# Why no female artists in the Yacht Rock genre? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 28, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920 "2025-05-28T20:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/21 "2025-05-28T22:59:39Z")
Sounds like plain old soft rock to me. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/22 "2025-05-28T23:04:18Z")
Yeah, I’d prefer “soft rock”, as would the artists, I’m sure. My friends and I only used the term “Yacht Rock” dripping with derision. I’ve been uneasy seeing it used to dismiss quality bands like Steely Dan. ---
**Author:** ![Tokushizu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Tokushizu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tokushizu)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/23 "2025-05-28T23:17:37Z")
Jennifer Warnes? Rickie Lee Jones? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/24 "2025-05-29T00:27:38Z")
Channel 15 on Sirius XM bills itself as Yacht Rock radio. A check of their recently played music shows Carly Simon, Carole King, and Olivia Newton-John on the list of artists. But the vast majority are male solo artists or all-male bands, like The Eagles and Atlanta Rhythm Section. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/25 "2025-05-29T00:36:22Z")
> [@Tokushizu](#): > > Jennifer Warnes? > Rickie Lee Jones? I’ve not heard Warnes during YR programming. With the format edges being fuzzy, maybe she got pigeonholed a bit coming from county music. Regarding Rickie Lee Jones, I have heard her big hit “Chuck E’s in Love” on YR radio. She’s had a long career and many hit albums, none of which have thrown off a second YR staple. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/26 "2025-05-29T00:50:58Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Carly Simon who covered Michael McDonald’s “You Belong to Me” She wrote the lyrics and McDonald the music. They each put out their own versions. McDonald’s with the Doobie Brothers was first, but Simon’s was way better. I don’t know why she doesn’t get more attention. She was terrific. Both the original comedy series\* (which titled itself yacht rock but never used the term otherwise) and the recent documentary made a point of the genre being soft rock about guys losing their girls. That made it hard to fit female artists into the mix. The modern extension of the few artists who were in the original definition makes no sense from any possible viewpoint, though. Maybe ask the music director at SiriusXM what criteria they use. \* If you already know all about the 70s and 80s bands, then definitely watch the original series of over-the-top parodies of the behind-the-scenes origins of the music. They’re all on YouTube. If you know nothing, stay away. They will baffle and infuriate you. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/27 "2025-05-29T00:52:02Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Toni Tenille? (Of “The Captain and” fame) Yep. > **[Women of Yacht Rock — The 80s Girls](https://www.the80sgirls.com/women-of-yacht-rock)** ### Linda Ronstadt _“Blue Bayou,”_ \*“Magic” by Olivia Newton-John \* _### Nicollette Larson_ _“Gonna Take a Lotta Love” is a Yacht Rock staple._ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/28 "2025-05-29T00:54:25Z")
She’s probably more in the “smooth jazz” category, but I can definitely imagine a Sade album being played on a yacht. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/29 "2025-05-29T02:17:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > “Gonna Take a Lotta Love” is a Yacht Rock staple. Was goona mention Emmylou Harris but wondered if she was too country. Maria Muldaur? “Midnight at the Oasis” comes to mind. Need to take a shower now. ETA: Looks like Nicollette Larson actually did GTaLL. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/30 "2025-05-29T02:37:52Z")
It’s the lyrics. Songs of wistful regret and aimless cruising are more of a male staple. A woman writing about an ex lover is more likely to be in despair or pissed off. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/31 "2025-05-29T03:01:22Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Yeah, I’d prefer “soft rock”, as would the artists, I’m sure. > > My friends and I only used the term “Yacht Rock” dripping with derision. I’ve been uneasy seeing it used to dismiss quality bands like Steely Dan. I like most songs that would be classified as yacht rock and I don’t use the term derisively. To me, yacht rock is a sub genre of soft rock. Like obscenity, I can’t definitively define it but I know it when I hear it.. So far I concur with some of the artists mentioned but only certain songs. Nicolette Larson - Lotta Love Toni Tenille - Do it Too Me One More Time Christine McVie - Hold Me, You Make Loving Fun Carole King - Jazzman Olivia Newton John - Magic Sade - Smooth Operator Maria Muldaur - Midnight at the Oasis Obviously I’m not the arbiter of what is and is not yacht rock and I appreciate everyone’s contributions. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/32 "2025-05-29T03:14:47Z")
Bit of a one-hit wonder but after reading the specifics on what yacht rock is, I think Sophie B. Hawkins is a solid contender. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/33 "2025-05-29T03:17:25Z")
Juice Newton. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/34 "2025-05-29T03:28:42Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Olivia Newton John - Magic In fact, this particular song was one of the only female-vocals songs which SiriusXM’s “Yacht Rock Radio” channel played for several years. Within the last year, they’ve broadened their playlist, to include more “soft rock” from the late '70s and early '80s, and several of the other female artists and songs suggested in this thread are now regularly played there. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/35 "2025-05-29T03:30:39Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Bit of a one-hit wonder but after reading the specifics on what yacht rock is, I think Sophie B. Hawkins is a solid contender. Honestly, that one hit of hers (“Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover,” 1992), is about a decade too late to really fit into the genre/format, which is really centered on circa 1977 to about 1985. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/36 "2025-05-29T03:33:58Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > What is Yacht Rock? > > I’ve never heard of it. We actually had a lengthy thread on it here, and what defines it, about six months ago. > [@Yacht Rock: what is it and what's its origin?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120): > > Although this thread was originally created by a troll, it developed into a normal thread. So here’s what the rest of you had to say. (Other posts moved back from the cornfield.) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/37 "2025-05-29T03:43:16Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > I like most songs that would be classified as yacht rock and I don’t use the term derisively. To me, yacht rock is a sub genre of soft rock. Like obscenity, I can’t definitively define it but I know it when I hear it.. I think ‘yacht rock’ is a broader classification than just soft rock/adult contemporary; it’s inclusive of pretty much any airplay friendly pop/rock from the mid-'Seventies through the early 'Nineties; so not prog rock, metal, punk, electronica, disco, or (most) grunge, but blues rock maybe fringing on country-ish rock, New Wave, some less heavy glam rock, folk rock, et cetera. So, anything from say Heart or the various individual projects of members of The Eagles through Red Hot Chili Peppers and maybe terminating with Weezer’s ‘Blue Album’. How much you include in that period is kind of subjective; I wouldn’t call Sade or Nicolette Larson ‘rock’ of any kind but as @bordelond says, it really isn’t so much a genre category as it is a radio play format back in the days when actual radio stations had to play a broad variety of different music rather than Sirius XM providing an algorithmically-curated list of the same eighty easy play songs. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/38 "2025-05-29T04:13:38Z")
Not only is she female, she’s also black. I’m of the opinion that [Piano in the Dark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7u5GtSIC5k) falls squarely into the category (although I’m far from an expert). ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/39 "2025-05-29T05:07:52Z")
Do you really think 80s Madonna would be unwelcome on a yacht rock set list? “Open Your Heart” would be right at home. Kim Carnes, too. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920/40 "2025-05-29T05:31:48Z")
Wikipedia lists the artists who are considered to be part of the Yacht Rock genre, and many of them are women: > **[List of yacht rock artists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_yacht_rock_artists)** > > The following is a list of bands and artists which have been described as belonging to yacht rock. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-female-artists-in-the-yacht-rock-genre/1018920.md?page=3)