10 Greatest Female Hard Rock Guitarists

There's a lot of mystery surrounding the end of the punk movement. As opposed to the definite end of hair metal or Kurt Cobain's death signalling the end of grunge, the age of post punk seemed to just slowly fade from view rather than be stamped out by the next coming fad. However, Sonic Youth swooped in at the last second to take the best parts of punk to the forefront.

Even though people tend to talk up Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore when it comes to these guys, Kim Gordon is one of the key figureheads in the world of underground music. While coming out of the punk scene, Gordon seemed to function as a rougher version of Nico of the Velvet Underground, commanding every single track she played on, whether it be the cool seduction of Kool Thing or the disembodied voice you would hear in Teen Age Riot.

Though she only had a bass guitar to her name, Gordon's signature low end became a fixture unto itself, almost as if she was anchoring the whole song as Moore and Ranaldo traded licks. In addition to being a phenomenal player, Gordon signaled a sea change in the music industry when she persuaded her label Geffen to go after a little band from the North West known as Nirvana. Far from just a bass player, Kim Gordon's journey as a player is like having a frontwoman and a rhythm section wrapped up in a single person.