends when they all worked as songwriters in New York City’s 

legendary Brill Building. The Brill Building was the pop-songwriting Ground Zero of the 1950s and 1960s. 

Songwriting teams pounded out hit compositions on rickety, out-of-tune pianos in the maze of cubicles throughout 

the building. The composers often sang on each other’s demo tapes, which Darin jokingly refers to in this letter. 

GOLDIE AND THE GINGERBREADS 

Goldie and the Gingerbreads were the first all-female rock band to be signed by a major record label. The 

group – drummer Ginger Bianco, keyboardist Margo Lewis, guitarist Carol MacDonald and lead singer Genya 

“Goldie” Zelkowitz, who would later change her last name to Ravan – came together in 1962 in New York City. 

They were signed to Decca in 1963 but switched to Atlantic in 1964 after label head Ahmet Ertegun saw them 

perform at an Andy Warhol “Superstar” party. The band toured the U.K. and Europe and became extremely 

popular there, appearing on bills with such bands as the Animals, the Kinks, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the 

Hollies and the Yardbirds. The group notched one U.K. hit, 1965’s “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat,” which failed to 

chart in the U.S., as it was edged out by a heavily promoted version of the same song that was released by 

Herman’s Hermits two weeks before the Gingerbreads’ version. 

The Gingerbreads broke up in 1967. Ginger Bianco, Margo Lewis and Carol MacDonald would later form 

the jazz-fusion group Isis. Margo Lewis would also go on to found a successful booking agency, manage the career 

of Bo Diddley and play keyboards in his band. Genya Ravan recorded a number of solo albums and became lead 

singer of the jazz-fusion group Ten Wheel Drive. She also became one of the first independent female record 

producers, producing Ronnie Spector’s first solo album, Siren, and the Dead Boys’ debut, Young, Loud and Snotty. 

Ravan also hosts two radio shows for Little Steven’s Underground Garage on Sirius/XM radio. One of her shows, 

Chicks and Broads, features influential female musicians from the Fifties to the present. 

Goldie Zelkowitz of Goldie and the Gingerbreads Sweatshirt, 1965 

Collection of Genya Ravan 

Goldie and the Gingerbreads wore matching sweatshirts for their appearance on the U.K television show Ready, 

Steady Go! in January 1965. 

"Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat" Sheet Music, 1965 

Written by John Carter and Ken Lewis 

Recorded by Goldie and the Gingerbreads 


Goldie and the Gingerbreads released “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” in the U.S. in 1965, just two weeks after 

Herman’s Hermits released their heavily promoted version, which reached Number Two. The Gingerbreads’ 

version did not chart in the U.S., but reached Number 25 in the U.K. 

Goldie and the Gingerbreads, c. 1965 


Clockwise from left: Carol MacDonald, Margo Lewis, Ginger Bianco and Goldie Zelkowitz 

18

Goldie and the Gingerbreads on Ready, Steady Go!, January 29, 1965 

London, England 


Left to right: Carol MacDonald, Margo Lewis, Goldie Zelkowitz and Ginger Bianco 

THE RONETTES 

Pair one of rock’s greatest voices (Ronnie Spector, born Veronica Bennett) with one of its greatest 

producers (Phil Spector), and memorable music was bound to result. That is exactly what happened when Veronica 

Bennett, along with her sister Estelle and cousin Nedra Talley, signed to Spector’s Philles label in 1963. From that 

point, the Ronettes quickly became one of the premier acts of the girl-group era. 

For 16 golden months, from September 1963 through December 1964, the Ronettes placed five singles in 

the Top 40. These included the enduring girl-group classics “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the 

Rain.” These records were among Phil Spector’s most monumental productions, all of them built around Ronnie’s 

tremulous, keening voice. More singles followed, but the Ronettes’ popularity tailed off after the charmed year of 

1964. The trio’s final Spector-produced single – “Is This What I Get”/“Oh, I Love You” – missed the Top 40, and 

their last release for Philles, the Jeff Barry-produced “I Can Hear Music,” fared no better. The Ronettes broke up in 

1966, but Ronnie herself remained romantically tied to Spector. The couple married in 1968 and divorced six years 

later. 

Reemerging as a solo singer, Ronnie subsequently cut some extraordinary tracks with the E Street Band 

(“Say Goodbye to Hollywood”), Eddie Money (“Take Me Home Tonight”) and the Bangles (“Dangerous”). She’s 

remained an active performer, and in 2009 she released the album The Last of the Rock Stars. The Ronettes were 


The Ronettes 

Courtesy of Showtime Archives / Gilles Petard 

Left to right: Nedra Talley, Ronnie Spector and Estelle Bennett 

The Ronettes’ distinctive look came straight from the streets of Spanish Harlem via the Peppermint Lounge, where 

the Ronettes were go-go dancers. It has inspired generations of fashionistas, including British singer Amy 

Winehouse. 

Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica, 1964 

The Ronettes 


The Ronettes’ debut album included their iconic hit “Be My Baby.” When asked about the endurance of the 

Ronettes’ work, Ronnie Spector said, “Because it was real, it was innocent, it was natural, the lyrics are pure. You 

know, ‘For every kiss you give me, I'll give you three.’ It was just songs that were written on the spot, you know 

what I mean? That came from the heart…. That's what's so natural, and that's why I think all those songs lasted, 

because they were so innocent and real.” 

REVOLUTION, THE COUNTERCULTURE AND THE PILL: THE LATE 1960S 

American society experienced a revolution in the late 1960s and early 1970s especially for young people, 

African- Americans and women. Eighteen-year-olds got the right to vote in 1971. The civil-rights advances of the 

Sixties gave rise to the women’s-rights movement of the Seventies. With the introduction of the birth-control pill 

in 1960, the 1963 publication of The Feminine Mystique, the 1966 formation of the National Organization of 

Women and the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision giving women the right to legal abortion, women 

gained more autonomy. In this era of revolution, an impressive group of women rockers emerged. Grace Slick 

urged her audience to find somebody to love, and Mama Cass wanted them to make their own kind of music. Janis 

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Joplin begged them to take a piece of her heart, Tina Turner took them for a roll on the river, while Joni Mitchell 

wrapped them in songs and gypsy shawls and Bonnie Raitt urged them to be wise. At center stage, the “Queen of 

Soul,” Aretha Franklin, made it clear that she wasn’t giving up until everyone got some respect – women, youth, 

African-Americans, the poor, anti-war protesters -- anyone marginalized or overlooked by the established order, an 

order that she was sweeping away with the force of her glorious voice. 

MAVIS STAPLES 

Mavis Staples began her career with her family group, the Staple Singers, in 1950, when she was 11 years 

old. When she graduated from high school in 1957, the Staple Singers took their music on the road. Led by family 

patriarch Roebuck "Pops" Staples on guitar and including the voices of Mavis and her siblings Cleo, Yvonne and 

Pervis, the Staples became the most successful and influential gospel group in America. They reached the Top 40 

eight times between 1971 and 1975, including two Number One singles, "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It 

Again," and a Number Two single, "Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas?" 

Mavis Staples made her first solo recording, "Crying in the Chapel," in the late 1960s. Her first solo album 

came out in 1969. In 1977, she released a soundtrack album, A Piece of the Action. She then teamed up with Prince 

for two albums, 1989's Time Waits for No One and 1993's The Voice, which People magazine named one of the top 

10 albums of 1993. Over the years, she has recorded with a wide variety of other musicians, from her friend Bob 

Dylan (with whom she was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals 

category for their duet on "Gotta Change My Way of Thinking" from the album Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel 

Songs of Bob Dylan) to the Band, Ray Charles, Nona Hendryx, George Jones, Natalie Merchant, Ann Peebles and 

Delbert McClinton. Her latest album, 2010’s You Are Not Alone, was produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. Mavis 

Staples was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Staple Singers in 1999. 

Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers Dress, c. 1975 

Design by Bill Whitten’s Workroom 27 

Gift of the Staple Singers 

Swing Low, 1962 

The Staple Singers 


The last track of this album, “This May Be the Last Time,” is acknowledged by Keith Richards to have inspired the 

Rolling Stones’ first self-penned hit, 1965’s “The Last Time.” Richards recalled, “[The Staple Singers’ version of ‘This 

May Be the Last Time’] gave us something to build on to create the first song that we felt we could decently 

present to the band to play.... ‘The Last Time’ was kind of a bridge into thinking about writing for the Stones.” 

ODETTA 

Odetta’s powerful, yet elegant stage presence and voice and her dissemination of African-American 

spirituals and folk ballads contributed immeasurably to the canon of world folk music and to the American civilrights 

movement. Her work became an influence on artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Joan Armatrading 

and Nick Cave. Odetta Holmes was born on December 31, 1930, in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up listening to 

Bessie Smith. Her family moved to Los Angeles, where at age 13 she began voice lessons. At 19, she landed a role 

in the Los Angeles production of Finian's Rainbow. The following summer, Odetta was performing in a production 

of Guys and Dolls, staged in San Francisco. She experienced the burgeoning North Beach folk-music scene during 

her summer in San Francisco and began performing in clubs there. In 1953, Odetta traveled to New York City to 

appear at the Blue Angel folk club. Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte took notice of her work, and her debut album, 

The Tin Angel, was released in 1954. Odetta released 16 albums in the 1960s, including Odetta at Carnegie Hall, 

Odetta and the Blues, It's a Mighty World and Odetta Sings Dylan. In 1999, she released her first studio album in 14 

years, Blues Everywhere I Go. Also in 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Medal of the 

20

Arts and Humanities. Odetta performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s American Music Masters tribute to 

Lead Belly in 2004. Odetta died of heart failure on December 2, 2008. 

Odetta Dress, c. 1968 

Collection of the Estate of Odetta 

Odetta obtained this dress in Africa and wore it onstage and off. 

Odetta, c. 1965 


Odetta Acoustic Guitar and Case 

Gibson Body, National Neck, c. 1951 


Odetta performed and recorded with this guitar throughout her career. She nicknamed the guitar “Baby.” 

TINA TURNER 

Tina Turner has had one of the longest and most successful careers of any female singer in popular music. 

Born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee, Turner was raised in the hamlet of 

Nutbush and moved to St. Louis as a teenager. It was there that she first saw Ike Turner’s ground-breaking R&B 

combo, the Kings of Rhythm. Eventually, she got up the nerve to audition for Ike, who liked what he heard and 

invited Tina to join his revue. Their first hit, “A Fool in Love,” was recorded in 1961, when another singer failed to 

show up for a session. As the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, they scored a string of hits, including “River Deep- 

Mountain High” and “Proud Mary,” a re-make of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic. The couple split up in 

1976, and Tina virtually disappeared from the music scene for several years. 

Tina Turner made her comeback in 1983 with the single “Let’s Stay Together” and the subsequent album 

Private Dancer. One of the world's most popular entertainers, Turner has been called the most successful female 

rock artist and was named "one of the greatest singers of all time" by Rolling Stone. Her albums and singles have 

sold nearly 180 million copies worldwide. She has sold more concert tickets than any other solo music performer in 

history. She is known for her energetic stage presence, powerful vocals, career longevity and widespread appeal. 

In 2008, Turner left semi-retirement to embark on her Tina! 50th Anniversary Tour. Tina Turner was inducted into 

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Ike Turner in 1991. 

Tina Turner Dress, 1996 

Design by Gianni Versace 

Collection of Tina Turner 

Tina Turner wore this dress during the 1996-97 Wildest Dreams world tour. 

Dynamite!, 1963 

Ike and Tina Turner 


Tina Turner Dress, 1984 

Collection of Martha Quinn 

Tina Turner wore this dress in the video for “Private Dancer.” That song reached Number Seven in 1985, and the 

album of the same name reached Number Two, establishing her as a successful solo artist. Turner gave this dress 

to Martha Quinn, an MTV VJ, after Quinn said she liked it during an MTV interview in 1984. Quinn wore it to the 

1986 MTV Video Music Awards. 

21

ARETHA FRANKLIN 

Aretha Franklin is the undisputed “Queen of Soul.” She is a singer of great passion and control, whose finest 

recordings define the term soul music in all of its deep, expressive glory. Franklin was born in Memphis and grew 

up in Detroit. She began singing church music at an early age and recorded her first album, The Gospel Sound of 

Aretha Franklin, at 14. In 1960, she signed with Columbia Records, where she recorded 10 albums that failed to 

fully tap into her capabilities. With her switch to Atlantic Records in 1966, Franklin proceeded to revolutionize soul 

music with some of the genre’s greatest recordings. Her most productive period ran from 1967 through 1972. 

During that period, she recorded such classics as “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You),” “Do Right Woman – 

Do Right Man,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “Chain of Fools,” “Think,” “Baby, I Love You,” “Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet 

Sweet Baby)” and the career-defining Number One hit, “Respect.” “Respect” would go on to become a clarion-call 

anthem for the civil-rights and women’s movements. 

Franklin’s lengthy tenure with Atlantic came to an end in 1979, after 12 years and 19 albums. In the 

Eighties, she recorded everything from gospel to dance music for Arista Records, finding the upper reaches of the 

charts with “Freeway of Love” and “Who’s Zoomin’ Who.” In 1987, Franklin had the second Number One hit of her 

career, “I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me),” a duet with George Michael. As a measure of her impact, Aretha 

Franklin has charted more Top 40 singles – 45 in all, since 1961 – than any other female performer. Aretha Franklin 

was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1987. 

Southern Christian Leadership Conference Benefit Concert Poster, 1967 

Cleveland, Ohio 


Aretha Franklin was a leading public figure in the fight for equal rights for all Americans. Her father, the Reverend 

C.L. Franklin, was one of the most prominent preachers in the country and a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You Album Proof Sheet, 1967 

Gift of Atlantic Recording Corporation 

After Aretha Franklin’s contract with Columbia Records expired, Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records signed her with 

the intention of pairing her gospel-honed voice with the burgeoning southern soul movement. Wexler had a 

strategy: “My attitude was simply to get some great songs, some great players, put Aretha back on piano and let 

the lady wail.” 

Aretha Franklin Dressing Room Door Note, c. 1985 

Courtesy of a Private Collector 

Reproduction 

Aretha Franklin used this note on her dressing-room door prior to a performance. 

