The women who rocked music

Two decades later their upbeat energy and attitude, catchy lyrics and over-the-top outfits – union jack mini-dress anyone? – still resonate. But they aren't the only women to have rocked the music world. Here, we give you the run down on the other women who grabbed the world by the throat with their lyrics and music.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

You didn't see many black women playing the guitar in the 1930s. But that didn't stop Sister Rosetta, the American singer songwriter widely acknowledged as the Godmother of rock and roll. Her unique blend of spiritual lyrics and rhythm and blues style accompaniment influenced icons including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. The daughter of Arkansas cotton-pickers, her ferocious guitar playing was spotted by talent scout John Hammond after she moved to New York. She went on to record and tour around the US and Europe and last performed in 1970, just three years before her death.

Billy Holliday

Born Eleanora Fagan in 1915, Holliday was a jazz musician and singer-songwriter whose 30 year career had a seminal influence. Her spellbinding voice was her ticket out of a troubled childhood that saw her discovered while performing in Harlem nightclubs, and after being signed to Brunswick Records in 1935, produced hit after hit including God Bless the Child and What a Little Moonlight Can Do. By the late 1940s Holliday was beset with legal difficulties and drug abuse and despite a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall never fully recovered from her troubles. She died at just 44-years-old leaving behind one hefty legacy.

Ella Fitzgerald

With 13 Grammy's under her belt, Fitzgerald, who died 20 years ago aged 79, was an extraordinary vocalist who fought her way to the top. She was put in an orphanage by her mother at just 13. After leaving to live with an aunt, she tap danced for money on the street because finances were so tight at home, as well as running errands for a mob gambling syndicate, which paid for piano lessons. She first decided to be a singer at 16 after success at a talent show and went on to become known as "the first lady of song" most famously performing with Duke Ellington's band and touring internationally with Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie.

Aretha Franklin

With hits like Respect and Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves there's little debating Franklin's kick-ass credentials in a career so far spanning over 50 years. Born in 1942 to a gospel minister, the Queen of Soul clocked up an impressive 112 charted singles, including 20 number-one R&B singles. In the course of her career she has won a total of 18 Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having flogged over 75 million records worldwide.

Janis Joplin

From her earliest years Joplin called it how she saw it, regardless of what anyone thought. Bullied at school for sticking up for her alternative views and branded "a freak" and "a n****r lover", singing was her escape route from the small town that she didn't fit into. In San Francisco she found fellow free spirits, rose to fame first with the Kozmic Blues Band and then the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Iconic hits including Piece of My Heart, Ball 'n' Chain and Mercedes Benz. Known for her electric performances she said she felt most at home on stage. Her life off it was often lonely and troubled and she died of a drug overdose in 1970.

Patti Smith

Spellbinding is how Smith's offbeat performances are described. Born in 1946, this "punk poet laureate", fused rock and poetry in her work and broke through with her 1975 debut album Horses. Her influence as an essential part of the New York punk rock movement has been greater than her commercial success. It's perhaps her DIY activist attitude that has inspired most – as well as her much celebrated rawness that has not diminished with age. In 2012 she released her 11th studio album Banga and she continues to perform internationally.

Debbie Harry

"The only place left for rock to go is toward more girl stars. There's nothing left for men to do. There's bound to be more male stars, but they can't express anything new," said Debbie Harry, pop icon and lead singer of the new wave band Blondie. With Heart of Glass and One Way or Another her place in history was already secured but she went on to release five solo albums before reforming Blondie in the late 1990s. She's in her sixties, still touring and still as cool as ever.

Grace Jones

Without Jones' weird and wonderful outfits – and superlative hat collection – surely there would have been no Gaga. The statuesque Jamaican singer, songwriter, supermodel, record producer and actress secured a contract with Island Record in the seventies and is known for chart hits including Pull Up to the Bumper and Slave to the Rhythm. Her impressive vocal range spans two-and-a-half octaves. It's fair to say Jones is not a people pleaser but don't say the "D" word: "I am not a diva, I am a Jones," she states in her 2015 memoir, entitled I’ll Never Write My Memoirs.

