Women Folk Singers

Joni Mitchell is one of the most popular Canadian singer-songwriters. Widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, her songs reflect her feelings about joy, romance, disillusionment, and confusion. Apart from being a musician, Joni is also a visual artist who designs most of her album covers. In fact, she calls herself a painter derailed by circumstance.  

A four-time Grammy Award-winning artist, singer Tracy Chapman is best known for her hit single, Give Me One Reason. Interested in music from a young age, she learned to play multiple instruments as a child. She made her major-stage debut in 1985 and soon became a sensational hit. She is also known for her social activism.

English singer-songwriter Sandy Denny, considered a leading British folk-rock singer, performed as lead-singer of the famous folk-rock band Fairport Convention, and fronted it through many of its successful albums like What We Did on Our Holidays. Other notable works of Denny includes her solo-albums like Rendezvous; and her folk-duet The Battle of Evermore with Robert Plant for Led Zeppelin's album.

Singer, songwriter, musician, and activist Joan Baez has been active in the music world for over six decades. She emerged as a major musical figure in the counterculture era of the 1960s. Her music encompasses various genres like pop, folk-rock, country, and gospel music. She is involved in civil rights, human rights, and environmental activism as well.

Known for her unique blend of Celtic and folk tunes, Irish singer Enya has been dubbed the Queen of New Age. The Academy Award-nominated singer is also a 4-time Grammy winner and soared to fame with tracks such as Only Time and Orinoco Flow. She is the best-selling Irish solo artist ever.

Joanna Newsom is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress. Noted for her unique musical style, Newsom's early work was influenced by polyrhythms. She is one of the most important members of the modern freak folk and psychedelic folk movement. Newsom is also noted for her songwriting, which incorporates elements of avant-garde modernism and Appalachian music.

Known for her music that showcases the issues of Native Americans, Canadian-American singer Buffy Sainte-Marie became the first person from any indigenous community to win an Oscar, with the song Up Where We Belong. She had also been blacklisted by many radio stations earlier due to her activism.

With songs that are a blend of contemporary folk-rock and traditional storytelling, Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald sold 3 million copies of her debut album worldwide. Known for hits such as This Is the Life, she is a self-taught musician and began her career singing at pubs and cafes in her teens.

British folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling is noted for albums like I Speak Because I Can and Song for Our Daughter, which garnered her nomination for Mercury Music Prize. The latter and her sixth album, Semper Femina also earned her Grammy Award nomination for Best Folk Album. She has won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist in 2011.

English folk-singer Maddy Prior MBE is best-known as a founding-member and lead vocalist of the folk-rock band Steeleye Span. Her musical pursuits also include collaborating with Mac MacLeod as part of singing duo Mac & Maddy, with June Tabor as part of singing duo Silly Sisters; performing and recording two albums with Tim Hart; and releasing solo albums like Ravenchild.   

Singer and lyricist of the English band Portishead, Beth Gibbons was at her family’s farm in Exeter and grew up shunning modern lifestyle or education. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with many artists. She has also been a judge at the Independent Music Award.

Exene Cervenka soared to fame as a singer of the punk rock band X. She has also held exhibitions for her mixed media art, published books, and released a spoken word album. She has also expressed her views as a conspiracy theorist named Christine Notmyrealname, on social media.

Marketa Irglova is a Czech-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter, and actress. She is best known for starring in the 2007 Irish musical drama film Once, which earned Irglová numerous prestigious awards, such as an Oscar under the Best Original Song category for her song, Falling Slowly. 

Born into a family of musicians, Canadian-American folk singer Martha Wainwright initially studied drama but later began her music career, performing at coffee-houses. She is talented songwriter, too and has performed as part of the duo known as the Wainwright Sisters, with her half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche.

English singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan is best-known for her debut album Just Another Diamond Day which got relatively unnoticed following its release in 1970 leading Bunyan  to abandoned her musical-career. The album however gained attention with time and acquired cult following by 2000. This motivated Bunyan to re-start her musical-career after around three decades, and release the albums Lookaftering and Heartleap.    

Lianne La Havas is a British record producer and singer-songwriter. Apart from releasing award-winning albums like Lianne La Havas and Is Your Love Big Enough, La Havas also headlines concert tours. Her work has received nominations for the prestigious Grammy Awards and Brit Awards.

English singer-songwriter Ella Edmondson is the eldest daughter of comedians Ade Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders. During her teens, for some time, Ella became part of the goth subculture. She did several odd jobs before turning to music full-time releasing the EP, Blame Amy, and the album, Hold Your Horses. She also toured with Ade’s English folk band, The Bad Shepherds.   

Known as the Dandiya Queen, Falguni Pathak rocked the 1990s with her chartbusting tracks such as Chudi Jo Khanki Haathon Mein, which still light up Navratri celebrations in India. She is also known for her signature androgynous looks. Though she’s based in Mumbai, her songs reflect the Gujarati folk culture.

Latin Grammy-winning Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa, also known as La Negra, remains an iconic figure of Argentine folk music and of the left-wing social movement nueva canción. Starting her music career with radio at age 15, she later soared to fame with the track Gracias a la vida.

Kate Rusby, counted among the best-known contemporary English folk-singers, has released several successful albums like 20 and Hand Me Down. She co-founded and remained part of the band called Equation; performed as lead-vocalist of The Poozies, an all-female traditional folk band; and contributed guest vocals on Ronan Keating's single All Over Again that reached #6 on the UK Singles Chart.