Aretha Franklin Appointment Book, 1981 


On June 29, Aretha Franklin took detailed notes in a meeting with Arista Records’ Clive Davis, discussing the 

renegotiation of her contract with the record label. 

Aretha Franklin Dress, 1979 

Design by Valentino 

Gift of Aretha Franklin 

Aretha Franklin wore this dress during her first appearance at Radio City Music Hall. 

Aretha Franklin Dress, 2007 

Collection of Aretha Franklin 

Aretha Franklin wore this dress when she attended the 30 th Annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington DC on 

December 2, 2007. 

“I Heard It through the Grapevine,” 1966 

22

Written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield 


Motown songwriter, arranger and producer Norman Whitfield based his arrangement and production of Gladys 

Knight and the Pips’ 1967 version of “I Heard It through the Grapevine” on Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” 

“Rhythm of the Freeway” Demo Cassette 


This demo cassette contains an early version of “Freeway of Love,” which hit Number Three in 1985. 

Aretha Franklin Tape Box, c. 1975 


This demo tape, with a selection of songs sent to Aretha Franklin for her consideration, includes “When the Night,” 

a Paul McCartney composition featured on his 1973 album, Red Rose Speedway. Franklin biographer David Ritz 

said that McCartney wrote “Let It Be” with Franklin in mind. Franklin recorded her version of the song first, but 

held back its release until after the Beatles’ release of the smash hit. 

MICHELLE PHILLIPS 

Michelle Phillips was born Holly Michelle Gilliam in Long Beach, California, in 1944. She met John Phillips 

while he was touring California with his band the Journeymen. John and Michelle Phillips were married on 

December 31, 1962, when she was 18. Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot and John and Michelle Phillips formed the 

Mamas and the Papas in 1965. Along with Lou Adler, John and Michelle Phillips organized the Monterey 

International Pop Festival in 1967. The Mamas and the Papas disbanded in 1968 to pursue solo careers. John and 

Michelle were divorced in 1970, and Michelle went on to a successful acting career. In 1973, Michelle Phillips 

recorded vocals along with Darlene Love for the Cheech and Chong single "Basketball Jones." Phillips released her 

first solo single, "No Love Today," in 1976. It was featured on the Mother, Jugs & Speed movie soundtrack. In 1977, 

Phillips released her debut solo album, Victim of Romance. In 1987, Phillips sang backup vocals on former Go-Go’s 

lead vocalist Belinda Carlisle's Number One hit, "Heaven Is a Place on Earth." Michelle Phillips was inducted into 

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Mamas and the Papas in 1998. 

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, 1966 

The Mamas and the Papas 

Gift of Michael Pierson 

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears was the Mamas and the Papas’ first album and includes the hits “Monday, 

Monday,” “California Dreamin’” and “Go Where You Wanna Go.” The inclusion of the toilet in the album-cover 

photograph was deemed offensive, and later pressings removed it, making earlier versions highly collectible. 

Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas Boots 

Gift of Michelle Phillips 

Michelle Phillips wore these boots on the cover of the Mamas and the Papas’ first album, If You Can Believe Your 

Eyes and Ears, 1966. 

Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas Outfit, 1967 

Design by Profils du Monde 

Gift of Michelle Phillips 

Michelle Phillips wore this outfit at the Hollywood Bowl in 1967. This was the last time the original line-up of the 

Mamas and the Papas performed as a group. 

23

CASS ELLIOT 

Cass Elliot was born Ellen Naomi Cohen on September 19, 1941, in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up 

around Washington DC and moved to New York City after graduating from high school. By early 1963 she formed a 

folk group called the Big Three, which would go on to include future Mamas and the Papas member Denny 

Doherty and Zal Yanovsky, who would go on to become a founding member of the Lovin’ Spoonful. The Big Three 

morphed into the Mugwumps, who broke up at the end of 1964, at which point Cass Elliot began to work as a solo 

artist in Washington. Meanwhile, Denny Doherty joined John and Michelle Phillips, and the three began 

performing as the New Journeymen. Elliot subsequently joined them, and the four began to sing together in mid- 

1965, calling themselves the Mamas and the Papas. From 1965 to 1968, the Mamas and the Papas recorded a 

series of Top 10 hits, including "Monday, Monday," "California Dreamin'" and a remake of the Shirelles’ hit 

"Dedicated to the One I Love." The group's last hit, "Dream a Little Dream of Me," essentially launched Elliot’s solo 

career. Her solo hits included 1969’s "It's Getting Better," "Make Your Own Kind of Music" and "New World 

Coming." In 1974, Cass Elliot traveled to London, where she had a two-week engagement at the London Palladium. 

After performing to sellout audiences, Elliot succumbed to a heart attack on July 29, 1974. Cass Elliot was inducted 

into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Mamas and the Papas in 1998. 

Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas Dress, c. 1965 

Gift of Leah Kunkel and Owen Elliot Kugell 

While the Mamas and the Papas were defining a lifestyle for their fans to emulate, Cass Elliot was redefining the 

concept of beauty. There’s no doubt that with her rich, vibrant contralto, vocally she was the strongest member of 

the group. Most critics, however, focused on her size. While Elliot may or may not have internalized all of the 

attention paid to her weight, she gave every appearance of being comfortable in her skin and is a seminal influence 

in the movement toward de-stigmatization of obesity. In 1966, New York magazine wrote about Elliot, "She is a 

star, not despite her weight, or because of it, but beyond it." 

“Don’t Call Me Mama Anymore” Music Score, 1973 

Gift of Owen Elliot Kugell 

“Don’t Call Me Mama Anymore” was the title of a song, a musical revue and a live album by Cass Elliot. She opened 

the show at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas to rave reviews in spring 1973. 

“Ain’t Nobody Else Like You” Sheet Music, 1971 

Written by Sharon Rucker 

Recorded by Cass Elliot 


GRACE SLICK 

A biographer once said that the Jefferson Airplane epitomized the San Francisco scene of the mid-to-late 

Sixties, and Grace Slick’s importance to Jefferson Airplane cannot be underestimated. “White Rabbit,” which she 

wrote, helped define not only her band but also an entire era. Her iconoclastic vocals on “Somebody to Love” gave 

the Airplane its biggest hit. As one of the first female rock stars, Slick helped redefine a woman’s role in rock as 

more than just a sex symbol backed by a band. The Jefferson Airplane was the first band on the San Francisco 

scene to play a dance concert, sign a major-label record contract and tour the U.S. and Europe. In addition, the 

group espoused boldly anarchistic political views and served as a force for social change. When original Airplane 

singer Signe Anderson left to raise a family, she was replaced by Grace Slick. Slick had been a member of the Great 

Society and brought with her a pair of songs – “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love” – that would become rock 

classics. The five Jefferson Airplane albums released from 1967 to 1969 – Surrealistic Pillow, After Bathing at 

Baxter’s, Crown of Creation, Bless Its Pointed Little Head and Volunteers – rank among the worthiest bodies of 

work of that or any decade. Since retiring from music, Slick has established a career as a successful painter. Slick 

said, “Through literacy you can begin to see the universe. Through music you can reach anybody. Between the two, 

24

there is you, unstoppable.” Grace Slick was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the 

Jefferson Airplane in 1996. 

Grace Slick Outfit, c. 1970 


Grace Slick Vest, 1969 


Grace Slick wore this vest onstage for the Jefferson Airplane’s performance at the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, 

August 16, 1969. Slick recalled about her choice of clothing for the performance, "We were not aware that it was 

going to be that big…. I thought, 'August - it will be hot and dry on the East Coast.' So I got a white sleeveless outfit. 

Okay, so then it rains a lot…. There was just mud. I suppose I could have been funky and walked around in the mud 

and played with it on me, but I was kind of being prissy.” Slick went on to say, “Some people never even have a 

couple of really good years in their life, so I feel really lucky that [Woodstock] showed that people do have a desire 

to live for both freedom and peace." 

JANIS JOPLIN 

One of the most powerful singers of the Sixties found her voice in San Francisco. Janis Joplin was born in 

1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, an oil-refining town on the coast. Growing up, she was a social outcast who found an 

outlet in music. Joplin was drawn to blues (Odetta, Lead Belly and Bessie Smith) and soul (Otis Redding, Tina 

Turner and Etta James). She performed folk blues on the coffeehouse circuit in Texas and San Francisco before 

hooking up with Big Brother and the Holding Company. The group’s second album, Cheap Thrills, topped the charts 

for eight weeks in 1968. It featured Joplin’s raw, impassioned readings of Willie Mae Thornton’s “Ball and Chain” 

and “Piece of My Heart.” 

Joplin left Big Brother in December 1968. Her first solo album, I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, 

appeared in 1969, and she toured extensively with her Kozmic Blues Band. By mid-1970, however, she’d dissolved 

that outfit and formed a new one, Full-Tilt Boogie. They gelled over the course of several months of touring and 

entered the studio to record what would turn out to be Joplin’s swan song. Joplin had often sought refuge in drugs 

and alcohol, and she was found dead of a heroin overdose in a Hollywood hotel room on October 4, 1970. The 

posthumously released Pearl included nine finished tracks and one instrumental to which she was supposed to 

have added vocals on the day she died. It was prophetically titled “Buried Alive in the Blues.” Pearl became Joplin’s 

biggest seller, holding down the Number One position for nine weeks in 1971. Janis Joplin was inducted into the 

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. 

“Move Over,” 1971 

Written by Janis Joplin 

Recorded by Janis Joplin and the Full-Tilt Boogie Band 

Gift of Rolling Stone Magazine 

“Move Over” was the lead-off track of Janis Joplin’s final album, Pearl. 

“Work Me, Lord” Chord Chart, c. 1969 

Traditional 

Recorded by Janis Joplin and the Kozmic Blues Band 

Gift of Rolling Stone Magazine 

Janis Joplin released her version of the traditional spiritual “Work Me, Lord” on her debut solo album, I Got Dem 

Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, in 1969. 

Janis Joplin Dress, 1968 

Design by Janis Joplin and Linda Gravenites 

Beading by Janis Joplin 


25

Janis Joplin wore this dress onstage at the 1968 Newport Pop Festival in Rhode Island. She 

was photographed in the dress for the cover of the May 26, 1969, issue of Newsweek. 

Pearl, 1971 

Janis Joplin 


Janis Joplin’s nickname was “Pearl,” and it was fitting that her final album, the one that most closely captured her 

artistry, bears that name. Pearl included the hits “Me and Bobby McGee” and the Joplin-penned “Move Over.” 

LORETTA LYNN 

Rightly nicknamed “the Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Loretta Lynn was born Loretta Webb in Butcher Hollow, 

Kentucky, in 1934. She married Oliver Lynn, nicknamed “Mooney,” when she was 13. They had six children and 

were married nearly 50 years until his death in 1996. Lynn didn’t begin playing music until her mid-twenties. After 

singing in some local bands, she attracted the attention of independent record label Zero Records. Within a year, 

Lynn signed to Decca, one of the biggest labels in the country. Taken under the wing of Patsy Cline, Lynn began to 

blossom into a major recording star. Including her duets with Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn posted an astounding 

51 Top 10 country hits between 1962 and 1982, including 16 Number Ones. Lynn never shied away from topics 

that she felt should be addressed, and her records could be deep personal reflections on fidelity, relationships, 

alcoholism and birth control. A motion-picture biography, Coal Miner’s Daughter, earned Sissy Spacek an Oscar in 

1980 for her portrayal of Lynn. Loretta Lynn was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988. 

Don’t Come Home a’ Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind), 1967 

Loretta Lynn 


Loretta Lynn achieved her first Number One country hit with the title song of her 1967 album, Don’t Come Home a’ 

Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind). The song, which she wrote, wasn’t the last time Lynn would court controversy 

by addressing women’s issues in her music. 

Coal Miner’s Daughter, 1970 

Loretta Lynn 


Back to the Country, 1975 

Loretta Lynn 


In 1975, Loretta Lynn released Back to the Country, which included “The Pill,” a song about a rural woman 

asserting her reproductive rights. The song was so controversial at the time that Lynn’s record label had delayed its 

release for three years, and upon its release, many country stations refused to play it. Lynn later recounted that 

medical professionals routinely told her that "The Pill" had done more to promote rural acceptance of birth control 

than any official medical or social-services efforts. 

Loretta Lynn Guitar 

Epiphone Hummingbird Loretta Lynn Model 

Collection of Loretta Lynn 

This limited-edition guitar is an exact replica of the Hummingbird guitar Loretta Lynn used throughout her career, 

and she has used it for performing. 

Loretta Lynn Dress, 2004 

Designed by TC Originals 

Collection of Loretta Lynn 

26

In 2004, Loretta Lynn released Van Lear Rose, a record produced by Jack White, best-known for his bands the 

White Stripes and the Raconteurs. Lynn wore this gown in the video for “Portland, Oregon.” 

BONNIE RAITT 

When Bonnie Raitt won a phenomenal four Grammys in 1990, it came as overdue recognition for an artist 

who had been breaking down barriers of gender and genre since the early Seventies. Her love of, and feel for, the 

blues was evident on her first album, Bonnie Raitt (1971), and though she's explored other types of material over 

the years, a rooting in the blues has remained a keystone of her work. Raised in Los Angeles, Raitt took up guitar at 

12. While attending college in Boston, she gravitated to the folk-blues scene of the late Sixties, emerging as 

something of an anomaly: a woman who sang blues with gritty passion and played slide guitar with authority. She 

performed with, and was schooled by, Sippie Wallace, Mississippi Fred McDowell and others. Throughout her 

career, she's combined an old-school country-blues grounding with a contemporary outlook and willingness to 

experiment, which has made her both relevant and popular. 

The commercial pinnacle of Raitt's eight-album tenure with Warner Bros. Records was Sweet Forgiveness 

(1977), which yielded a minor hit in her cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway." Her graduation from respected cult 

figure to major artist occurred after her move to Capitol Records. Raitt's breakthrough album, Nick of Time (1989), 

slowly gained momentum, reaching the top of the chart exactly a year after its release. Its follow-up, Luck of the 

Draw, fared even better, selling 5 million copies and winning three Grammys. It also gave Raitt the first bona fide 

hit single of her 20-year career in "Something to Talk About," which reached Number Five. Subsequent albums 

have included Longing in Their Hearts (1994), the double-live CD Road Tested (1995) and Souls Alike (2005). Bonnie 

Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. 