Madonna

Love her or loathe her Madge is pop royalty. Madonna Louise Ciccone courted controversy from the off with hits like Like a Virgin, the title track of her 1984 album and the cross burning and stigmata symbols featuring in the video led to condemnation from the Vatican - one surefire way to ensure success. During the Girlie Show World Tour in 1993 she dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix surrounded by topless dancers and ripped up the narratives about women and sex. Five years later she'd reinvented herself again as a dance scene icon with Ray of Light and her released her album Rebel Heart last year to critical acclaim. This shrewd businesswoman has sold 300 million records worldwide. Nobody but Madonna is pulling the strings.

Bjork

An Icelandic pixie with fire in her belly, you just can't pin Bjork down. Over a career that so far spans three decades she has developed an eclectic musical style that draws on experimental, pop, electronic, trip-hop, underground dance, classical, and avant-garde influences and her dress sense is equally out there - most famous is the swan dress she wore to the Academy Awards in 2001. Lead singer of the indy rock band The Sugarcubes, her ethereal voice has led to scores of hits as a solo artist - she is reported to have sold between 20 and 40 million records worldwide. She says she loves being a singer-songwriter, but would also like to be a scientist or explorer. And she wouldn't rule either out just yet.

M.I.A.

Mathangi 'Maya' Arulpragasam – who uses the stage name M.I.A. (Missing in Action), is an English hip hop, visual artist, producer and activist who holds nothing back. Born in London, her Sri Lankan parents moved back to their home country when she was a baby, where her father become a Tamil political activist and fought against the regime army during the country's brutal civil war. Arulpragasam moved back to the UK as a refugee just before her 11th birthday and started making music in 2004. The lyrics spoke of guerilla warfare and the fierce beats were programmed on synthesisers. Her debut, Arular, received critical acclaim and in 2009 Time magazine named her one of the world's 100 most influential people.

Beyonce

Queen Bey is a modern pop phenomena. Whether she's strutting her stuff on stage or in confessional mode in her most recent album Lemonade – assumed to be a response to husband Jay Z's infidelity – the message is loud and clear: Beyonce is taking control. She rose to fame with Destiny's Child, notably managed by her father Mathew Knowles, and has become one of the world's biggest solo artists with hits like Crazy in Love and Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). During her most recent Formation tour she performed Flawless with the word 'Feminist' emblazoned behind her in huge letters. Many raise an eyebrow at her scantily clad "feminism" but she's certainly putting empowerment up for discussion.

Lady Gaga

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta - aka Gaga - has ripped up the rule book and done it her own way. Her concept outfits, including an outfit created from Kermit the Frog puppets, and her wacky performances have gained as much attention as her hits, which have included Poker Face, Born this Way and Applause. Gaga is an outspoken activist for LGBT rights worldwide and is keen to refine the way we talk about women and sex. Yet she has described herself as only "a little bit feminist" while admitting that "women get away with saying very little" in the music industry. And it has been reported that when posing for lads mag GQ topless she burst into tears. Empowering? Not so much it turns out.

Amanda Palmer

Sometimes known as Amanda 'F***ing' Palmer, this American singer-songwriter who first rose to prominence as the lead singer, pianist, and lyricist/composer of the duo of The Dresden Dolls is not afraid of controversy. After her success with the cult band Dolls, she launched her solo career. Her first album Who Killed Amanda Palmer? references Twin Peaks. She's spoken out on sexism in the music industry, famously claiming that Roadrunner Records had wanted to pull shots of her stomach from the video of hit Leeds United because "she looked fat". Her fans posted pictures of their stomachs online in a "ReBellyon", which led to The Belly Book, featuring over 600 pictures and stories.

Charli XCX

Born in 1992, English singer/songwriter Charlotte Emma Aitchison grew up under the influence of the Spice Girls. In a documentary The F word and Me about music and feminist she admitted Girl Power was her introduction to the concept. She rose to prominence during 2013 and 2014 and her 2014 single Boom Clap from the soundtrack album of The Fault in Our Stars became a top ten single in several countries. Messages of empowerment run through songs like Body of My Own. With lyrics like "I'm into myself, don't need you"; surely here's a woman who knows what she really, really wants.