Let’s hear it for the women musicians who have given it all for their creative passions. Persistent, progressive and prolific, here’s a selection of memoirs written by women who helped build music history over the past century.
Originally published in 1956, this fiercely honest autobiography of Billie Holiday will take you on a journey through her Baltimore childhood, her emergence on Harlem’s club scene to sold-out performances with the Count Basie Orchestra. This memoir…
Loretta Lynn was invited to meet Patsy Cline, who was in hospital, after performing ‘I Fall to Pieces’ as part of a live radio performance. They became fast friends, and Pasty mentored Loretta who was new to the Nashville music scene. Read this…
What better way to get to know a songwriter than to hear the stories behind the lyrics? In this book, Dolly Parton focuses on 175 of her songs and the memories and stories behind the songs that cemented her position as a beloved icon across…
Learn about the ‘true enigma’ who was Nico. Launched into stardom by Andy Warhol, she featured in his hit film “Chelsea Girls” and became a singer with the experimental rock group The Velvet Underground, more due to her looks than her singing…
Mama Cass was a legend who helped define the sound of the 1960’s counterculture movement. In this long-awaited memoir, Cass’ daughter pulls back the curtain on the myth and legend that has surrounded her mother’s life and untimely death. See how…
Iconic singer-songwriter, winner of 4 Grammy Awards, member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Carole King chronicles her journey from her Brooklyn beginnings to her success as a songwriter and acclaimed musical talents.…
By the time she retired in 2009, Linda Ronstadt had spent four decades as one of the most popular singers in the world, becoming the first female artist in popular music to release four consecutive platinum albums. Follow along her eclectic and…
Long reigning Queen of rock & roll recounts personal stories she’s never shared before about her complicated relationship with her mother, the tragic death of her son, setting the record straight about her career and finishing with finding her true…
After giving a performance as part of Nick Cave’s Meltdown Festival, Nina Simone had left a piece of gum on the piano. Cave’s bandmate Warren Ellis collected the piece of gum and wrapped it in Simone’s stage towel. This purloined piece of…
After forming The Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious in 1976, Albertine joined The Slits and made musical history in one of the first generations of punk bands. The Slits would go on to serve as an inspiration to future rockers, including Kurt…
Debbie Harry is an icon of rock & roll cool from the late 1970s to 1980s. Her band Blondie pioneered the American new wave genre when they formed and by the late 1970s they released a series of number 1 hits mixing musical styles like disco, pop,…
The Bangles were the first all-women band to have five “Top 10” hits when they rose to stardom in the 1980s. They were focused, ambitious and hardworking, they seemed unstoppable with #1 records, world tours and collaborations with top artists of…
Kristin Hersh’s memoir is based on the diary she kept when she was 18 and touring with her first band Throwing Muses. During this year’s chronicle we learn how she started to hear songs fully formed, is misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and…
Founding member of Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon’s 2015 memoir feels like more than a list of all the celebrities in her life. Instead, she presents a unique perspective of creative and experimental creative work that grew to define the American noise…
An icon of the 1990s Riot-Grrrl era of rock history, Carrie Brownstein shares her experiences of growing up in the Pacific Northwest as it became the setting for important rock movements of grunge and feminist punk-rock. Her band Sleater-Kinney was…
A former bandmate of Carrie Brownstein, Kathleen Hanna also came up in the Pacific Northwest’s feminist punk scene. Notable for coming up with the phrase “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Hanna shares some of her friendships with musicians such as Kurt…
