Why are all the best selling rock bands all male ?

owl61uk

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Been thinking about this for a while now. But if you check just about any list of top selling rock bands, they all have one thing in common; they are all males in the band
Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Stones Led Zeppelin,Metallica, Aerosmith, Guns N Roses, Queen and so on. The main exception to this being Fleetwood Mac, who have 2 females and 3 males, well at their commercial peak, although they also were an all male band for years.

I appreciate that there are some females within bands who sell lots of records/ sellout tours, Heart for example. I am however struggling to think of any major all female rock bands

Dont get me wrong there are plenty of all female groups in other genres, Little Mix, Spice Girls, Destinys Child etc, but not in rock

Anyone have any thoughts on why there are so few major all women rock bands
 
Because, in rock and roll, females are traditionally groupies?? ;)
 
Maybe not as super selling as the male rock bands but how about these female fronted bands (although not technically “true” rock bands) :

Evanescence
Paramore
Garbage
The Cardigans
The Cranberries
No Doubt
 
Two plausible explanations, which aren't mutually exclusive:

1. Women aren't as interested in rock music, perhaps because it is seen as harsher and more masculine. There just aren't as many female rock musicians in the picture.
2. There are some ingrained sexist attitudes. Rock is a genre that prides itself on appearing credible and authentic. Most critics are male and are likely to appraise male artists in this way, and see female artists as poppy or lightweight.
 
Two plausible explanations, which aren't mutually exclusive:

1. Women aren't as interested in rock music, perhaps because it is seen as harsher and more masculine. There just aren't as many female rock musicians in the picture.
2. There are some ingrained sexist attitudes. Rock is a genre that prides itself on appearing credible and authentic. Most critics are male and are likely to appraise male artists in this way, and see female artists as poppy or lightweight.
I’d also imagine that, perhaps linked to your point 1, there are far more men who play electric guitar and drums (for instance) than women. Said blokes will find themselves with like minded chaps and form a collection of blokes who play instruments = a band.

It’s all maths. Or something.
 
top of my head i can only think of two. The Runaways, not really my thing, and The Donnas, who are.
 
Because Mens brains are wired differently to women’s, men write far more catchier melodies and imo have superior voices, i mean just look at Freddie Mercury, no female could match him. It’s not right we know, but men just have more of an advantage when it comes to music, and yes you can say that women are not represented as much as men, but I can guarantee you this, if a female motzart were to be born, they’d be world famous. Men and women just have different brains. Now this can’t be generalised to all men, as some are worse artists than women. But generally speaking men possess more natural abilities when it comes to composing music and writing lyrics.
 
Wow @seagreenmercury what an attitude you have.
Most of my favourite vocalist are female. Very very few are men. Freddie Mercury being one of them.

IMO women have a far better natural ability when it comes to their vocal abilities

If you are really 18 you seem to have a very narrow minded view 😟
 
Because Mens brains are wired differently to women’s, men write far more catchier melodies and imo have superior voices, i mean just look at Freddie Mercury, no female could match him. It’s not right we know, but men just have more of an advantage when it comes to music, and yes you can say that women are not represented as much as men, but I can guarantee you this, if a female motzart were to be born, they’d be world famous. Men and women just have different brains. Now this can’t be generalised to all men, as some are worse artists than women. But generally speaking men possess more natural abilities when it comes to composing music and writing lyrics.
Joni Mitchell
Carole King
Carly Simon
Laura Marling
Adele
Need I go on?

You have something of a misogynistic view of music and I think you need to listen to a lot more female artists, especially those with a track record of writing hit music and albums.
 
Good to see my topic being rekindled after a few years

The main point I was trying to get across was that there are not many "all female bands" particularly in the rock genre. Plenty of female bands in dance and pop music

There are plenty of female lead singers in rock bands who are amazing, Floor Jansen, Nightwish,who IMHO is a better singer that Freddie Mercury, Sharon Den Adel, Within Temptation, Amy Lee, Evanescence, Lzzy Hale, Halestorm to name a few.

But as I said not many really successful all female rock bands
 
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But as I said not many really successful all female rock bands
I agree but its more likely to be a certain amount of unconscious bias / institutionalised sexism in the industry rather than the "statements" made by a certain other poster.
 
I agree but its more likely to be a certain amount of unconscious bias / institutionalised sexism in the industry rather than the "statements" made by a certain other poster.
Yep, it’s a man’s world as the saying goes!
 
Joni Mitchell
Carole King
Carly Simon
Laura Marling
Adele
Need I go on?

You have something of a misogynistic view of music and I think you need to listen to a lot more female artists, especially those with a track record of writing hit music and albums.
Adele doesn't belong in that list, a one dimensional pop warbler in that company.
I don't care who makes the music as long I like it.
 
There are plenty of female lead singers in rock bands who are amazing, Floor Jansen, Nightwish,who IMHO is a better singer that Freddie Mercury,
Ohh never heard of Nightwish before but just did a quick search and while a little "heavier" than my normal - the few songs I just listened to did sound v. good :thumbsup:
(with Richard Dawkins - class :):thumbsup::thumbsup::smashin:)



Anyway no one has mentioned The Bangles!
 
Adele doesn't belong in that list, a one dimensional pop warbler in that company.
I don't care who makes the music as long I like it.
Sorry @Rhinonine you are correct Adele is not really "rock" but she is a "good" high grossing female singer that @seagreenmercury seems to think shouldn't exist.
 
4 Non Blondes. The Go Go's. Just two off the top of my head.
 
Anyway no one has mentioned The Bangles!
How could I forget about the "The Go-Go's" according to Wikipedia
They are widely considered the most successful all-female rock band of all time.
TBF I like Belinda Carlisle - saw her in Concert back in the '90s but never bothered about the Go-Go's as thought they had disbanded!
 
But as I said not many really successful all female rock bands
Quite a few successful all female or female led post-punk/new wave rock/indie bands during 80s-90s, mostly American - certainly all made a decent living touring in the US

The Go-Go's
The Bangles
Throwing Muses
Belly
L7
The Breeders
Veruca Salt
Hole
Elastica
 
Quite a few successful all female or female led post-punk/new wave rock/indie bands during 80s-90s, mostly American - certainly all made a decent living touring in the US

The Go-Go's
The Bangles
Throwing Muses
Belly
L7
The Breeders
Veruca Salt
Hole
Elastica

Courtney is a one woman show, but Hole isn't an all female band :p

And no love for the Runaways, Sleater-Kinney or the Slits?
 
Courtney is a one woman show, but Hole isn't an all female band :p
That's why I wrote 'or female led' - one bloke in Elastica, blokes in Throwing Muses, Belly, Breeders and Veruca Salt.
And no love for the Runaways
I was really going for big(ish) in the 80s/90s
 
That's why I wrote 'or female led' - one bloke in Elastica, blokes in Throwing Muses, Belly, Breeders and Veruca Salt.

I was really going for big(ish) in the 80s/90s

Oh, I apologize. I missed that.

I think there are a ton of cool female led bands, from Blondie to Susie and the Banshees :)
 

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