# Female Band Members **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180 "2011-08-18T15:34:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/21 "2011-08-18T17:04:29Z")
shit Annie i think citing Yoko Ono or Linda McCartney would be setting female musicians back 50 years… Sheila E when she took over drums for Prince… Carol Kaye since she played Bass for a ton of the Beach Boys stuff ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/22 "2011-08-18T17:11:57Z")
Shonna Tucker, bass player for The Drive By Truckers (she joined after her singer/songwriter/guitarist husband Jason Isbell joined; they’ve since divorced and he’s left the band but she has stayed.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/23 "2011-08-18T17:13:15Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Every 90’s alternative band ever. I was going to say, in the 90s it seemed like you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a female bassist. Ones that haven’t been mentioned yet: The Pixies Sonic Youth My Bloody Valentine The Dandy Warhols Galaxie 500 ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/24 "2011-08-18T17:13:26Z")
Sheryl Crow was a guitar player for Michael Jackson for a while. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/25 "2011-08-18T18:03:10Z")
[The Honeycombs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Honeycombs). I think, perhaps, Honey Lantree pioneered the female drummer thing. Admittedly, their only hit heavily featured her drumming, and she did sing on it (and presumably, the group was named for her), but she was not the lead singer, so I think they meet the criterion. Also, from the same era, [The Applejacks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Applejacks_%28UK_band%29) had a female bassist. Come to think of it, didn’t The Doors have a female bassist in their early line-up? - Yep, [Patricia Sullivan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_doors#Origins_and_formation). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/26 "2011-08-18T18:08:57Z")
Did Gillian Gilbert ever sing lead with New Order? Everything I remember of theirs had male vocals. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/27 "2011-08-18T18:21:27Z")
How about Patti Scialfa in the E Street Band? She does sing, but I don’t know if she sings lead on anything. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/28 "2011-08-18T18:24:27Z")
I thought of another bassist: Gaye Avert of [The Adverts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adverts). And does Nancy Wilson of Heart count? In a sense they were a female dominated band, but with a majority of male musicians, I think, and Ann rather than Nancy was lead singer (though Nancy did share the spotlight quite a bit). What I can’t seem to think of is any examples of a female lead guitarist playing for a male singer/frontman. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/29 "2011-08-18T18:27:44Z")
Sammy Hagar’s solo band has the amazing[Mona](http://www.pinkvoodoo.com). ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/30 "2011-08-18T18:33:15Z")
The B-52s Eddie & the Cruisers 😉 Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/31 "2011-08-18T18:42:33Z")
[Sex Bob-omb!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdWrdJb0KWU) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/32 "2011-08-18T18:46:53Z")
David Bowie has Gail Ann Dorsey playing bass, and wisely so. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/33 "2011-08-18T18:47:47Z")
[Regina Zernay Roberts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Zernay)played bass with Cowboy Mouth, now playing with Cee Lo Green. She’s fun and enthusiastic and all kinds of awesome live. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/34 "2011-08-18T19:09:19Z")
Flogging Molly and The Tossers both have female fiddle players in their line-ups, the rest of the respective band mates being male. (And both are pretty damn awesome.) ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/35 "2011-08-18T19:45:52Z")
> [@Chicagojeff](#): > > \ > Sheila E when she took over drums for Prince.. \ Prince has had any number of females backing him up, from Wendy and Lisa during the Revolution years, to Sheila E. to Candy Dulfer playing sax for him more recently, with a mess of women mixed in along the way. The first one to pop into my head was Canadian 80s band, [the Spoons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spoons), whose bass player is Sandy Horne. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/36 "2011-08-18T20:02:24Z")
The \*\*Travis Larson Band \*\*is an instumental trio, with Jennifer Young on bass. And this chick can _shred it_. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/37 "2011-08-18T20:11:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was going to say, in the 90s it seemed like you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a female bassist. > > Ones that haven’t been mentioned yet: > > The Pixies > Sonic Youth > My Bloody Valentine > The Dandy Warhols > Galaxie 500 Add [The Feelies](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__HjqXAVlmB0/SaWp7K81BpI/AAAAAAAAAM0/DP61Xyi5veE/s400/feelies-color.jpg) to the list. I think a female bassist was required to get a union card back then ;). ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/38 "2011-08-18T20:29:03Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Did Gillian Gilbert ever sing lead with New Order? Everything I remember of theirs had male vocals. I think that’s right. She might be credited with a co-lead in “Procession” but you have to go to the Other Two to hear her sing. She’s got a nice voice. Oddly, the only NO member to not have a lead vocal on a song AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/39 "2011-08-18T20:56:28Z")
Breezy Peyton of [The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reverend_Peyton%27s_Big_Damn_Band) plays the washboard so hard that the band sells broken washboard fragments at their concerts. > [@astorian](#): > > Sara Lee played bass for Robert Fripp’s League of Gentlemen and later for the Gang of Four. Who _hasn’t_ Sara Lee played with? During a radio interview, I was joking with her that you could play “Six Degrees of Sara Lee” connecting everyone in music through musicians she has played on stage with. > [@The\_Tooth](#): > > David Bowie has Gail Ann Dorsey playing bass, and wisely so. Gail and Sara may have been a couple. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180/40 "2011-08-18T21:09:04Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Who _hasn’t_ Sara Lee played with? During a radio interview, I was joking with her that you could play “Six Degrees of Sara Lee” connecting everyone in music through musicians she has played on stage with. That’s because nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-band-members/593180.md?page=3)