By Adilene Diaz Torres
Women have long faced many obstacles in the world of entertainment, and it certainly has been more difficult for women to succeed in the music industry compared to men. Although the path to success hasn’t always been easy, many female musicians have been able to overcome the obstacles, which are mainly gender issues, and have been able to create a name for themselves in a challenging industry. Among these women is Stevie Nicks, an icon in her genre, who is currently the only woman to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once with British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac and then as a solo artist in 2019. Nicks was able to achieve this level of recognition not only in the male dominated genre of rock but in her solo career as well. Dealing with fame also led to many issues for Nicks, including health and body image issues which caused her to decline in popularity, as according to Grunge, “female fans could no longer identify with the once fairy-like singer, and sadly, they listened to her music less.” This caused her to listen to her audience and shed weight due to loss of album sales. Nonetheless, she was able to overcome this issue and was declared “The Reigning Queen of Rock n Roll” by Rolling Stone. Not to mention, she influenced many of today’s popular artists such as Destiny’s Child, Taylor Swift and Lana del Rey. Another female singer who has had a lasting legacy in music is Selena Quintanilla, who popularized the then-new genre of Tejano music so well that she is now known as the “Queen of Tejano music”. Selena’s album, “Ven Conmigo” was “the first Tejano album to achieve gold record status” after surpassing 500,000 copies sold, according to Biography.This was especially groundbreaking because she achieved these accomplishments and crossed the Spanish language music industry to the American music industry with success. Her success was so extraordinary that she was able to perform sold out shows at the Houston Astrodome, adding to the lists of artists who have also performed there such as Elvis Presley and the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, she was assassinated at the age of 23 at the peak of her career by Yolanda Saldivar, but she has left a legacy for women and Latinas in music. In the world of rap, Nicki Minaj has become one of the most influential women in her genre, with Billboard crediting her for putting “female rap back on the map”. Nicki Minaj has received 10 Grammy nominations from 2011-2016 , . She became the first solo female rapper to perform at the Grammys in 2012 and was named in TIME’s 100 list of the world’s most influential people. With this, it is undeniable that Nicki has a tight grip on the rap industry, in which it is notoriously difficult for a woman to succeed and make a name for herself, especially for a woman of color.
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