She Bop

Popular music took shape from ragtime, vaudeville and the blues before becoming a worldwide entertainment business. Nearly eighty years after Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith broke ground, the question remains whether the women who followed them have won the respect and credit they have earned.

Lucy O'Brien examines how women have fared in rock, pop and soul, looking at their experiences performing live, appearing on screen and working within an industry long dominated by men. Writing from a feminist standpoint and drawing on a deep knowledge of performers and their records, she includes many interviews with musicians. Her focus is the ongoing fight for acceptance, recognition and success, and for a place in music culture that women can truly call their own.

The book follows women's progress through the industry in stages, beginning with the early years of ragtime and the Jazz Age and carrying the story forward to the present. It suits readers interested in music history, women's roles in the arts, and the forces that shaped the careers of female performers.