A Year of Women in Music
2021 was a year of change. It was a year of vaccines, a year of NASA accomplishments, cheugy jokes, belated Olympics, weird celebrity relationships, rebranded potato heads (I bet you forgot about that one!), and so much more - especially in the realm of entertainment. 2021 was a year full of music. Even better, it was a year full of accomplishments for women in music.
Here is our list of the 12 women who accomplished the most in 2021.
Olivia Rodrigo
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Olivia Rodrigo had a seemingly instantaneous rise to fame this year, although she was already a fairly common name in any Disney Channel household. Her original song “Drivers License” took off with a life of its own, launching Olivia into a whole new life on the top of the music charts. She has been named Times Entertainer of the Year, Billboard’s Rookie of the Year, and has received seven Grammy nominations for the 2022 awards.
Megan Thee Stallion
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Megan Thee Stallion, or more recently called “Megan Thee College Graduate,” had an academic agenda this year and finished it off with a bachelor’s degree in health administration. Between her studies, she took home the most awards at the 2021 BET Awards.
Becky G
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Becky G was the winner of the American Music Award for favorite female artist - Latin for the second year in a row. Although she had initially found success singing in English, Becky G has discovered that making Spanish-language music helps her feel more connected to her heritage. Her fans love it, too!
Miley Cyrus
PC: Miley Cyrus, Instagram
Miley Cyrus was our rock n’ roll superstar this year - a Miley phase we very much needed. She was rightfully ranked as the No. 1 Female Rock Artist of the Year by Billboard. Miley also dominated the festival scene, headlining Austin City Limits, BottleRock, Lollapalooza, Summerfest, and Music Midtown. For all of her accomplishments, Miley was featured in Forbes Under 30 for the second time.
Chloe Moriando
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Chloe Moriando has become a "nonbianary-ish" (as she calls herself) icon over the past year. Moriando, who started off as an internet kid, has blown up over the past year proving she’s much more than just that.
Avril Lavigne
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Avril Lavigne, the come-back queen! This year Avril Lavigne signed to Travis Barker’s label, DTA Records, and began project: bring-pop-punk-back. It’s going well so far. Queue: “Bite Me.”
Japanese Breakfast
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Japanese Breakfast’s Indie-rock album Jubilee has been ranked as one of the best rock albums of the year. The Band’s leader Michelle Zauner is a Korean-American woman who rocks especially hard on the guitar, breaking stereotypes everywhere. In addition to being an accomplished musical artist, Zauner also became a New York Times best selling author this year, with the publication of her book Crying in H Mart: A Memoir.
Dua Lipa
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Billboard’s No. 1 Hot 100 song, radio song, global 200 song, streaming song, airplay song, and adult pop airplay song all went to the ever-deserving Dua. Future Nostalgia came out last year, but we’re obviously still not over it. This year Dua also started a free weekly newsletter, “Created Services95,” covering news about up and coming artists, travel tips, food recommendations, and everything in between, written by “a plethora of global voices.”
Saweetie
PC: Saturday Night Live
Saweetie released her debut album Icy Chain this year, and in the midst of its success she Hosted SNL and the MTV EMAs, both with exceptional style and class.
Maisie Peters
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This year, Maisie Peters became the youngest musician to write and curate a soundtrack for the Apple TV+ series, Trying. She sold out her 2022 tour and is growing quickly with the help of a stamp of approval from close friend Ed Sheeran.
Bella Poarch
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Bella Poarch has become the third-biggest TikTok star and number one Asian-American influencer in the world. She also broke the record for the biggest debut ever for a new artist on Youtube with her debut single, “Build a Bitch”.
Snail Mail
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Her second indie-rock album Valentine was released this year and received positive attention from all of the top music raters and publishers. Snail Mail, also known as Lindsey Jordan, wrote every song on the album by herself, which is a huge accomplishment and a rarity these days.
These women are entering 2022 on top of the entertainment world, and we can’t wait to see what the next year holds for them.