Midwest Women Who’ve Made Music History 

Hailing from Jamestown, North Dakota, Lee (who inspired Jim Henson’s Miss Piggy) was a singer-songwriter with a “cool, sultry voice,” says the North Dakota Music Hall of Fame. This signature singing style all started when a wild crowd wouldn’t quiet down during her performance—so she did.

Born in Minot, North Dakota, the long-strumming jazz guitarist would come to work with Mel Torme, Art Tatum, and Dizzy Gillespie. As a teenager, she performed for chocolate bars before trailblazing as a female guitarist in a patriarchal music industry.

The trio was the first all-women band to be inducted into the South Dakota Rock & Rollers Hall of Fame. Based in Vermillion, South Dakota, Garden (Susan Osborn, Colleen Crangle, and Marilyn Wetzler Castilaw) was a concert-only, folk-rock group, playing guitar, piano, violin, and vibes in the mid-70s. They each maintained separate music careers after Garden wrapped up performances.

A member of the Yankton Dakota Sioux, Zitkála-Šá (Red Bird) learned violin while attending an Indian boarding school. The keen critic of assimilation would go on to study violin at the New England Conservatory of Music, co-write the first American Indian opera “Sun Dance,” and teach violin.

Born in Chicago, Matthews’ career took off in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she recorded jingles (for General Mills, Whirlpool, and a few insurance companies). Beyond singing on all sorts of national commercials for television and radio, she’s also a recording artist, songwriter, producer and teacher. Matthews has recorded with Stevie Wonder, Susanne DePasse, and members of Earth, Wind, & Fire.

Arland Peterson is perhaps the most Minnesota on this list. The jazz pianist and singer was WCCO radio’s staff vocalist for two decades and played the organ for Minnesota Twins baseball games.

The 1960s high schoolers might’ve been the first girls-only garage rock groups in the country, the Current says. Though from small-town (Fuda) Minnesota, the girls signed with an Iowa record label after learning their own instruments and touring Canada and the Upper Midwest. They were inducted to Iowa’s music hall of fame in 2002.

Born in Waterloo, Iowa, Spencer was the youngest girl to sign a contract with Capitol Records for her R&B music: By the time she graduated high school in the 90s, she’d already released four top-10 Billboard songs.

Sheboygan, Wisconsin, college friends Dorothy Schwartz, Janet Ertel, Jinny Osborn, and Alice Mae Buschmann were behind the instantly recognizable tunes “Mr. Sandman” and “Lollipop.” In the 1950s and ‘60s, the women’s songs broke into the Top 100 charts 13 times. They also appeared on the first ever episode of American Bandstand, a long-running entertainment show.

Halloway made waves as an inductee to the Wisconsin School Music Association’s Marching Band Hall of Fame. She taught at the same high school in Sauk Prairie for her whole career, where she started its competitive marching band program. The group excelled and even played for a 1992 presidential campaign rally for Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

From Chicago, Illinois, actor Maya Rudolph’s mother had a soul sound that lasted far beyond her short life. Professionally singing since age 15, she would later drop out of college to pursue music (which included being a backup vocalist for Stevie Wonder). The Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the greatest singers of all time.

The punk-rock-poetry pioneer from Chicago started busking in Paris in the late 1960s. It would grow into a prolific career that’s still ongoing—one that includes photography, acting, activism, and writing.

Adding to the Michigan-strong list of impressive musicians (Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Madonna, Anita Baker…) is Martha and the Vandellas. After winning a talent contest that a Motown staff member saw, a lucky series of events led to Martha Reeves working as a Motown receptionist and singing with Marvin Gaye. She started a trio with the other women singing on his tracks, and top singles ensued.

The young R&B star grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and created three albums before her tragic death at just 22. Aaliyah’s stuttering style spread to the hip-hop scene in the late 1990s. Her debut album quickly sold over a million copies.

From Lawrenceberg, Indiana, LaFollette was a vocalist and musician for over four decades. In her younger years, she had quit music because of its low pay but became an inductee into the Southeastern Indiana Musician’s Hall of Fame in 2006, joining her two brothers.

One of the youngest on the list, 35-year-old R&B singer is already making history. From Indianapolis, Indiana, she’s won a Grammy for co-writing song of the year “I Can’t Breathe,” was nominated for a Golden Globe, and won an Academy Award for best original song “Fight for You.” Thomas’ career began when she met music gurus at a Wale concert, who she would later perform with.

Joining Ohio legend Tracy Chapman is Akron native Chrissie Hynde. The rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter joined a band with a member of Devo and later formed the band the Pretenders in the 1970s. She is still releasing music today in her 70s.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the 1950s and ‘60s Hollywood film star double dipped in big band singing, which led to her earning the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. After getting in a car accident meant she couldn’t dance for a while, she began to sing. She would release music until almost age 90.