Bonnie Raitt T-Shirt 

Collection of Bonnie Raitt 

Bonnie Raitt has long admired the work of blues singer and songwriter Sippie Wallace. Wallace’s two 1966 albums, 

Women Be Wise and Sings the Blues, inspired Raitt to take up the blues. She recorded a version of “Women Be 

Wise” on her 1971 debut album, Bonnie Raitt. She also toured and recorded with Wallace in the Seventies and 

Eighties. 

Bonnie Raitt, c. 1972 


Bonnie Raitt began playing guitar when she was 12. She released her first album, Bonnie Raitt, in 1971. Her early 

albums were all critically acclaimed, in part because of her guitar playing. She was one of the few female guitarists 

who played bottleneck. 

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Speech, 2000 

Collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 

Bonnie Raitt Boots, 1989 


Bonnie Raitt wore these boots in various photos and posters promoting her breakthrough album Nick of Time and 

the single “Thing Called Love.” 

Bonnie Raitt Vest, 1970 


Bonnie Raitt wore this vest at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. 

Bonnie Raitt Dobro Guitar, c. 1989 


Bonnie Raitt has used this custom-made dobro onstage and in the studio for many years. She played it on the song 

“Cry on My Shoulder” from her Nick of Time album. A dobro is an acoustic guitar with a metal resonator built into 

27

its body. This resonator serves as an amplifier. In contrast to acoustic guitars, the resonator takes the place of the 

sound hole. 

LAURA NYRO 

Born in New York City on October 18, 1947, Laura Nyro began playing music early. She enjoyed a wide 

range of influences at Manhattan’s High School of Music and Art. She immersed herself in the music she heard 

around her, from Ravel and Debussy to girl groups and Motown, from Nina Simone to John Coltrane, from Philly 

soul to Dionne Warwick, from Pete Seeger to the Beatles. She recalled of her musical roots, “I would go out 

singing, as a teenager, to a party or out on the street, because there were harmony groups there, and that was one 

of the joys of my youth….I was always interested in the social consciousness of certain songs. My mother and 

grandfather were progressive thinkers, so I felt at home in the peace movement and the women's movement, and 

that has influenced my music.” Her debut album, More Than a New Discovery, was released in 1966. In 1968, she 

released Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, reviewed by Rolling Stone magazine as “the work of an original and 

brilliant young talent.” She became known as a hit songwriter, as other artists charted with her songs – the Fifth 

Dimension with "Stoned Soul Picnic" (Number Three), "Sweet Blindness" (Number 13), "Wedding Bell Blues" 

(Number One), "Blowing Away" (Number 21) and "Save The Country" (Number 27); Blood, Sweat and Tears with 

"And When I Die" (Number Two); Three Dog Night with "Eli's Coming" (Number 10), and Barbra Streisand with 

"Stoney End" (Number Six). Nyro continued to record and tour until her death in 1997 from ovarian cancer. 

Laura Nyro Self Portrait, c. 1980 

Collection of Patricia Di Lauria 

In the liner notes of her 1997 retrospective album Stoned Soul Picnic, Laura Nyro wrote, “I’m interested in art, 

poetry and music. As that kind of artist, I can do anything. I can say anything. It’s about self-expression. It knows no 

package - there’s no such thing. That’s what being an artist is.” 

Laura Nyro Set List, c. 1970 


“Stoned Soul Picnic,” 1968 

Written and Recorded by Laura Nyro 


Reproduction 

“Stoned Soul Picnic” was a 1968 hit for the Fifth Dimension, reaching Number Three. Laura Nyro released her 

version of her composition on the 1968 album Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. Stoned Soul Picnic was also the 

title of Nyro’s 1997 career-retrospective album. 

“And When I Die,” 1966 

Written and Recorded by Laura Nyro 


Reproduction 

“And When I Die” is on Laura Nyro’s debut album, More Than a New Discovery, released in 1966. In 1968, Nyro 

considered becoming lead singer of the group Blood, Sweat and Tears. That band reached Number Two with “And 

When I Die” in 1969. 

Laura Nyro, c. 1970 


A review of Laura Nyro noted, “[She] has an astonishing voice, a kind of melting, pure-toned soprano and rich, 

charcoal-smudged alto, loaded with feeling that seems drawn in equal measure from some private inner cathedral 

and the doo-wop streets of her youth.” 

28

Women in Music Concert Series Poster, 1988 

Cambridge, Massachusetts 


This three-month-long Women in Music Concert Series featured performances by Laura Nyro, Irma Thomas and k. 

d. lang, among many others. 

JONI MITCHELL 

Joni Mitchell is an accomplished musician, songwriter, poet and painter. Hailing from Canada, where she 

performed as a folk singer as far back as 1962, she found her niche on the same Southern California singersongwriter 

scene of the late Sixties and early Seventies that germinated such kindred spirits as Jackson Browne, 

Warren Zevon and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Mitchell’s artistry goes well beyond folk singing to incorporate elements 

of jazz and classical music. In her own words, “I looked like a folk singer, even though the moment I began to write, 

my music was not folk music. It was something else that had elements of romantic classicism to it.” Impossible to 

categorize, Mitchell has doggedly pursued avenues of self-expression, heedless of commercial outcomes. 

Nonetheless, she managed to connect with a mass audience in the mid-Seventies, when a series of albums – Court 

and Spark (1974, Number Two), Miles of Aisles (1974, Number Two), The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975, Number 

Four) and Hejira (1976, Number 13) – established her as one of that decade’s preeminent artists. 

From the 1980s on, Mitchell reduced her recording and touring schedule but turned again toward pop, 

making greater use of synthesizers and direct political protest in her lyrics, which often tackled social and 

environmental themes alongside romantic and emotional ones. A blunt critic of the music industry, Mitchell 

stopped recording over the last several years, focusing more attention on painting, but in 2007 she released Shine, 

her first album of new songs in nine years. Joni Mitchell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. 

“Cactus Tree” 

Written and Recorded by Joni Mitchell 

Released on the album Song to a Seagull, 1968 

Collection of Marcia Wood 

“Night in the City” 




Reproduction 

“Marcie” 




Reproduction 

Song to a Seagull, 1968 

Joni Mitchell 


Joni Mitchell’s 1968 debut album, Song to a Seagull, is a concept album divided into two parts – “I Came to the 

City” and “Out of the City and Down to the Seaside” – which correspond to the two sides of the record. “Night in 

the City” celebrates the colorful and sometimes overwhelming delights to be found in the city nightscape. It 

appears on the same side as “Marcie.” “Cactus Tree” appears on “Out of the City and Down to the Seaside.” 

29

I WILL SURVIVE: THE 1970S – ROCKERS TO DISCO DIVAS 

By the Seventies, women were making their mark commercially in the music business. Artists like Carole 

King, Carly Simon and Linda Ronstadt appeared perennially in year-end top- selling lists. Singles written by the 

female members of Fleetwood Mac helped turn its 1977 album, Rumours, into one of the best-selling albums of all 

time. By the end of the decade, women weren’t confined to singer or singer-songwriter status behind a piano or 

strumming an acoustic guitar. Iconoclasts like Suzi Quatro, the Runaways, Heart and Fanny cranked out the power 

chords and mastered rock-star posturing to rival any testosterone-fueled guitar heroes. The gains of the feminist 

movement throughout the Seventies enabled women working in all areas of the music industry to assume more 

control over their careers. However, artists like Donna Summer still felt the effects of manipulation by malecontrolled 

record labels and producers. “It’s probably like what Marilyn Monroe must have gone through her 

whole life, playing the part of a dumb blonde while depriving herself of something greater,” Summer recalled of 

her early experiences in the record industry. On the whole, though, disco presented opportunities for strong 

women like Gloria Gaynor and Patti LaBelle to show off their prodigious vocal prowess and present a sexually 

liberated, independent image. 

HEART 

Ann (born 1950) and Nancy (born 1954) Wilson grew up in both Southern California and Taiwan, before 

the Wilson family settled in Seattle, Washington. As children, both were interested in folk and pop music, and 

Nancy took guitar and flute lessons. The Wilson sisters joined Heart in the early Seventies. Heart had been formed 

in 1967 in Vancouver, British Columbia. After the Wilsons joined, the group gained a following in Vancouver and 

recorded its debut album, Dreamboat Annie, in 1975. The album achieved platinum status on the strength of the 

hit singles "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man." A string of hits followed, including “Barracuda,” “Even It Up,” "What 

About Love?," "Never," "These Dreams" and "Nothin' at All." In the early Nineties, the Wilson sisters took a brief 

hiatus from Heart to form the Lovemongers, an acoustic quartet. With 1995's The Road Home, Heart enlisted Led 

Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones to produce a live, acoustic set, reprising hits like "Dreamboat Annie," "Crazy on 

You" and "Barracuda." Nancy Wilson said, “At one point, I said to Ann… `What we’re doing…. this is the way the 

Indians used to do it. You make a fire, and then you sit around the fire and tell your stories and pass them on with 

a real sense of one-on-one human contact.’ We feel like we made quite a fire together.” 

Bebe Le Strange, 1980 


Bebe Le Strange was Heart’s fifth studio album and yielded the single “Even It Up.” 

Ann Wilson of Heart Dress, c. 1976 

Collection of Ann Wilson 

Ann Wilson wore this dress on tour after the release of Heart’s debut album, Dreamboat Annie. 

Nancy Wilson of Heart Dress, 1977 

In Memory of Patricia Wilson 

Nancy Wilson can be seen wearing this dress on the cover of a 1977 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. 

Rolling Stone Magazine, July 28, 1977 


Nancy Wilson of Heart Electric Guitar 

Kramer American Series, c. 1987 

Collection of Nancy Wilson 

Nancy Wilson played this guitar on the 1988 Bad Animals tour. 

30

CHER 

Cher was born Cherylin Sarkisian LaPierre on May 20, 1946. In 1963, Cher met Sonny Bono in a coffee 

shop. Bono introduced her to producer Phil Spector, and she was enlisted as a backup singer for the Ronettes. 

Later that year, Sonny and Cher began recording together under the name Caesar and Cleo and released two 

singles: “Baby Don't Go” and “Love Is Strange.” The pair married in 1964 and signed a recording contract with 

Atlantic Records, where they released “I Got You Babe” in 1965 under the name Sonny and Cher. More hits 

followed, along with world tours and a popular comedy-variety television show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, 

which lasted until 1974, when the couple divorced. Cher continued to work on her own television series and 

married Gregg Allman in 1975. They divorced in 1979, and Cher moved to New York to pursue acting. A stint in the 

off-Broadway play Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean led to a supporting role in the 1983 

film Silkwood. This led to other film roles, including Mask, The Witches of Eastwick and Moonstruck, the latter 

garnering her an Oscar for Best Actress in 1988. In 1989, Cher returned to the top of the charts with the single "If I 

Could Turn Back Time." In 1999, Cher released Believe, which became the best-selling album of her career, with 

the title single topping the charts around the world. 

“Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” Sheet Music, 1971 

Written by Bob Stone 

Recorded by Cher 


“Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” was Cher’s first Number One single as a solo artist. 

Cher Outfit, 1973 

Design by Bob Mackie 

Collection of Cher 

Cher, who is of Native-American heritage, wore this outfit on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour while performing 

her single “Half Breed.” The show was broadcast for the first time on September 12, 1973, when the song was at 

Number 11. The song would reach Number One three weeks later. Cher pushed the envelope with the song’s 

subject matter and this outfit, which could be seen as either homage – or lampoon – of indigenous Americans’ 

sacred ceremonial garb and as an example of the historic hyper-sexualization of minority women. 

“Half Breed” Sheet Music, 1973 

Written by Al Capps and Mary Dean 

Recorded by Cher 


“Half Breed” reached Number One in 1973. 

Bob Mackie Costume Sketch, 1973 

Collection of Bob Mackie 

Fashion designer Bob Mackie created numerous outfits for Cher throughout her career. 

DONNA SUMMER LABEL 

Donna Summer was born LaDonna Andrea Gaines in Boston in 1948. Raised on gospel music in the 

church, Summer was performing in the European tour of Hair in the early 1970s, when she decided to settle in 

Germany. In 1975, she began a long-term association with Munich songwriters and producers Giorgio Moroder 

and Pete Bellotte. They took her lyric “love to love you baby” and turned it into a 17-minute opus of orgasmic 

delight. Summer said she was evoking Marilyn Monroe in that song. The song was Summer’s U.S. chart debut and 

her first of 19 Number One dance hits between 1975 and 2008, a record that is second only to Madonna. Summer 

was the first female artist with four Number One singles in a 13-month period: “MacArthur Park,” “Hot Stuff,” “Bad 

Girls” and “No More Tears.” Endless covers and sampling of her music have kept Summer’s pioneering body of 

31

work in the forefront of music. Summer said, “I think music is the one thing that gets into your body, and you can't 

get it out. If I can do it at my age and put myself on the line, I don't know what will come of it, but you know what, 

I'm going for it. I'm going to kick this ball as far as I can, and hopefully I'll kick it out of the stadium." Summer died 

from lung cancer in May 2012. 

Donna Summer Outfit, 1991 

Collection of Donna Summer 

Donna Summer can be seen wearing this outfit on the cover of the 12-inch single release of “Work That Magic,” a 

track from her 1991 album, Mistaken Identity. 

“Work That Magic”/”Let There Be Peace,” 1991 

Donna Summer 


THE RUNAWAYS 

The Runaways were started by Joan Jett and Sandy West in 1975. The classic lineup included Jett on guitar 

and vocals, West on drums, Cherie Currie on lead vocals, Jackie Fox on bass guitar and Lita Ford on guitar. The 

band was ahead of its time, with its hard-rock sound emerging during an era when disco music ruled the airwaves. 

In 1976, the Runaways released their self-titled debut album. The song "Cherry Bomb," which Jett wrote with band 

manager Kim Fowley, became a surprise hit. After Currie and Fox left in mid-1977, Jett emerged as the group's lead 

singer. She was already a powerful force behind the scenes, writing most of the Runaways' songs. The group called 

it quits in 1979. An acclaimed film about the Runaways, starring Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart, was released 

in 2010. Cherie Currie recalled, “The Runaways had a specific sound that I don’t think has been recaptured. We 

were unique in a lot of different ways…. We were so young. We were just starting to live our lives and experience 

things together. I had never been away from home until I went on the road…. I’d never been on a plane, and 

neither had Joan. So it was all these new experiences coming at us….We lived so much life those two years I was in 

the band, it was incredible. It was amazing.” 

