Who was the first woman inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
There has always been a particular fascination with the idea of the rock and roll frontman. Even though many moving parts make a band what they are, it always comes down to the one man at the centre of the stage looking to whip everyone into a frenzy from the minute the first note rings out. Although everyone might be in love with the idea of that one man holding an audience in their hands for hours on end, it didn’t take long for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to pay their due respect to the ladies of rock and roll.
Because as much as the stereotypical male frontman is celebrated, some of the best artists ever to grace the stage have been female. Even though Robert Plant loved to scream his brains out, he wasn’t doing anything that Janis Joplin hadn’t done before, and there’s a good chance that every member of Crosby, Stills, and Nash owes a heavy debt of gratitude to Joni Mitchell for helping pioneer their eclectic sound.
Even before rock and roll began, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was already the blueprint for what the true rock and rollers should be. Before Elvis Presley had started to shake his ass and drive the girls wild, hearing her strap on that Gibson SG and do her own renditions of tunes like ‘Didn’t It Rain’ was the archetype for what anyone should do if they wanted to sound dangerous.
Then again, rock and roll wasn’t meant to have only one style to work off of. Everything that rock and roll stood for came from the heart, and when inducting the first female into the hallowed halls, she had a fire in her soul that no one could deny.
So, who was the first woman in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
During the inaugural class, the list was a who’s who of the greatest names in music. Rock and roll still had a long road ahead in the mid-1980s, but most of the picks for the first class are unobjectionable, whether that’s Chuck Berry’s pioneering guitar skills or the way that Little Richard shook up every crowd that he got in front of.
While many of the biggest names during the ceremony also catered to the blues, like Bo Diddley, the second year saw Aretha Franklin become the first woman inducted into the Hall of Fame on her first-ever nomination. And despite being known as one of the leaders of soul music, it’s not hard to make a case for why she deserves to share the same accolades that Sam Cooke and Buddy Holly have.
Outside of her history with gospel music, Franklin was a major part of bringing soul to the forefront of the charts. People have become used to the sounds of artists like Ray Charles on the radio, but hearing her speak from a female perspective about women’s rights brought a voice to those who had always wanted to say what was on their minds, transforming Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’ into one of the greatest empowerment anthems ever made.
At the same time, it’s easy to see that the diversity in sex is still tilted towards men, with the near 1,000 inductees into the hall of fame being comprised of less than 100 women. However, time might be turning a corner for females entering the hall. Aside from people like Stevie Nicks being inducted twice, perhaps the new school of potential inductees could include everyone from PJ Harvey to Hayley Williams to Phoebe Bridgers later down the road.
