10 Greatest Female Hard Rock Singers Of All Time
8. Kathleen Hanna - Bikini Kill
As the grunge scene exploded, the whole concept of what the rock band was had started to get reworked a little bit. Since a band like Nirvana never really fit into a neat box, there were other artists willing to not follow along with the program for what a group of rock musicians "should" be. On the other hand, the real force to be reckoned with was riot GRRRL, with Kathleen Hanna leading the charge.
Emerging with Bikini Kill in the late '80s, it's almost easy to categorize Hanna's vocal style as self-parody, given that most of her big "hits" like Rebel Girl were sung in the proto-typical Valley Girl accent. If you look a little closer though, the more femme dynamics stood out in their own unique way, almost like she was trying to make it a point to have a woman's voice heard in a rock context.
Hanna also is responsible for giving Nirvana the name of one of their biggest hits, as she wrote Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit on the wall of Cobain's apartment one day while they were hanging out. Inspiring countless young musicians and even being featured on albums by Green Day, Kathleen Hanna is one of the unofficial godmothers of all things punk.