Cherie Currie of the Runaways Tube Top, c. 1976 

Collection of Blackheart Records 

“Cherry Bomb” 

Written by Joan Jett and Kim Fowley 

Recorded by the Runaways 

Released on the album The Runaways, 1976 

Collection of Joan Jett 

The Runaways were an all-female band that played loud, guitar-driven rock. At a time when aggressive female 

rockers were the exception rather than the rule, the Runaways wrote and sang rowdy, brash songs about sex, 

drugs and life on the edge. “Cherry Bomb” is a rebellious-girl anthem that paved the way for female rockers today. 

Cherie Currie of the Runaways Boot, c. 1976 

Collection of Blackheart Records 

Cherie Currie of the Runaways Jumpsuit, c. 1976 

Collection of Cherie Currie 

The Runaways’ stage wear ran the gamut from utilitarian boiler suits to lingerie. Cherie Currie favored revealing, 

sexy attire, like this jumpsuit. 

JOAN JETT 

32

Joan Jett was born Joan Marie Larkin in 1958 in a suburb of Philadelphia. Her family moved to California in 

the early Seventies. Jett started her musical career as a teenager, forming her first serious band, the Runaways, at 

15. The group called it quits in 1979. "When the Runaways broke up, I didn't know what I wanted to do. A breakup 

is like losing a very good friend. It's like a death," Jett later explained to Esquire magazine. Jett spent some time in 

England working with Paul Cook and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols. She returned to the U.S. to produce the first 

and only album by seminal L.A. punk band the Germs. When she recorded her first solo album, Jett tried to get a 

record label to distribute it, but she was rejected by 23 different companies. Out of frustration, she and producer 

Kenny Laguna founded Blackheart Records in 1980. Jett and Laguna initially printed and distributed the record 

themselves, selling copies at Jett's shows. The record then was picked up by Boardwalk Records and re-released as 

Bad Reputation. Jett hit the road with the Blackhearts, and recorded another album. I Love Rock n’ Roll became a 

huge hit, driven in large part by the title track, which hit the top of the charts in early 1982. Outside of her own 

music, Jett has worked as a producer for such groups as Bikini Kill and L7, along with several other female-led rock 

bands, including the Seattle punk band the Gits. Jett said, “I’ve had a blessed career. I consider myself so lucky to 

have been able to do things my own way.” 

Joan Jett Leather Jacket, c. 1981 

Design by Lewis Leathers 


Joan Jett can be seen wearing this jacket in the music videos for her 1981 singles “I Love Rock n’ Roll” and “Bad 

Reputation.” 

“I Hate Myself for Loving You,”1988 

Written by Desmond Child and Joan Jett 

Recorded by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 

Released on the album Up Your Alley, 1988 


“I Hate Myself for Loving You” was the first single released from Joan Jett’s 1988 album, Up Your Alley. The single 

reached Number Eight. 

Joan Jett Outfit, 1981 

Jacket Design by Richard Tyler 

Pants Design by Skin Clothes by Michel and Anouchka 

Collection of Lagunatic Music and Filmworks 

Joan Jett can be seen wearing this outfit on the cover of her 1981 album, I Love Rock n’ Roll. 

I Love Rock n’ Roll, 1981 

Joan Jett 


Joan Jett Electric Guitar 

1999 Epiphone Junior DC 


Joan Jett’s journey from teen rocker in the Runaways to the leading woman of hard rock was long and circuitous. 

Along the way, she has minted such hit anthems as “I Love Rock n’ Roll,” “Bad Reputation” and “I Hate Myself for 

Loving You.” Perhaps the best barometer of her success and influence is that Jett is revered equally by bikers, 

suburbanites and skater kids. Jett used this guitar in concert from 1999 through 2002. 

Joan Jett’s Tour Pass, c. 1980s 


33

STEVIE NICKS 

Stevie Nicks’ songwriting and vocal talents have made her one of the top recording artists of the last four 

decades, both as a member of Fleetwood Mac and on her own. Born Stephanie Nicks, her career began to take 

shape after she met Lindsey Buckingham during her senior year in high school in California. They began to date and 

formed the band Fritz, which was mildly successful in California. In 1973, they released the album Buckingham- 

Nicks. Soon after, they were recruited by Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Christine McVie to join a revamped 

Fleetwood Mac. The new lineup released an album called Fleetwood Mac in 1975. It went to Number One. The 

next album, Rumours, was an even bigger success, producing four Top 10 singles, including Nicks’ song “Dreams,” 

which reached Number One. 

While still a member of Fleetwood Mac, Nicks launched a parallel solo career, releasing the album Bella 

Donna in 1981. It reached Number One and included three Top 20 singles: “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” (a 

duet with Tom Petty), “Leather and Lace” (a duet with Don Henley) and “Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White 

Winged Dove).” Although she left Fleetwood Mac in 1990, she has occasionally reunited with them for studio 

sessions and live shows. She has also continued her solo career. Her latest solo album, In Your Dreams, came out in 

May 2011 and was produced by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. She also embarked on a tour with Rod Stewart in 

2011. Stevie Nicks was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998. 

“Nightbird” 

Written and Recorded by Stevie Nicks 

Released on the album Wild Heart, 1990 


Stevie Nicks Outfit, c. 1980 

Design by Margi Kent 

Collection of Stevie Nicks 

“Stand Back” 

Written and Recorded by Stevie Nicks 

Released on the album Wild Heart, 1990 


Reproduction 

Stevie Nicks is the rare artist who not only established a profile outside the band in which she first came to 

prominence, she created her own distinct iconography and sound. “Stand Back” was the lead single from her 

second solo album, Wild Heart. The single peaked at Number Five. 

PAT BENATAR 

Pat Benatar was born Patricia Andrzejewski in 1953 in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island. Benatar began 

singing regularly in the New York City area by the Seventies. She was discovered at the Catch a Rising Star club and 

signed by Chrysalis Records. Her debut album, 1979's In the Heat of the Night, yielded such radio favorites as 

"Heartbreaker" and "I Need a Lover." More hits followed, including "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," "Treat Me 

Right," "You Better Run," "Fire & Ice," "Promises in the Dark," "Shadows of the Night," "Love Is a Battlefield," "We 

Belong" and "Invincible." Benatar has won four Grammys and had a total of 19 Top 40 singles. Benatar recalled, 

“Every record has one or two songs that jump out and stay extra special to me for different reasons. But if I had to 

choose one song that encapsulates everything that we were trying to do right from day one - go out there and be 

strong, get respect and give it back and persevere - it would be ‘Heartbreaker.’ Because ‘Heartbreaker’ is the one 

song that, even at this age, I can still sing and feel exactly the same way I felt the very first time I sang it, because 

the sentiment still is relevant.” 

Circus Magazine / Shure Music Award, 1982 

34

Collection of Pat Benatar 

Pat Benatar was presented this award by music publication Circus magazine and microphone manufacturer Shure 

in 1982. 

Pat Benatar Dress, c. 1985 

Design by Fabrico 


Pat Benatar found her stage persona after performing in a Halloween costume. Benatar recalled, “I had grown up 

doing theatrical productions, so it wasn't such a giant leap to be onstage in some ridiculous costume. I had done so 

many plays and operas that dressing up was actually more normal than not. I felt more comfortable in that get-up 

than when I was just myself. As soon as the costume came on, it really worked the same way it does when you're 

taking on a role in a musical. It loosened me up and let me go for it in ways that I wasn't able to do as myself then.” 

Get Nervous “Popfolio,”1982 


Get Nervous was Pat Benatar’s fourth album, released in 1982. The album reached Number Four and yielded the 

singles “Shadows of the Night," "Little Too Late" and "Looking for a Stranger." 

LINDA RONSTADT 

Linda Ronstadt was born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1946. At 18, she moved to Los Angeles with her band, the 

Stone Poneys. Blending rock, pop and country, the Stone Poneys signed with Capitol Records and had a hit with 

“Different Drum,” composed by Michael Nesmith of the Monkees. Setting out on a solo career, she formed a band 

that included Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner, who formed the Eagles after leaving her 

employ. Once paired with producer Peter Asher, Ronstadt became the most popular female singer of the 

Seventies. For more than 20 years, she and Asher created a stunning collection of albums on which Ronstadt’s 

superb interpretive abilities gave light to songs by an immensely diverse group of songwriters, ranging from 

Warren Zevon and Elvis Costello to Irving Berlin and Billy Strayhorn. She fearlessly moved between genres of 

music, following her muse, without regard to commercial demands. 

“It’s So Easy” Sheet Music, 1977 

Written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty 

Recorded by Linda Ronstadt 


Linda Ronstadt’s version of this Buddy Holly classic peaked at Number Five in 1977. 

Linda Ronstadt Set List, 1974 

Collection of Joel Bernstein 

Linda Ronstadt performed this set for The Last Television Show, taped at the Boarding House in San Francisco, 

California, on April 29, 1974. 

Heart Like a Wheel, 1974 

Linda Ronstadt 


Produced by Peter Asher, a former half of the British pop duo, Peter and Gordon, Heart Like a Wheel was released 

in 1974 and by early 1975 had reached Number One on the charts, eventually selling 2 million copies. The single 

“You’re No Good” went to Number One on the pop singles chart, while its flip side, Hank Williams’ “I Can’t Help It 

If I’m Still in Love with You,” hit Number Two on the country & western chart and won the Grammy for Best 

Female Country Performance that year. Her cover of an Everly Brothers’ tune, “When Will I Be Loved,” went to 

Number Two pop and Number One on the Country & Western chart. Heart Like a Wheel established Linda 

Ronstadt as a popular performer and an unwitting sex symbol. 

35

Trio, 1987 

Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris 


A project that took more than 10 years to realize, Trio is a collaborative labor of love for three of the most 

dominant vocalists of their era. It won two Grammy Awards. Trio II was released in 1999. 

MELISSA ETHERIDGE 

Melissa Etheridge was born in 1961 in Leavenworth, Kansas. She began playing guitar at age eight and 

played in country-music groups throughout her teenage years. She moved to Boston to attend college but dropped 

out to pursue a music career. She moved to L.A. and began writing music for films, including the 1986 film Weeds. 

Her self-titled first album was released in 1986, and her mainstream breakthrough came in 1993 with Yes I Am, 

which yielded the hits “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One.” Also in 1993, Etheridge came out as a 

lesbian and has become an icon of the gay community. Etheridge has gone on to receive 15 Grammy Award 

nominations, of which she has won two. She also won an Academy Award, and she has sold 27 million albums 

worldwide. In October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer. Etheridge would go on to make a full 

recovery, but like so much else in her life, she wasn’t afraid to expose her illness or the struggles that came with it 

as she fought the disease. Etheridge has continued to produce studio work. In 2007, she released The Awakening. 

That same year, Etheridge won an Oscar for her song “I Need to Wake Up” from the soundtrack for Al Gore’s An 

Inconvenient Truth. In 2008, Etheridge released a compilation of holiday songs, A New Thought for Christmas. 

Fearless Love, Etheridge’s 11 th studio album, was released in 2010. Etheridge said of her personal philosophy, “Be 

strong, speak true and spread the peace.” 

Melissa Etheridge Jacket, 2005 

Design by Maxfield 

Collection of Melissa Etheridge 

Melissa Etheridge wore this jacket at the 2005 Grammy Awards. Completely bald from the effects of 

chemotherapy, Etheridge, along with Joss Stone, performed a tribute to Janis Joplin with the song “Piece of My 

Heart.” Soul singer India.Arie wrote the final verse of her duet with Pink, “I Am Not My Hair,” about Etheridge’s 

performance. “Her performance brought tears to my eyes,” Arie said. “At that moment in time, her performance 

was a juxtaposition of pain and beauty. It symbolized the beauty of strength.” 

DANCE THIS MESS AROUND: PUNK AND POST-PUNK 

Many women found a new voice and musical identity in the punk-rock explosion of the Seventies. Punk 

music, being inherently anti-establishment, was a perfect fit for female musicians, who were already outside of the 

male-dominated music industry. Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth said, “I think women are natural anarchists, because 

you're always operating in a male framework.” Such first-generation female punk rockers – as the Slits, Raincoats, 

Au Pairs, Siouxsie Sioux and Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex were responding to working-class discontent and racial 

division in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, while their counterparts across the Atlantic, including Deborah Harry of 

Blondie, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads, Exene Cervenka of X, Poison Ivy of the Cramps and Kate Pierson and 

Cindy Wilson of the B-52s, were rebelling against the corporate-dinosaur arena-rock ethos of Bicentennial 

America. Female punk rockers found role models in the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Ramones and the Dead Boys, but 

also in Patti Smith, who had paved the way with her fusion of avant-garde poetry and garage rock, and Yoko Ono, 

who had pioneered conceptual performance art and attached it to rock and roll in the Sixties. “In a symbolic sense, 

with punk, women were destroying the established image of femininity, aggressively tearing it down,” said Liz 

Naylor, manager of second-generation female punk band Huggy Bear. Chrissie Hynde said, “That was the beauty of 

the punk thing: [sexual] discrimination didn’t exist in that scene.” 

36

MARIANNE FAITHFULL 

Marianne Faithfull was born in London in 1946. She began her career in 1964, with her recording of the 

Rolling Stones’ ballad "As Tears Go By." The wistful song was a prescient signpost for the journey that would lead 

to her 1969 single "Sister Morphine," which she co-wrote with her then-partner Mick Jagger. In 1979, during a 

crippling bout with drug addiction, which had left her, at times, living on the streets of London at rock-bottom, 

Faithfull reemerged with Broken English. That album revealed a woman who had been through the fire, with a fireravaged 

voice of experience and a stark, uncompromising vision of reality. In 1987, Faithfull again reinvented 

herself, this time as a jazz and blues singer, on Strange Weather. Coming full circle, Faithfull re-recorded "As Tears 

Go By" for the album. Faithfull declared, "Forty is the age to sing [‘As Tears Go By’], not 17.” 

