Exene Cervenka, Poly Styrene, Siouxsie Sioux, Kathleen Hanna, and the exceptional women of L7 immediately come to mind for a topic like this. But there are those who still go relatively unnoticed in mainstream circles. Here are just a few amazing women who have turned the punk world on its head through their attitudes, abilities, and influence.
Beki Bondage
Beki Bondage was a founding member of English punk band Vice Squad in 1979, and while she left the band in 1983 (later to reform in 1998 with a new lineup), she remains a pivotal figure at the height of the punk scene. According to Vice Squad’s archived website, when the reformed group went on the Social Chaos Tour in 1999, Beki Bondage was the only woman out of 15 punk bands.
Marissa Paternoster
Marissa Paternoster made a name for herself as the vocalist and lead guitarist of the punk band Screaming Females. She has appeared on two Greatest Guitarists of All Time lists, one from Spin in 2012, the other from Rolling Stone in 2023. Initially, she was inspired to start a band by listening to Sleater-Kinney (three other influential women in punk). In a 2018 interview, Paternoster also cited Sleater-Kinney as influential in giving her the confidence to be an openly queer woman in the punk scene.
Brody Dalle
Brody Dalle founded the L.A. punk band The Distillers in 1998. She played guitar, provided vocals, and co-wrote the majority of the band’s three albums before their break up in 2006. While the band’s lineup was often tumultuous, losing and gaining members several times, Dalle remained a constant in The Distillers’ history. In 2018, the band got back together, reuniting former members Ryan Sinn, Andy Granelli, and Tony Bradley with Brody Dalle and continuing their influence in the current punk scene.
Patricia Morrison
Patricia Morrison is an influential bassist who has played with a smorgasbord of punk bands during her off-and-on music career. Alongside Alice Bag and Janet Koontz, she was a founding member of The Bags, an all-female punk band who performed with bags over their heads. Formed in 1977, The Bags were one of the first bands to come out of the L.A. punk scene, even though they only lasted until 1981. After leaving The Bags in 1979, Morrison went on to found Legal Weapon in 1980 with Kat Arthur, a highly influential punk vocalist. Morrison joined The Gun Club, started Fur Bible and opened for Siouxsie and the Banshees, and joined The Sisters of Mercy until 1989.
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