Influence

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by nicepace

WHAT! I beg your pardon; Christine most certainly WAS the standout star, as far as I'm concerned. And that's not just my opinion; which songwriter had the most hits?

As far as her place in rock history as a pioneering woman singer/songwriter/musician, at the time there were a few other women who performed all three roles (Carole King and Joni Mitchell come to mind) but they were solo performers. Christine performed those three roles IN A BAND, on an equal basis with men in the band. Despite many years of awareness of gender inequality issues in our society, it is still difficult for a woman to succeed in any male-dominated profession, the way Christine succeeded in the extremely male-dominated profession of rock music.

There still aren't a lot of women in rock who perform all three roles in a band, on an equal footing with the guys. There have been plenty of all-women bands since Chris got her start in music, some of whom have been very successful, but to this day it continues to be fairly rare for a woman to be a success in all three roles in a mixed-gender band. I have a huge, huge amount of respect for Christine that she was able to succeed at this, and for so many years, and that she never saw the need to point out to the world that she was a rock 'n' roll pioneer. She was never one for self-promotion; she just was a musician doing her job.

Amen! Say it Loud!