In addition to her music career, Faithfull has had a career as an actress in theater, television and film. Her 

first professional theater appearance was in a 1967 stage adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters. She appeared as 

God in two guest appearances in the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. She played the Devil in William Burroughs' 

and Tom Waits' musical, The Black Rider. Faithfull said, “As a woman, you’re meant to express something: wife, 

mother, love, purity. Well, I haven’t got purity, and I don’t think I ever did. I have always been, even as a child, a 

very decadent little person.... That virginal image was one of the things I couldn’t stand, ‘cause I knew it was really 

false. And that’s why I thought I had to work so hard to smash it!” 

Two Faxes from Keith Richards, 2008 

Collection of Marianne Faithfull 

Marianne Faithfull and Keith Richards have maintained a warm friendship over five decades. These faxes are 

related to Richards’ collaboration with Faithfull on the track “Sing Me Back Home,” from Faithfull’s 2008 album, 

Easy Come, Easy Go. Faithfull and Richards regularly communicate via fax. “Keith doesn’t do e-mail,” Faithfull said. 

Marianne Faithfull and David Bowie, 1973 


David Bowie filmed “The 1980 Floor Show” - three days of shows at London’s Marquee club for broadcast on the 

American television show The Midnight Special. The last song of the show was Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” 

sung with Marianne Faithfull. Faithfull was dressed as a nun with a black backless skirt, which left her naked 

buttocks exposed to the audience as she quickly ran offstage at the end of the performance. 

Marianne Faithfull Outfit, 2004 

Design by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel 


Marianne Faithfull and Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld are close friends. Lagerfeld designs most of the clothing 

Faithfull wears onstage. 

“I Know What I Own” c. 2005 

Written by Marianne Faithfull 

Unrecorded 


Reproduction 

“Before the Poison” 

Written by Marianne Faithfull and PJ Harvey 

Recorded by Marianne Faithfull 

Released on the album Before the Poison, 2005 


PATTI SMITH 

37

Patti Smith brought a poetic sensibility to street-level rock and roll. A devout reader of French symbolist 

poetry, she strove to capture its mystical spirit in a rock and roll context. She began reading her poems at New 

York bookstores, accompanied by rock critic and musician Lenny Kaye on electric guitar. Her first single, 1974’s 

“Hey Joe”/ “Piss Factory,” was the first truly independent release of rock’s new age. Smith achieved popular 

success on her own terms, earning one of the earliest New Wave hits with “Because the Night,” co-written with 

Bruce Springsteen. 

Patti Smith was born in Chicago and grew up in southern New Jersey. She fled to New York in 1967. By 

1974, she had formed the Patti Smith Group. The band’s first album, Horses, came out the following year. The 

album fused punk rock and spoken poetry and opens with a cover of Van Morrison’s “Gloria.” Smith 

followed Horses with the even more experimental and extreme Radio Ethiopia. The following year, she released 

Easter, which yielded the Top 20 hit “Because the Night.” After releasing her fourth album, 1979’s Wave, Smith 

took a break from the public eye, focusing on her marriage to Fred “Sonic” Smith (former guitarist with the MC5) 

and their two children. In 1988, Smith resurfaced with Dream of Life, which included the rousing anthem “People 

Have the Power.” 

Since then, Smith has released five studio albums. Most recently, in 2010, she won a National Book Award 

for her memoir Just Kids. Patti Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. 

Patti Smith Lyrics Notebook, c. 1976 

Collection of Patti Smith Archives 

Patti Smith used this notebook to write the lyrics for the Patti Smith Group’s 1976 album, Radio Ethiopia. 

“Space Monkey” 

Written by Patti Smith, Tom Verlaine and Ivan Kral 

Recorded by the Patti Smith Group 

Released on the album Easter, 1978 

Collection of the Patti Smith Archives 

Reproduction 

These lyrics to “Space Monkey” are part of Patti Smith’s lyrics notebook, which was written between 1974 and 

1976. The notebook also includes the lyrics to “Birdland,” released on the 1975 album, Horses. 

Patti Smith Clarinet, c. 1974 

Selmer 

Collection of Patti Smith Archives 

Patti Smith would often accompany herself on clarinet at her early poetry readings. 

Patti Smith Outfit, c. 1974 

T-Shirt and Pants Collection of Patti Smith Archives 

Boots Gift of Beverly Smith 

Patti Smith’s androgynous punk-rock style influenced the street fashion of the late 1970s. Her look embraced both 

rock and roll and New York’s downtown aesthetic via threadbare jackets, ripped T-shirts and army boots. 

Patti Smith Baseball Jacket, 1976 

Gift of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz 

Patti Smith wore this jacket onstage during the Horses tour in 1976. 

TINA WEYMOUTH 

Tina Weymouth was born in Coronado, California, in 1950. While attending the prestigious Rhode Island 

School of Design, she formed Talking Heads with fellow students Chris Frantz and David Byrne. They applied a 

minimalist approach to their songs and performances that immediately appealed to the sensibilities of the growing 

punk-rock scene in New York City. As their popularity grew, they added former Modern Lovers keyboardist Jerry 

Harrison to the lineup. Talking Heads became one of the most adventurous bands in rock history, eventually 

38

drawing from funk, minimalism and African and Brazilian music to create a new sound that was both visionary and 

visceral. Weymouth has compared Talking Heads’ approach to abstract painting, “where the first color or line or 

form you put on canvas suggests what you do next.” At the same time, she noted, “There’s a lot of freedom 

allowed for other things to happen.” 

Weymouth and Frantz, who married in 1977, created the Tom Tom Club, a rotating cast group that, as the 

name implies, was percussion driven and infused with dance music from the streets of New York City and Kingston, 

Jamaica. The hit songs “Wordy Rappinghood” and “Genius of Love” not only established Tom Tom Club as a band 

apart from Talking Heads, they have been sampled by dozens of other artists. Tina Weymouth was inducted into 

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Talking Heads in 2002. 

Tina Weymouth Bass Guitar 

1972 Fender Music Master 

Collection of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz 

Tina Weymouth played this bass onstage and during the recording of the first three Talking Heads albums. 

Tina Weymouth Outfit, 1983 

Design by Liliana Ordas for Morgane Le Fay 

Collection of Tina Weymouth 

Talking Heads’ tour that followed the release of Speaking in Tongues was a brilliantly designed and tightly 

choreographed production. Opening with David Byrne accompanied by an acoustic guitar and boom box, the show 

morphed into the four-piece Talking Heads and eventually a nine-piece group. Tina Weymouth wore this outfit 

during that tour. A film of the concert, entitled Stop Making Sense, was directed by Jonathan Demme. 

CINDY WILSON and KATE PIERSON 

Formed on an October night in 1976 following drinks at a Chinese restaurant, the B-52s played their first 

gig at a friend's house on Valentine's Day 1977. Naming themselves after Southern slang for exaggerated bouffant 

hairdos, the B-52s – Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider, Keith Strickland, Cindy Wilson and her brother, Ricky Wilson - 

began weekend road trips from their hometown of Athens, Georgia, to New York City for gigs at CBGB. Before 

long, their thrift-store aesthetic, beehive hairdos, toy instruments and genre-defying songs were the talk of the 

post-punk underground. The B-52s’ 1979 self-titled debut disc sold more than 500,000 copies on the strength of 

the singles "Rock Lobster," "Planet Claire" and "52 Girls." Cosmic Thing, released in 1989, propelled them from cult 

act to international superstars. The album reached Number Three, sold four million copies and yielded the hits 

"Love Shack," "Roam" and "Deadbeat Club." Kate Pierson collaborated with other artists, including R.E.M. (she 

sang on "Shiny Happy People") and Iggy Pop (she sang on "Candy”). Pierson said, "We always appealed to people 

outside the mainstream, and I think more people feel they're outside the mainstream these days…. I think when 

we started it was really amazing because we didn't expect anything…. The more we play over the years, it seems 

like the important thing is that people can really let loose and have fun…. I see people out in the audience - it's so 

much fun for me to see them because they seem to be having a great time.” 

Kate Pierson of the B-52s Wig, 1989 

Styled by Danilo 

Kate Pierson wore this wig on the 1989-1990 B-52s Cosmic Thing world tour. 

Cindy Wilson of the B-52s Bongo Drums, 1983 

Drums by LP 

Collection of Cindy Wilson 

Cindy Wilson played these bongos onstage from 1983 to 1990. 

Kate Pierson of the B-52s Dress, 1993 

Design by Frederico Macquahe 

Gift of the B-52s 

39

Kate Pierson wore this dress in the video for the single “Good Stuff.” 

Cindy Wilson of the B-52s Outfit, 1980 

Shoe Design by Hi Brow 

Collection of Linda Wilson 

A fan designed this dress for Cindy Wilson, based on the work of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. 

SIOUXSIE SIOUX 

Siouxsie Sioux was born Susan Ballion in London in 1957. She was a member of the “Bromley Contingent,” 

a group of punk fans in the London neighborhood of Bromley, which also included Sid Vicious and Billy Idol. Sioux 

was part of the broadcast of the infamous Sex Pistols’ appearance on British television that created a storm of 

publicity early in the group’s career. Sex Pistol Steve Jones showered the television host, Bill Grundy, with 

expletives because he thought Grundy had made a pass at Sioux. The Daily Mirror ran the headline "The Filth and 

the Fury!" In 1976, Sioux gave her first public performance at the Punk Rock Festival at the 100 Club. Sioux’s band, 

which featured Sid Vicious on drums, was a substitute for another band that did not show up. In 1977, Siouxsie 

and the Banshees made their first recordings and went on tour. The band’s first single, “Hong Kong Garden,” made 

the Top 10 on the British charts. The Times of London called Siouxsie and the Banshees “one of the most audacious 

and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era.” The group’s hits include ”Christine,” 

“Spellbound,” “Dazzle,” “Cities in Dust“ and “Kiss Them for Me.” Sioux recalled, “[Punk] was the first thing that 

was unisex, and that kind of followed on from the androgyny of Bowie, but taking it further. There were tough girls 

and tough boys. It was trying to break down the stereotypes, and it was the kind of thing where, for the first time, 

women were on a par and not seen as just objects. Though girls were objectified still.” 

Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees Outfit, 1987 

Collection of Ms. Ballion 

This faux fur outfit was worn by Siouxsie Sioux in the music video for the single “This Wheel’s on Fire,” from 

Siouxsie and the Banshees’ 1987 album, Through the Looking Glass. 

“This Wheel’s on Fire” Video Still, 1987 

Collection of Ms. Ballion 

KIM DEAL 

Kim Deal was born in 1961 in Dayton, Ohio. Kim and her identical twin sister, Kelley, were introduced to 

music at a young age. Kim and Kelley set up a studio in their bedroom and formed a band called the Breeders. Kim 

moved to Boston, where she answered an ad for a bassist who was into Hüsker Dü and Peter, Paul and Mary. Deal 

was the only respondent and became bassist for the Pixies. Deal sang lead on the song “Gigantic,” which she cowrote, 

from the Pixies’ second album, Surfer Rosa. During a Pixies hiatus, Kim reformed the Breeders with Tanya 

Donelly from Throwing Muses and Josephine Wiggs from the Perfect Disaster. The Breeders released their critically 

acclaimed first album, Pod, in 1990. Two years later, the Breeders released a four-song EP, and soon afterward 

Donelly left to form her own band. Kim Deal brought in her sister, Kelley, to replace Donelly. The Pixies disbanded 

in 1993, and the Breeders released the platinum album Last Splash later that year. Deal adopted the stage name 

Tammy Ampersand and formed the Amps, who recorded a single album, Pacer, in 1995. She resumed her role as 

the Breeders' guitarist for their third album, Title TK, in 2002 and reunited with the Pixies in 2004. The Breeders 

released their fourth studio album, Mountain Battles, in 2008, and an EP, Fate to Fatal, in 2009. 

Pixies Set List, 1986 

Collection of Kim Deal 

This set list was from a show in Boston early in the Pixies’ career, before they had signed a recording contract or 

recorded demo tapes. 

40

Kim Deal of the Breeders Suit, 1993 

Design by Prince Maurizio 

Collection of the Breeders/Kim Deal 

Kim Deal wore this suit in the music video for the song “Cannonball” from the Breeders’ 1993 album, Last Splash. 

The video was co-directed by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. 

Kim Deal of the Pixies Bass Guitar, c. 1989 

Aria 

Collection of Kim Deal 

Kim Deal played this bass onstage and in the studio with the Pixies. She can be seen playing this bass in the Pixies’ 

first music video, for the song “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” from the group’s 1989 album, Doolittle. 

CHRISSIE HYNDE 

Chrissie Hynde graduated from Firestone High School in Akron, Ohio. She worked with several bands in 

Ohio before moving to England. By 1978, Hynde had hooked up with a three-piece outfit from the English town of 

Hereford. The newly formed quartet called themselves the Pretenders and in 1980 released a self-titled first album 

that redefined the role of a woman in a band, stretched the boundaries of lyrical subject matter and frankness and 

most importantly, rocked like the roar of a Harley gang. The Pretenders mastered the blistering tempos and brute 

force of punk, but Hynde’s writing took them other places, as well. Her songs possessed the melodic sheen of wellturned 

pop yet employed unconventional time signatures (one writer referred to her “treacherously eccentric 

meters”) and, at times, blunt psychosexual lyrics. As one of the first women to front a popular rock band - not only 

as the singer but also main songwriter and band leader - she presented a hard, unsentimental image. She seemed 

tough, and her songs - including “Tattooed Love Boys,” “Up the Neck” and “The Phone Call” - could be unsparing, 

though she’d counterpoint those with sweeter tunes like “Kid” and “Don’t Get Me Wrong.” “It’s never been my 

intention to change the world or set an example for others to follow,” Chrissie Hynde once remarked. “I just 

wanted to play guitar in a rock and roll band and make music that people could dig.” Chrissie Hynde was inducted 

into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Pretenders in 2005. 

Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders T-Shirt, 1980 

Collection of Valerie A. Paese 

“From Hereford to Akron” refers to the hometowns of Chrissie Hynde (Akron, Ohio) and the other three original 

band members of the Pretenders (Hereford, England). Hynde wore this on the Pretenders’ 1980 tour of the U.K. 

Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders Jacket and Pants, c. 1980 

Pants Design by La Rocka! Di Lundres 

Collection of Chrissie Hynde 

Chrissie Hynde can be seen wearing this jacket on the cover of the Pretenders’ debut album. 

