A Finely Taylored perspective.

annie-banks:

I made a playlist of all my favorite ladies in country. Consider this an introduction to the best country music has to offer.

Some fun, and also super depressing facts:

• Since 1944, approximately 62 different women (or all female groups) have had number 1 Billboard country songs on their own vs 274 different men.
  
• In 1952, Kitty Wells became the first major female country star with It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels, an answer song “which blamed unfaithful men for creating unfaithful women.” The song was banned by NBC radio network and the Grand Ole Opry.
• Tanya Tucker recorded Delta Dawn when she was 13.
• LeAnn Rimes recorded Blue when she was 13.
• Patsy Cline was the first female solo artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973, ten years after her death. Walkin’ After Midnight reached number 2 on the country chart and number 12 on the pop chart, making her one of the first country singers to have a crossover pop hit. She was also the first female country artist to headline her own show in Vegas.
• Shania Twain’s The Woman in Me was certified Diamond, the first female country artist to achieve the certification. 
• It was followed by Come On Over which is the bestselling country album of all time, the bestselling album by a female artist of all time, and the best selling album by a Canadian and is certified 2x Diamond.
• In 1977, Crystal Gayle was the first female artist in country music history to reach platinum sales.
• The Dixie Chick’s Wide Open Spaces is the best-selling duo or group album in country music history. They released Fly the following year and it was also certified Diamond, making them the only only country band and the only female band of any genre to hold the distinction.
• In 1998, the Dixie Chicks sold more CDs than all other country music groups combined.
• Reba McEntire has released 29 studio albums, acquired 42 number one singles, 16 number one albums, and 28 albums have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum and is one of the bestselling artists of all time.
  
• In 2010, Chely Wright became one of the first major country music performers to publicly come out as lesbian.
  
• Carrie Underwood’s debut album, Some Hearts, is the the bestselling solo female debut album in country music history, the fastest selling debut country album, and the bestselling country album of the last 14 years. She is the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the only country artist to debut at number one on the Hot 100, and the woman with most number-one hits in the history of the Billboard Country Airplay chart, with 15.
• Trisha Yearwood was the first female artist to sell a million copies of her debut album.
• Alison Krauss has won 27 Grammys from 42 nominations, making her most awarded singer and the most awarded female artist in Grammy history.
  
• Dolly Parton is the most honored female country performer of all time with 25 certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 25 songs reach No. 1, a record for a female artist (tied with Reba McEntire). She has 41 career top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career charted singles over the past 40 years.
  
• In 2013, Taylor Swift had a number 1 song for a single week, the rest of the year the position was held by a man. 
  
• Research in the mid-2010s suggested that about 45 percent of country’s bestselling songs could be considered bro-country, it is thought that its popularity helped country music to surpass classic rock as the most popular genre in America in 2012.
  
• Of the 97 artists who charted a song in 2016, 14 were solo women, 62 men and 21 duo or groups. There were 18 female voices (including duos and groups) in the Top 100 most-played songs of 2016.

SUPPORT WOMEN IN COUNTRY MUSIC

(via harrylesbianicon-deactivated201)