WOMEN IN MUSIC ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY WHO DON'T GIVE AF |

It’s International Women’s Day, and yeah, we get the nice posts and the playlists, but let’s not kid ourselves, this whole day has got massively commercialised. Many businesses posting still don’t pay women the equivalent to men (the UK median gender pay gap currently stands at 12.8%), they don’t have women in decision-making roles, they aren’t donating their charitable donations to women-focused charities, they aren’t talking about all the girls killed in the US strike on the school in Iran, the thousands upon thousands of dead women and children in Palestine, Congo and Ukraine, where independent estimates put violent deaths in Palestine alone at 75,200, with 56.2% women, children and elderly. They aren’t talking about the lack of arrests with the Epstein Files. They aren’t talking about domestic violence, the daily toll of gender-based violence in the UK, where two women are killed by a current or former partner every week on average. Beauty companies are still spouting ageist bullshit while our mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunties are dying in front of our eyes every single day, and hardly any of them are fighting against the patriarchy.

The women who really shift things are the ones using their voices when it’s dangerous or costly to do so. We are extremely lucky right now in places where we can speak freely, post whatever we want, and scream our truths through songs or interviews. I honestly think sometimes people forget what a privilege that is.

For example, let’s consider the situation that women find themselves in today in places like Afghanistan. The latest laws enacted by the Taliban mean that women cannot find their voice in public places anymore. This means no more singing, no more reading aloud, no more laughing outside their homes with their faces veiled and their bodies covered at all times. These women are risking their lives every single day just to post videos of themselves secretly singing protest songs or reciting their own poems while donning burkas to remind everyone that they still exist and will not be forgotten or erased from the face of the earth. Their music is not just their own expression, it is the expression of the entire resistance against being silent.

This is why the women we are talking about today, these women who, despite having their own platform to speak from, still find the time to speak out against abuse, genocide, misogyny, heartbreak, or anything else they want to speak about, these women are so important to us today because they remind us that we don’t always have a voice and how we should use it if we do. When we sing about difficult truths as women artists here today, we are not only making music, we are using the freedom that other women do not have to bring about change and to stand in solidarity with those women who cannot speak for themselves.

Here’s to the defiant ones, past and present, who speak when it matters.

SINÉAD O’CONNOR

Sinéad wasn’t a boundary-pusher, she was a boundary-ignorer. SNL, a shaved head, a pure voice, followed by tears as she rips up the Pope’s photo on live TV because she refuses to stay quiet about child abuse in the Catholic Church. She names the abomination long before it’s front-page news. The world turns on her, brands her crazy, tries to shut her career down, and Sinéad never apologises or makes nice. She speaks truth to abuse, women’s rights, mental health issues, racism, everything, right to the end. Even when it’s cost her everything. Because Sinéad’s a woman who’s not afraid to be loud. Rest easy, Sinéad, your voice cuts through the crap to this day.

LAMBRINI GIRLS

Brighton’s loudest duo are a whirlwind of guitars. They go after misogyny, industry crap, the pressure on women to be good girls and not rock the boat with their opinions or their attitude. Their gigs feel like the whole world’s finally let off the scream they’ve been holding inside for years. Raw, political, funny, with no interest whatsoever in making you feel comfortable. Good. They go after double standards, men praised for the same attitude that gets women called difficult, they break the mould of women in music, and they stay real without a single poseur bone in their bodies. Messy, brilliant and not toning it down any time soon.

ANNIE LENNOX

Annie’s been a legend for decades, and she’s still got more guts than the entire industry put together. Where most will say nothing or be vague, Annie’s been vocal and unambiguous about the crisis in Gaza, calling it what it is, sharing the heartbreak about the suffering, the children, the siege, even when the backlash’s been severe. She’s always been a woman of principle, always been vocal about things that matter at the right time. While so many stay quiet or vague, she’s been clear and consistent about the crisis in Gaza, calling it what it is, sharing the heartbreak over the suffering, the kids, the siege, even when the backlash hits hard. She’s always been principled, always spoken up when it counts, from Eurythmics days to now. Shows younger artists you don’t have to sell out for longevity. Real backbone.

LILY ALLEN

Lily is less political, but her career is basically built on saying what most people only whisper to their friends. Early tracks calling out bad partners and casual sexism, now her latest album, West End Girl, was written in a frantic 10 days after her marriage to David Harbour fell apart over an open-relationship mess and alleged cheating. She turns the whole raw heartbreak, shock, anger, betrayal, dark humour, into sharp, honest songs. Very British, very her. Doesn’t tidy it up or play diplomat. Sharp, fearless about making people uncomfortable, and turns personal chaos and heartbreak into something powerful. Respect.

PALOMA FAITH

Paloma’s never tried to fit the industry’s version of what a woman “should” be. She talks openly about body pressure, the need to look perfect, smiling through everything and flat-out refuses to conform. Honest about motherhood, mental health, and the realities behind the glamour. And she’s been vocal on humanitarian stuff too, rallies, speeches, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, highlighting the suffering, the kids, the silence we can’t ignore, even when it’s not the safe career move. Shows up raw, emotional, exactly as she is. If you’ve got a voice, use it. She does.

COURTNEY LOVE

Courtney’s always been a force of nature. I have to include her. The whole Hole era, her raw emotion, rage, electricity, she never played the “nice girl” the industry wanted. She has pushed every limit, she challenged what women in rock could be, and stayed herself through every headline and painful loss. Decades later, still unpredictable, still outspoken, still unforgettable. Proof you can survive the chaos and not become part of the machine. Iconic.

On International Women’s Day, it’s not just the wins we’re celebrating, it’s the women who took the punches so the rest of us could speak a bit louder without flinching. If this weren’t music-based, I would be here all day writing a list of women I really admire. The ones who made space by refusing to move, who speak their own and others’ pain. The ones who showed that being difficult, emotional, outspoken, or “too much” is sometimes the only way to get anything done, or nothing ever changes.

So keep calling things out. Keep being inconvenient. Keep taking up the space you’re told to give back. If the world had more women like this, it’d be a better place.

HEADER CREDIT: Paul Bergen/Redferns