The Pretenders, 1980 

The Pretenders 


The Pretenders’ debut album went to Number One in the U.K. and Number Nine in the U.S. and included the 

singles “Brass in Pocket (I’m Special)” and “Stop Your Sobbing.” 

Get Close, 1986 

The Pretenders 


Get Close reached Number 25 on the album chart and featured the single “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” which hit 

Number 10. 

41

Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders Electric Guitar 

Fender Telecaster, c. 1960 

Collection of Chrissie Hynde 

Chrissie Hynde is pictured with this guitar on the cover of the Pretenders’ 1986 album, Get Close. 

KIM GORDON 

Bassist, songwriter and singer Kim Gordon is a founding member of Sonic Youth. Formed in New York City 

in 1981, the band was a leading proponent of “no wave” - challenging, abrasive music informed by rock, noise, jazz 

and modern composition. Gordon was born in 1953 in Rochester, New York. She earned a degree in fine arts from 

Los Angeles' Otis College of Art and Design during the early Seventies. She headed to New York a decade later. 

There, she established a group called CKM and met Thurston Moore, who would join her and Lee Ranaldo to form 

Sonic Youth. She and Moore wed in 1984. In 1991, Gordon helped produce the album Pretty on the Inside for the 

group Hole. She formed the band Free Kitten in 1993 and branched out into directing in 1994 with music videos for 

"Divine Hammer" and "Cannonball" by the Breeders. In 1995, she launched a line of clothing called X-Girl. In 1999, 

Gordon released a solo album, Mori and DJ Olive. Gordon is also an established visual artist and curator. "I'm an 

artist," said Gordon. “I don't really even consider myself a musician…. I can't escape it, although I'm not really a 

rock star. But I am known primarily for playing music. For years I tried to separate making music and art…. But it's 

just impossible, and I realized I have all this subject matter that is related to my music, and I started delving into it. 

I've always been interested in the relationship between performer and audience…. So I was playing off myself as a 

performer.” 

Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth Outfit, c. 1990 

Collection of Kim Gordon 

Kim Gordon wore these clothes in promotional photos for Sonic Youth’s 1990 album, Goo, and in the video for the 

single “100 %” from the group’s 1992 album, Dirty. 

Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth Bass Guitar 

1977 Ovation Magnum 1 

Collection of Sonic Youth 

Kim Gordon played this bass extensively onstage and in the studio in the Eighties and early Nineties. 

DEBORAH HARRY 

Deborah Harry is the frontwoman of one of the most popular bands of the New Wave era, Blondie. Her 

bleached-blond hair and full, pouty lips made her look the part of a new age Marilyn Monroe with a hint of punk 

hauteur (which paved the way for Madonna’s more risqué approach). “Looks have been one of the most saleable 

things ever,” Harry said. “When I woke up to that, mine helped a lot.” During the late Seventies and early Eighties, 

Blondie had eight Top 40 hits, including four that went to Number One: “Heart of Glass,” “Call Me,” “The Tide Is 

High” and “Rapture.” No other New Wave group had that many chart-topping singles. Blondie seemed more 

accessible than some of their radical colleagues, since they drew upon Sixties subgenres - girl-group pop and 

garage rock - that had a still-familiar ring. At the same time, they spiked their songs with New Wave freshness, 

vibrancy and attitude. In so doing, Harry helped usher in a changing of the guard. “We really tried to vary our 

music and not mimic ourselves,” Harry recalled. “We tried to be a little daring…. You could drift into CBGB and see 

Television one night and the Ramones the next, then Patti [Smith] reading her poetry. People forget that the scene 

was so unique and varied that everybody was doing their own thing, taking risks, making leaps. I guess that's what I 

really miss.” Deborah Harry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Blondie in 2006. 

Deborah Harry of Blondie Outfit and Wig, c. 1980 

Outfit Design by Stephen Sprouse 

Collection of Deborah Harry 

42

Deborah Harry said of her friend, neighbor (they lived in the same Bowery apartment building for a time) and stage 

wear designer of choice Stephen Sprouse, “He was ahead of his time. He did something interesting by taking the 

idea of ‘downtown’ and rock and roll, and adding it to couture. That was really the first time that had happened. 

And everyone who came immediately after him stepped in line with that.” 

YOKO ONO 

Yoko Ono was born in 1933 in Tokyo, to a wealthy banking family. Ono received classical piano and vocal 

training as a child. When she was 13, she told her father that she wanted to be a composer. Ono’s father replied 

that females didn’t have the aptitude to be composers. When Ono was 18, her father was appointed president of a 

bank in New York City, and the family settled in Scarsdale, New York. Ono dropped out of Sarah Lawrence College 

in 1956 to elope with her first husband and moved to Greenwich Village. By the mid-Sixties, Ono was an 

established figure in the underground art scene. She presented “Happenings” at her Greenwich Village loft, 

performing music and performance-art pieces with a group called Fluxus. She also published a book of poems that 

were instructions to create art, called Grapefruit, and she made films. 

Ono met John Lennon at an exhibit of her work at the Indica Gallery in London. Their immediate 

attraction developed into a friendship, which eventually blossomed into romance, marriage and collaborations in 

art, music, film and the anti-war movement. Misunderstood and widely reviled at the time, Ono’s music proved to 

be highly influential, particularly to post-punk and New Wave bands, such as Talking Heads and the B-52s. Along 

with her continued work in the peace movement, Ono has gone on to become a leading dance-music artist with 

five consecutive Number One songs on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart. 

Yoko Ono Sunglasses, c. 1980 

Design by Porsche 

Collection of Yoko Ono Lennon 

Along with stylish hats, Yoko Ono has made these distinctive sunglasses her fashion trademark. 

Grapefruit, 1964 

Written by Yoko Ono 


John Lennon found inspiration for the song “Imagine” in the pages of Yoko Ono’s book Grapefruit, which is filled 

with works of art that take the form of instructions. Yoko Ono wrote on the dust jacket of this edition of 

Grapefruit, “Burn this book after you’ve read it.” John Lennon then replied, “This is the greatest book I’ve ever 

burned.” 

The New York Times, November 19, 1961 


Reproduction 

This Yoko Ono mention in The New York Times was a preview of Yoko Ono’s debut at Carnegie Recital Hall. The 

Village Voice said of Ono’s performance, “Yoko Ono gave ‘works’ at the Carnegie Recital Hall on November 24. 

Yoko Ono combines electronic sounds, vocal and instrumental sounds, body movement and movement of 

properties in her theater of events.… And then Yoko Ono, I presume it was Yoko Ono, concluded the work with 

amplified sighs, breathing, gasping, retching, screaming - many tones of pain and pleasure mixed with a gibberish 

of foreign-sounding language that is no language at all.” 

Plastic Ono Band Concert Poster, 2010 

Brooklyn, New York 


Launched in 1969 with the single "Give Peace a Chance," the Plastic Ono Band was revived in 2009. With Yoko Ono 

Lennon, Sean Lennon and guests including original Plastic Ono members Eric Clapton, Jim Keltner and Klaus 

Voorman, as well as Paul Simon, Bette Midler, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Ana Matronic 

43

and Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters, the group performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on February 16, 

2010. 

Ornette Coleman Concert Program, February 29, 1968 

London, England 


On leap day, February 29, 1968, Yoko Ono appeared onstage at London's Royal Albert Hall with free-jazz innovator 

and multi-instrumentalist Ornette Coleman. The music was mostly improvised, based on a set of instructions from 

Ono. One seven-minute piece, “AOS,” recorded during the rehearsal, appeared on Ono's first solo album, Yoko 

Ono/Plastic Ono Band, in 1970. Ono said of the performance, “Ornette was already very, very established and 

famous and respected guy as a musician. And I met him in Paris…. So he said that he was going to go and do a 

concert in Albert Hall, and would I come and do it with him because he thought it was kind of interesting what I 

do.... And Ornette's band of musicians were very, very kind to me.... It was a great experience.” 

“Walking on Thin Ice,” 1981 

Written by Yoko Ono 

Recorded by Yoko Ono 

Released on the album Season of Glass, 1981 


Reproduction 

Yoko Ono and John Lennon had just finished the final mixes of “Walking on Thin Ice” on December 8, 1980, when 

arriving home from the recording studio, Lennon was murdered. In January 1981, "Walking on Thin Ice" was 

released as a single and became Ono's first chart success, peaking at Number 58 and garnering major underground 

and dance-floor airplay. On the version of the song included on Ono’s 1992 retrospective, Onobox, a new intro was 

added, with a tape of John Lennon in the studio remarking, "I think you just recorded your first Number One, 

Yoko.” 

“Woman Is the Nigger of the World,” 1972 

Written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono 

Recorded by John Lennon 


This song’s title phrase was originally coined by Yoko Ono during a magazine interview in 1969. The song 

excoriates women’s subordination to men across all cultures. While it was banned from radio airplay because of 

the N-word, many prominent African-Americans, including comedian Dick Gregory, spoke out in defense of the 

song. 

CAUSING A COMMOTION: MADONNA AND THE POP EXPLOSION 

Music critic and sociologist Simon Frith said that pop music is produced “as a matter of enterprise, not 

art.” Madonna unapologetically made an enterprise – and an art – out of her sexuality and physicality, paving the 

way for all female performers to explore previously taboo roles and take control of their images and careers. 

Author and social activist bell hooks said, “Madonna positioned herself as a woman within the music industry who 

was going to break new ground and who was going to challenge the sexism of that industry.” Madonna’s career 

trajectory from the gay discos of Manhattan’s East Village to MTV and worldwide superstardom paved the way and 

set an example for the success of artists as diverse as Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, the Bangles and 

the Spice Girls. Rolling Stone magazine said about pop music, “Pop honors the ephemeral just as much as the 

lasting. Pop songs can be trivial, and they can be awesome – often at the same time. They can change the world…. 

They make rules and they break them, they play with our emotions, trigger memories and arguments…. Love them 

or hate them, they are instantly recognizable.” 

44

CYNDI LAUPER 

Cyndi Lauper was born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. She began playing guitar and writing lyrics at the 

age of 12. In the mid-Seventies she performed as a vocalist with various cover bands in the New York area. In 1980, 

her group Blue Angel released its self-titled debut album. Her first solo album, She's So Unusual, released in 1984, 

sold more than 4.5 million copies in the United States. The album was the first by a female artist to score four Top 

Five singles from a debut album: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Time after Time,” “She Bop” and “All Through the 

Night.” Lauper won two American Music Awards and the Grammy for Best New Artist. In 1985, she wrote the 

theme song for the movie Goonies, which became a Top 10 hit. Lauper received a Grammy nomination for the 

single “True Colors” in 1986. In 1988, she made her motion-picture debut in the film Vibes. She received another 

Grammy nomination for the 1989 single “I Drove All Night.” Lauper won an Emmy Award for her work on the 

sitcom Mad about You in 1995. Lauper released Memphis Blues in 2010. It debuted on the Billboard Blues Album 

Chart at Number One, where it remained for 14 consecutive weeks. 

She’s So Unusual, 1984 

Cyndi Lauper 

Gift of Kim Reed 

Cyndi Lauper Outfit, 1984 

Collection of Cyndi Lauper 

Cyndi Lauper can be seen wearing this outfit on the cover of her 1984 debut album, She’s So Unusual. 

JANET JACKSON 

While she may have started out as just another member of the Jackson family, Janet Jackson has 

established herself as a major pop star in her own right. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she appeared on the TV 

sitcoms Good Times and Diff’rent Strokes, while releasing two albums that achieved only minor success. However, 

her 1986 album, Control, on which she asserted her social and sexual independence, was her breakthrough. The 

album, which went to Number One, yielded seven hits, including the title track, “Nasty” and “When I Think of You.” 

In 1989, Jackson went to Number One with “Miss You Much” off of the album Rhythm Nation 1814. With that 

song, she began a string of 18 consecutive Top 10 hits that would last until 1998. That streak gave her the third 

most consecutive U.S. Top 10 hits of all time, besting brother Michael by one and coming in just behind Elvis 

Presley and the Beatles. Of those 18 hits, seven went to Number One, including “Love Will Never Do (Without 

You),” “If” and “Together Again.” Her latest album, Discipline, came out in 2008. Having sold more than 100 million 

records worldwide, Jackson is ranked as one of the best-selling artists in the history of recorded music. 

Janet Jackson Outfit, c. 1989 

Design by Bill Whitten 

Collection of Janet Jackson 

Janet Jackson wore this ensemble in the video for “Rhythm Nation” from her album Rhythm Nation 1814, released 

in 1989. The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography in 1990. 

“Rhythm Nation” 

Written by James Harris III, Janet Jackson and Terry Lewis 

Recorded by Janet Jackson 

Released on the album Rhythm Nation 1814, 1989 


“Rhythm Nation” became the second of seven Top Five singles from Janet Jackson’s 1989 Rhythm Nation 1814 

album. The single reached Number One on the R&B chart and Number Two on the pop chart. 

45

“Escapade” 

Written by James Harris III, Janet Jackson and Terry Lewis 

Recorded by Janet Jackson 

Released on the album Rhythm Nation 1814, 1989 


Reproduction 

“Escapade” became Janet Jackson’s third Number One single, topping the charts for three weeks in 1990. 

MADONNA 

Since the Eighties, Madonna has dominated the pop-music world in a way few women ever have. Using 

her savvy and her smarts, Madonna has manipulated her image and the media, stirring up frequent controversies, 

yet always remaining at or near the top of the charts. Born Madonna Louise Ciccone in Bay City, Michigan, she 

moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups 

Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983. She followed it with a series of albums on which 

she pushed the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music. Her music videos became a fixture on 

MTV. Throughout her career, many of her songs have hit Number One, including "Like a Virgin," "Papa Don't 

Preach," "Like a Prayer," "Vogue," "Frozen," "Music," "Hung Up" and "4 Minutes." Madonna has been praised by 

critics for her diverse musical productions, while at the same time serving as a lightning rod for controversy. 

Her career was further enhanced by film appearances that began in 1979. She won critical acclaim and a 

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role in Evita (1996). 

Madonna's other ventures include being a fashion designer, children's book author, film director and producer. 

She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman, and in 2007, she signed an unprecedented $120 million contract 

with Live Nation. Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. 

