We all know and love Joan Jett and Debbie Harry, but what about the female icons who don’t get mentioned in conversations about the heyday of punk nearly as often? Let’s dive into a list of four absolute legends who influenced and pioneered punk rock in their own, unique ways.
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1. Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux is one of the most recognizable women in punk rock. She was a huge influence, both in The Creatures and in Siouxsie Sioux And The Banshees. Like many musicians from around her time, she was inspired to explore punk rock after seeing Sex Pistols perform live.
Earlier in her career, she was known for wearing fetish clothing during her performances, which likely influenced (in part) the punk rock appropriation of leather, studs, metal, and smeared dark makeup. Her confidence and attitude were even more punk rock than many of her punk rock contemporaries.
2. Poly Styrene
She’s the queen in my book. Poly Styrene was the lead singer of X-Ray Spex, which I would consider one of the most authentic and genuine bands of the punk movement. She wasn’t your typical leather-clad, angsty, intimidating figure. Poly Styrene took to the stage with a mouth full of braces, clad in a pastel-colored sweater, and screeched into the microphone with a high-pitched voice in a way that other punk vocalists weren’t really doing. She was absolutely incredible.
3. Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde launched The Pretenders into infamy, and she’s one of the most recognizable figures on this list. Hynde was at the forefront of the punk rock movement in the late 1970s, and a number of The Pretenders’ songs topped the charts in the UK in the 1980s. She was also notable for her unique fashion sense and empowering music. Nobody’s done it like Hynde since. She even influenced the riot grrrl movement in the 1990s.
4. Vi Subversa
In an era when punk rockers were young, single men with a bone to pick, there was something revolutionary about a middle-aged mother shredding the guitar and screaming into a microphone about how terribly women are treated in society once they reach a certain age. Vi Subversa does not get her flowers as often as she deserves.
Subversa was one of the greatest female punk icons to come out of London in the late 1970s. She is best known for her work as the frontwoman of Poison Girls, an anarcho-punk band that produced what I consider a genius album: their debut 1979 record Hex.
Photo by Leon Morris/Redferns
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