Women Folk Singers

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

Joy Williams established herself as a talented contemporary Christian artist before forming the Grammy-winning folk duo The Civil Wars with John Paul White. She had apparently rejected a recording offer at 14 to enjoy her childhood. She is best known for her chartbusting tracks such as From This Valley.

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. 

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.    

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.

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.   

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. 

Ceca is a Serbian pop-folk singer and TV personality. Having sold over seven million records, Ceca is often counted among the best-selling Serbian artists in history. Nicknamed the Serbian mother, Ceca has also appeared as a judge on popular TV singing competitions, such as Zvezde Granda and Pinkove Zvezde.