Madonna Outfit, 1990 

Designed by Jean Paul Gaultier 


Madonna wore this iconic outfit onstage during her controversial Blonde Ambition tour. The tour featured multiple 

references to both Catholicism and sexuality, causing Pope John Paul II to demand a boycott of the concerts in 

Italy; one of three shows was canceled. Rolling Stone described the tour as an “elaborately choreographed, 

sexually provocative extravaganza” and proclaimed it “the best tour of 1990.” 

Madonna Outfit, 1993 

Design by Dolce & Gabbana 

Gift of Martin and Barbara Zweig 

Madonna wore this outfit during performances on her Girlie Show Tour of 1993. 

Madonna Appointment Notebook, 1992 


Madonna was very involved in every aspect of her career, keeping detailed notes on her schedule, tasks and goals. 

On this page she reminds herself to contact Saturday Night Live’s Mike Myers to prepare for her SNL appearance 

on February 22, 1992. 

“Erotica” 

Written by Madonna and Shep Pettibone 

Recorded by Madonna 

Released on the album Erotica, 1992 


“Erotica” was the lead single from Madonna’s 1992 album of the same name. The song was highly controversial 

when it was released due to its sexual theme and suggestive lyrics. The single reached Number Three on the pop 

chart and Number One on the dance-club chart. 

46

Madonna Notebook, 1990 


During Madonna’s Blonde Ambition Tour, she developed laryngitis and was advised by her doctor not to talk. She 

communicated via this notebook. 

SHEILA E. LABEL 

Sheila Escovedo was born into a musical family. Her father, Latin jazz percussionist Pete Escovedo, 

brought her onstage to play a percussion solo in front of an audience of 3,000 when she was only five years 

old. Starting at age 17, Sheila Escovedo recorded and toured extensively with such artists as Gloria Estefan, Marvin 

Gaye, Stevie Nicks, Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder. 

In 1983, Escovedo met Prince and changed her name to Sheila E. Prince assisted in the recording of her 

first solo album, 1984’s The Glamorous Life. The album’s title track received multiple Grammy and American Music 

Award nominations and won MTV’s Best Video Award. In 1986, Sheila E. made her acting debut in the motion 

picture Krush Groove and contributed the song “Holly Rock” to its soundtrack. She also joined Prince’s touring 

band on drums and percussion, a professional relationship that has continued up to the present. In 2006, she 

toured with Ringo Starr and started an all-girl group, C.O.E.D. (Chronicles of Every Diva). In 2007, she was chosen as 

one of the celebrity judges for the American Idol spin-off, The Next Great American Band. 

Sheila E. is the founder and co-chair of the Elevate Hope Foundation, a charitable organization that 

reaches out to abused and abandoned children through music therapy. “There are so many kids who need our 

help,” she said. “And we’re trying to help them get their lives together by building their confidence through music 

and the arts….I believe we are here to help people in this lifetime. We musicians give something of ourselves to 

truly live.” 

Sheila E. Outfit, c. 1985 

Collection of Sheila E. 

Sheila E. wore this outfit onstage during tours promoting her second album, Romance 1600. 

GWEN STEFANI 

Gwen Stefani was born in Anaheim, California, in 1969. She formed No Doubt with her brother Eric in 

1987. The band’s self-titled debut album, a fusion of Eighties pop and ska, was released in 1992. Tragic Kingdom 

was released in October 1995 and hit Number One in 1996. It included the hits “Just a Girl” and “Don’t Speak.” No 

Doubt’s much-anticipated follow up, The Return to Saturn, was released in the spring of 2000, and the singles 

“Simple Kind of Life” and “Ex-Girlfriend” were both critically and commercially successful. Rock Steady was 

released in 2001, yielding the hits “Hey Baby” and “Underneath It All.” Stefani started her L.A.M.B. clothing line in 

2003, and the line made its runway debut in 2004. That same year, she released her first solo album, Love, Angel, 

Music, Baby, which yielded the hit “Hollaback Girl.” She released The Sweet Escape in 2006. Icon, No Doubt’s 

singles compilation was released in 2010. 

Gwen Stefani of No Doubt Outfit, 2004 

Design by L.A.M.B. 

Collection of No Doubt 

Gwen Stefani wore these clothes, from her L.A.M.B. clothing line, onstage during No Doubt’s 2004 tour. 

BRITNEY SPEARS 

Britney Spears was born in Mississippi in 1981 and raised in Louisiana. She began her career on the All 

New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993. She released her first album, …Baby One More Time, in 1999. It hit Number One 

around the world. She followed that success with a string of hit albums, including 2000’s Oops!....I Did It Again and 

47

2003’s In the Zone, both of which entered the charts at Number One. Spears became the first female artist to have 

her first four albums debut at Number One. After a period of personal and professional turmoil, she staged a 

comeback with her 2009 Circus album and tour. In 2010, Spears made a cameo appearance on a tribute episode of 

the television show Glee. The episode drew the show’s second-largest audience, as well as its highest ratings ever. 

Spears said, “I always wanted to be a singer, it's what I wanted to do since I was little. I'm doing it now and I 

couldn't be happier…. I remember I read this harsh review about my show, and one of my friends told me that this 

was the exact same stuff people said about Madonna. And it's like, she didn't care. Madonna just came out and 

was herself. I respect that a lot.” 

Britney Spears Stage Outfit, 2000 

Design by Kurt & Bart and David Dalrymple 

Collection of Larry Rudolph 

Britney Spears wore this outfit during her performance of “Oops!...I Did It Again” at the 2000 MTV Video Music 

Awards. Shocking and unexpected, the performance helped Spears manipulate her image, making herself appear 

less wholesome and more sexual, much in the way Madonna did at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, when she 

rolled around in a wedding dress singing “Like a Virgin.” 

SHAKIRA 

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, to parents of Colombian and Lebanese 

descent. She was a child prodigy who wrote her first song at age eight. In the 1990s, at the age of 13, she signed 

her first recording contract and released her debut album, Magia (Magic). After graduation from secondary school, 

Shakira recorded Peligro (Danger) and Pies Descalzos (Barefeet). Those albums broke her in Latin America and 

Spain. Her next album, Dónde Están los Ladrones? (Where Are the Thieves), produced by Shakira and executive 

produced by Miami Sound Machine’s Emilio Estefan, established her as a major force in Latin pop-rock. It went 

multi-platinum in the U.S., Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Central America and Mexico and platinum in Spain, earning 

her a Grammy and two Latin Grammys. Her first English-language hit, 2002’s “Whenever, Wherever,” topped 

charts internationally. The single “Hips Don’t Lie,” featuring Wyclef Jean, was released in February 2006. The song 

became Shakira’s first U.S. Number One single and reached Number One in 55 other countries. The song also 

served as the official theme of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. 

“I was born and raised in Colombia, but listened to bands like Led Zeppelin, the Cure, the Police, the Beatles 

and Nirvana,” said Shakira. “I was so in love with that rock sound, but at the same time, because my father is of 

100 percent Lebanese descent, I am devoted to Arabic tastes and sounds. Somehow I’m a fusion of elements that I 

can make co-exist in the same place, in one song.” As her fellow Colombian, Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel 

Garcia Marquez, wrote, “Shakira’s music has a personal stamp that doesn’t look like anyone else’s, and no one can 

sing or dance like her, at whatever age, such an innocent sensuality, one that seems to be of her own invention.” 

Shakira Outfit, 2002 


Shakira wore this outfit in her video for the hit “Whenever, Wherever,” which topped charts internationally. The 

album that spawned the hit, Laundry Service, features songs in both English and Spanish and debuted at Number 

Three on the pop charts. 

CHRISTINA AGUILERA 

Christina Aguilera was born in 1980 in Staten Island, New York. Aguilera appeared on Star Search at age 

nine and was a cast member of the All New Mickey Mouse Club for two years before recording the duet "All I 

Wanna Do" in Japan with pop star Keizo Nakanishi. In 1998, Aguilera recorded "Reflection" for the soundtrack to 

Disney's Mulan. Her self-titled debut album followed that same year, with the single "Genie in a Bottle" becoming 

the biggest-selling U.S. single of the year. After winning a Grammy in 1999 for Best New Artist, Aguilera topped the 

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charts again in January 2000 with "What a Girl Wants" and "Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You).” She released a 

Spanish collection of hits titled Mi Reflejo and a cover version of LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" for the Moulin Rouge 

soundtrack with Pink, Mya and L’il Kim. In 2002, Aguilera unveiled a controversial, sexually charged image for her 

second studio album, Stripped. The album's first single, "Dirrty," drew similar controversy for its steamy music 

video. In 2006, Aguilera released her third studio album, Back to Basics, a modern spin on the jazz, blues and soul 

music from 1920s to the 1940s. In 2008, Aguilera appeared in Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones documentary Shine 

a Light, performing "Live with Me" with Mick Jagger. Aguilera starred in the 2010 film Burlesque. She co-wrote 

some of the film’s soundtrack and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for the track "Bound 

to You.” 

Christina Aguilera Dress, 2003 

Design by Versace 

Collection of Christina Aguilera 

Christina Aguilera wore this dress in print ads for Versace’s 2003 couture line. 

LADIES FIRST: THE ‘90S AND THE NEW MILLENNIUM 

The 1990s reshaped traditional ideas of feminism and traditionally male-dominated areas of the music 

industry. Author and journalist Lucy O’Brien said, “On the post-millennial music scene, it became apparent that a 

new generation was looking to rock music and popular culture for its feminist idols.” The fanzine-led riot-grrrl 

movement ushered in a fresh set of heroines. Groups like Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, L7, Hole and Babes in Toyland 

took over where punk had left off, while such other artists as PJ Harvey, Cat Power, Neko Case and Meg White of 

the White Stripes explored the power of the blues. Rapper Queen Latifah gave notice to critics who defined rap as 

an exclusively male oeuvre: “Who said that the ladies couldn’t make it? / You must be blind / If you don’t believe, 

well here, listen to this rhyme!” Roxanne Shanté, Monie Love, the Cookie Crew, MC Lyte and Salt-n-Pepa 

reinforced the challenge. And in 1997, in its second year of existence, the all-female Lilith Fair concert tour took in 

$16 million dollars, making it the top-grossing touring festival of the year. Women have arguably become the 

leading voices across the music industry. 

QUEEN LATIFAH 

One of the first female hip-hop artists to rise to international fame, Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens 

in Newark, New Jersey, in 1970. She got her start in the music industry as a rapper/human beat-box with the allfemale 

ensemble Ladies Fresh. At age 18, she went solo and released the single “Wrath of My Madness,” followed 

the next year by the album All Hail the Queen. She released her follow up, Nature of a Sista, in 1991. Also in 1991, 

Queen Latifah took a role in the Spike Lee film Jungle Fever. Roles in House Party 2 and Juice soon followed. In 

1993, she debuted in the television sitcom Living Single. Her next album release, 1993’s Black Reign, yielded 

several hit singles and earned her a Grammy for the song “U.N.I.T.Y.” Latifah established her own label and 

management company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, the same year. Latifah has earned a total of seven Grammy 

nominations and has won a Golden Globe for her work in the television film Life Support. She earned an Academy 

Award nomination for Chicago. She released an album of standards in 2004, The Dana Owens Album. Latifah said, 

“It was a very vulnerable time going from being insecure about my body and who I am to becoming comfortable 

with me. I had to tune out what the hell everybody else had to say about who I was. When I was able to do that, I 

felt free….There's no way I can represent for everyone. I can't represent for all women or all big women or all black 

women. It's important for people not to make celebrities their source of who they should be in life. I can't take on 

the pressure of being perfect. Nobody is.” 

“One Day at a Time” Poem, c. 1985 

Written by Dana Owens 

Collection of Rita Owens 

Dana Owens, who would become Queen Latifah, wrote this poem in high school. 

49

Queen Latifah Outfit, c. 1989 


Dana Owens, better known as Queen Latifah, wore this outfit in early publicity photos. 

Dana Owens (Queen Latifah) High School Yearbook, 1987 

Irvington High School, Irvington, New Jersey 


BIKINI KILL 

Bikini Kill was formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1990. Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox were 

all students at Evergreen College and teamed up to publish a feminist fanzine, Bikini Kill. Seeking to bring the 

publication's riot-grrrl agenda to life, they decided to form a band, enlisting guitarist Billy Boredom, former Go 

Team guitarist, to round out the lineup. Led by singer-songwriter Hanna, the band wrote songs together as a group 

and encouraged a female-centric environment at their shows, urging women to come to the front of the stage, 

while slam dancers were forced to mosh at the fringes of the crowd. Female audience members were often invited 

to take control of the microphone to speak their minds. In 1991, Bikini Kill issued its first recording, Revolution Girl 

Style Now, an independently distributed demo cassette. For its first official release, the Bikini Kill EP, the group 

signed with the independent Olympia-based label Kill Rock Stars. In 1992, the band issued Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, 

a split album with the British group Huggy Bear. A subsequent U.K. tour with Huggy Bear in early 1993 raised the 

visibility of the riot grrrl phenomenon. Also in 1993, Bikini Kill started working with Joan Jett who produced the 

group's next single, "New Radio"/"Rebel Girl." Hanna returned the favor by co-writing the song "Spinster" for the 

Jett album Pure and Simple. In 1994, Bikini Kill released Pussy Whipped, and Reject All American followed in 1996. 

The group disbanded in 1998. 

Bikini Kill Fanzine, 1990 

Collection of Kathleen Hanna 

Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox published the feminist fanzine Bikini Kill in the early 1990s. The fanzine 

was the inspiration for the formation of the band Bikini Kill. 

Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill Lunch Box, c. 1990 


Bikini Kill vocalist Kathleen Hanna used this lunch box as a handbag /carryall throughout the group’s career. 

Tobi Vail of Bikini Kill Drum, c. 1995 

Ludwig Floor Tom 

Collection of Tobi Vail 

Tobi Vail played this drum throughout her tenure with Bikini Kill. 

Kathi Wilcox of Bikini Kill Dress, c. 1995 

Collection of Kathi Wilcox 

The members of Bikini Kill shared clothing while on the road, so all the women in the band, at one point or 

another, wore this dress while onstage. 

Bikini Kill Set List, c. 1995 


50

LIZ PHAIR 

Liz Phair was born in 1967 and was raised in Winnetka, Illinois. She settled in the Wicker Park 

neighborhood of Chicago and began releasing self-produced tapes under the name Girly Sound in the early 

Nineties. Her debut album, 1993’s Exile in Guyville, was conceived as a song-by-song response to the Rolling 

Stones’ 1972 album Exile on Main Street. Guyville was ranked by both Spin and Rolling Stone magazines as one of 

the greatest albums of all time, and it broke new ground in frankly addressing relationships and female sexuality in 

a musical context. Phair describes "Guyville," the place, as a universe populated by young men wearing black 

leather jackets and wallets clipped to their belt buckles. “They felt to me like a mafia of music lovers, who were 

supposedly representing 'alternative,' but at the same time I found them to be sort of oppressive," she told NPR. 

"You couldn't like certain bands if they were too pop. And if you didn't know which band had split up to re-form 

the band that you were discussing, then you didn't have an opinion. You couldn't even throw out an opinion, 

because you just didn't have the background." Whip-smart followed in 1994. Whitechocolatespaceegg was 

released in 1998 and yielded the single “Polyester Bride,” called by one critic “perhaps Liz Phair’s first perfect pop 

song.” Phair released a self-titled album in 2003, Somebody’s Miracle in 2005 and Funstyle in 2010. 

Liz Phair Outfit, 1999 

Design by Sold 

Collection of Liz Phair 

Liz Phair wore this outfit to the gala opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Metropolitan Museum of 

Art’s 1999 exhibition, Rock Style. 

FAITH HILL 

Faith Hill was born in Mississippi in 1967. She moved to Nashville at the age of 19. In 1993, her debut 

single, “Wild One,” spent four weeks at Number One. Since then, she has sold more than 30 million records 

worldwide and has had 13 Number One singles. Her 1999 album Breathe, 2002’s Cry and 2005’s Fireflies all 

debuted at Number One on Billboard’s pop and country charts, making her the only female artist ever to have 

consecutively topped both charts three times. Hill is a five-time Grammy winner. She has also won three Country 

Music Association Awards, 12 Academy of Country Music Awards, four American Music Awards and four People’s 

Choice Awards. In 2001, she appeared on America: A Tribute to Heroes, a benefit for the rescue workers and 

victims of the September 11th attacks. In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, she appeared on NBC’s A Concert for 

Hurricane Relief. Hill co-headlined 2006’s Soul2Soul II Tour with her husband Tim McGraw. It was the highestgrossing 

country tour of all time and the most attended of the year, in any genre. Hill also starred in the 2004 

remake of the film The Stepford Wives, with Nicole Kidman, Glenn Close, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick and 

Christopher Walken. Hill said, “I'm still proud of what I've done, even if it hasn't been the biggest song on the radio 

or hasn't gone to Number One…. My goal as an artist is to always be true to who I am and give my fans music they 

will enjoy for a lifetime.” 

Faith Hill Outfit, 2000 

Design by Versace 

Collection of Faith Hill 

Faith Hill wore this outfit on her first television special, broadcast on CBS on November 23, 2000. 

MEG WHITE 

Meg White was born in the Detroit area in 1974. She formed the White Stripes in 1997 with her former 

husband, singer and guitarist Jack White. The duo, with Meg on drums, identified themselves as a brother-andsister 

act and styled themselves, their instruments, stage and record packaging in red, white and black, exclusively. 

Their earthy, simple-on-the-surface takes on the blues struck a powerful chord with audiences and critics alike. 

Their breakthrough album, 2003’s Elephant, went platinum and included the hit “Seven Nation Army.” Elephant 

51

won the 2004 Grammy for Best Alternative Album, while “Seven Nation Army” won for Best Rock Song. Jack White 

recalled, “When [Meg] started to play drums with me, just on a lark, it felt liberating and refreshing. There was 

something in it that opened me up.” Meg White said of her elemental approach to drumming, “That is my 

strength. A lot of drummers would feel weird about being that simplistic." The White Stripes announced their 

breakup in February 2011. They sent their fans this message, “The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack 

anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now, and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and 

music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will 

never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.” 

Icky Thump, 2007 

The White Stripes 


Icky Thump is the White Stripes’ sixth studio album, released in 2007. The album won a Grammy for Best 

Alternative Music Album. 

Meg White of the White Stripes Bass Drum, 1997 

Pearl Brand 

Collection of the White Stripes / Meg White 

Meg White started using this “peppermint” drum head in the early days of the White Stripes’ career. 

Meg White of the White Stripes Outfit, 2007 

Hat Design by Callanan Millinery 

Suit Design by Express Design Studio 

Blouse Design by Flower 

Shoes Design by Steve Madden 

Collection of the White Stripes / Meg White 

Meg White wore this outfit on the cover of the White Stripes’ 2007 album, Icky Thump. 

CARRIE UNDERWOOD 

Carrie Underwood’s career took off in 2005, when she won the fourth season of American Idol. Since 

then, the Oklahoma native, who was born in 1983, has become a multi-platinum-selling recording artist, a multiple 

Grammy Award winner, a Grand Ole Opry inductee, a Golden Globe Award nominee and a three-time Academy of 

Country Music and Country Music Association best-female-vocalist winner. She is also the first female artist to win 

back-to-back Academy of Country Music Awards for Entertainer of the Year, in 2009 and 2010. 

Underwood’s debut album, Some Hearts, came out in 2005 and sold more than seven million copies. It 

was the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history. It was also the best-selling solo-female 

debut album in country-music history. Some Hearts yielded three Number One singles on the Billboard country 

chart and one Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her second album, Carnival Ride, came out in 

2007. It sold more than three million copies and produced four Number One country singles. Her third album, Play 

On, was released in 2009. It also went platinum and included three Number One country singles. Overall, 

Underwood has sold 20 million singles and more than 16 million albums worldwide. 

Carrie Underwood Dress, 2009 

Design by Roberto Cavalli 

Collection of Carrie Underwood 

Carrie Underwood wore this dress at the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards show. She was named 

Entertainer of the Year at the ceremony. 

52

AYLOR SWIFT 

Taylor Swift was born in December 1989 in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. When she was only 11 years old, 

she went to Nashville to try to get a record deal. She failed, but when she returned home she performed the 

national anthem at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Her performance captured the attention of people in the 

music industry. She eventually signed with Big Machine Records and, at age 14, she became the youngest person 

ever hired as a staff songwriter at Sony/ATV publishing. 

Swift released her first single, “Tim McGraw,” in mid-2006. It reached Number Six on the country chart. 

Her debut album, Taylor Swift, also came out in 2006. It spent eight weeks at the top of the country chart, and it 

reached Number Five on the pop chart. The album went multi-platinum, and Swift was nominated for a Best New 

Artist Grammy. Her second album, Fearless, came out in November 2008. It won four Grammy Awards, including 

Album of the Year. Swift’s third album, Speak Now, was released in October 2010. It sold more than a million 

copies in its first week. 

In January 2010, Nielsen SoundScan listed Swift as the most commercially successful country (or countrypop 

crossover) artist in music history, with more than 28 million digital tracks sold. As of December 2010, she had 

sold more than 16 million albums worldwide. 

“Change” 

Written by Taylor Swift 

Recorded by Taylor Swift 

Released on the album Fearless, 2008 

Collection of Taylor Swift 

Taylor Swift said she wrote this song “the day after I won the CMA [Country Music Association] Horizon Award. . . . 

[It’s] about being on a small record label in this huge music industry.” She also said the song has an “alternative 

meaning for competition…. The Olympics is either make it or break it, and this song encompasses that.” The song 

was selected as part of a soundtrack supporting the United States team in the 2008 Olympics. Swift performed the 

song at the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards show. 

Taylor Swift Dress, 2009 


Taylor Swift wore this dress on the CMT network’s Crossroads show, when she appeared with Def Leppard. The 

show pairs country artists with musicians from other genres. Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott and Swift swapped 

vocals on such hit songs as "Photograph," "Hysteria," "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Picture to Burn" and "Love 

Story." 

Taylor Swift 12-String Guitar 

Ovation 1755 Custom Balladeer, c. 2000 


This was Taylor Swift’s first guitar. Her parents purchased it for $350 from a guitar teacher when Swift was 12. She 

learned her first chords on this guitar and wrote all of her early songs on it. After a while, however, the teacher 

regretted selling the instrument, so her parents sold it back to him and bought Swift another guitar. Then, in 2009, 

they bought the guitar back from him and gave it to Taylor as a surprise Christmas present. 

ALICIA KEYS 

Alicia Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook in 1981. She started playing classical piano at age seven. Her 

debut album, Songs in A Minor, was released in 2001. The album sold 12 million copies worldwide and garnered 

five Grammys. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003 and won four Grammys. Her third 

album, 2007’s As I Am, earned three Grammys. The Element of Freedom, released in 2009, debuted at Number 

Two and earned Keys a Grammy for the single “Superwoman.” Keys collaborated with Jay-Z on the song "Empire 

State of Mind" from his 2009 album, The Blueprint 3. The song topped the chart and became her fourth Number 

One single. Keys has also appeared in films, including 2007’s Smokin’ Aces and 2008’s The Secret Life of Bees. She 

53

has headed the Keep a Child Alive charity since 2002. Keys said, “'I don’t have a ton of friends, but the friends I 

have are great ones. I don’t have a huge family, but the family I have is a great one. I have solid, decent people 

around me, and I believe that is all it is, because you will get destroyed if you have people bringing you down…. I 

never think I’ve reached that pinnacle, so to speak, but I do feel satisfied with what I’ve achieved, so I don’t feel 

this endless need [of] ‘I’ve got to get there, I’ve got to get there.’”’ 

Alicia Keys Outfit, 2008 

Design by Giorgio Armani 

Gift of Alicia Keys 

Alicia Keys wore this outfit on the Australian leg of her 2008 As I Am tour. 

LADY GAGA 

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986, in New York City. She began 

performing on New York City's Lower East Side in 2003 and enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the 

Arts. She soon signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records. She worked as a songwriter for 

fellow label artists and captured the attention of the rap artist Akon, who recognized her vocal abilities and signed 

her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution. 

Gaga came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album, The Fame, in 2008. The album 

reached Number One in six countries, peaked at Number Two in the U.S. and spawned two hit singles, “Just 

Dance” and “Poker Face.” Her follow up EP, The Fame Monster, came out the following year and also produced 

two hits, “Bad Romance” and “Telephone.” She then embarked on a second global headlining concert tour, the 

Monster Ball tour, just months after having finished her first, the Fame Ball tour. Lady Gaga’s second studio album, 

Born This Way, came out in May 2011. 

In her short career, Lady Gaga has garnered numerous awards, including two Grammys and eight MTV 

Video Music Awards. She has sold more than 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide. Billboard 

magazine named her Artist of the Year in 2010. She has also been included on Time magazine's list of the most 

influential people in the world and on Forbes magazine’s list of the 100 most powerful and influential celebrities in 

the world. Forbes also placed her at number seven on their annual list of the world's 100 most powerful women. 

Lady Gaga Outfit, 2010 

Design by Armani 


Lady Gaga wore this outfit at the 2010 Grammy Awards. Her song “Poker Face” won the Grammy for Best Dance 

Recording, and her album The Fame won for Best Electronic/Dance Album. 

JANELLE MONÁE 

Janelle Monáe was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1985. When she finished high school, she moved to 

New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with the intention of pursuing musical theater. 

In 2004, she moved to Atlanta, and she soon joined a band and began touring the local college circuit, where she 

eventually met OutKast's Big Boi. The rapper was so impressed by what he heard that he put two of her songs on 

his 2005 compilation, Got Purp?, Vol. 2. Monáe also showed up on OutKast's 2006 soundtrack, Idlewild, and 

appeared in the video for "Morris Brown." In August 2007 she released The Chase, a concept piece revolving 

around a character named Cindi Mayweather and the year 2719. The album - which melded cabaret, hip-hop, rock 

and soul - was well received, which helped bring the singer to the attention of Sean "Diddy" Combs. A re-release of 

The Chase, featuring bonus content, appeared on Combs’ Bad Boy label in August 2008, while The ArchAndroid was 

released in 2010. 

Janelle Monáe Jacket and Shoes, 2010 

Shoes Design by Willits 

54

Collection of Janelle Monáe 

Janelle Monáe wore these pieces onstage throughout 2010. 

“57821” 

Written by Janelle Monáe 

Recorded By Janelle Monáe 

Released on the album, The ArchAndroid, 2010 

Collection of Janelle Monáe 

Pollstar Magazine, June 21, 2010 


Janelle Monáe is pictured on the cover of this magazine wearing the dinner jacket and saddle shoes shown in this 

display. 

LADY GAGA 

Lady Gaga Dress, 2010 

Design by Franc Fernandez 


Lady Gaga wore this dress at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. She won five awards, including Video of the Year 

for “Bad Romance.” This dress was made out of raw meat. "Well, it is certainly no disrespect to anyone that is 

vegan or vegetarian. As you know, I am the most judgment-free human being on the earth," said Gaga. "However, 

it has many interpretations. But for me this evening, if we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't 

fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones. And, I am not a 

piece of meat." 

RIHANNA 

Rihanna was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Barbados in 1988. She signed with the Def Jam label at age 16. 

In 2005, Rihanna released her debut album, Music of the Sun, which synthesized Caribbean rhythms and urbanpop 

songwriting. Thanks to the hit single "Pon de Replay" and a promotional tour with Gwen Stefani, the album 

sold nearly 2 million copies worldwide. Less than a year later, Rihanna released A Girl Like Me. Her second album 

included her first Number One single, "SOS," which was also used in an endorsement deal she signed with Nike. 

The second single, the ballad "Unfaithful," became her third Top 10 hit. In 2006, Rihanna won the Teen Choice 

Award for Female Breakout Artist. In 2007, she released Good Girl Gone Bad, which included the Number One 

single "Umbrella," featuring Jay-Z. Rihanna’s fifth studio album, 2010’s Loud, included the singles “The Only Girl in 

the World” and “What’s My Name.” 

Rihanna Bustier, 2008 

Design by Phillipe and David Blond 

Gift of Rihanna 

Rihanna wore this bustier during her performance at the 2008 American Music Awards. 

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LABELS AND TEXT PANELS - National Museum of Women in the Arts

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