4 Female Artists That Changed Country Music for the Better

Country music might have been a man’s world at one time, but it isn’t anymore, thanks to several trailblazing female artists. Whether it be the way their music sounds, their wardrobe, or their unwillingness to accept the status quo, these four female artists changed country music for the better.

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Shania Twain

When Shania Twain burst onto the scene in 1993 with her eponymous debut album, purist country music fans cried foul. The pop production, the questionable subject matter, and her bold wardrobe choices – bared midriff and all – seemed to be too much for the genre.

Fortunately, Twain stood her ground. The Canadian struggled to get hits on the radio in the beginning. But by the time her sophomore album, The Woman In Me, was released two years later, even traditional country music fans had to admit Twain’s music was catchy. Twain’s first single, “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” from The Woman In Me hit No. 1, kicking off a long string of hits for Twain, who proved that just because it hadn’t been done before, it wasn’t a reason to try something new.

Dolly Parton

There might not be more of a trendsetter in country music than Dolly Parton. From the beginning of her career, Parton showed that she was willing to stand up to a man, even if that man was the powerful Porter Wagoner, to get what she wanted.

Parton famously wrote “I Will Always Love You” as her goodbye to Wagoner, when she was confident in herself enough to launch out on her own, and he wanted her to remain as part of his popular TV show. Parton proved that her instincts are rarely wrong, and she’s been proving it in the more than 50 years since.

Jeannie Seely

Jeannie Seely fought hard against policies at the Grand Ole Opry and won. Seely, who passed away earlier this year, holds the record for performing at the Opry more than any other artist. Seely is the first artist to ever wear a miniskirt on stage. She is also the first woman to ever host a segment at the Opry.

“Every time there would be a management change, I’d make an appointment, go in, lay out my whole story,” Seely recalls to Pollstar. “Most of the time, what they alluded to was ‘tradition.’ Nobody wanted to break that tradition. I finally came out as stark as saying, ‘You call it tradition, and I think it smells like discrimination.’”

Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn broke the rules in so many ways in country music, forging a path for countless female artists to follow. Lynn released songs like “The Pill” and “Fist City,” songs that might have been banned from the radio, not that Lynn cared. To Lynn, being able to sing what she wanted meant far more to her than getting approval from some radio programmer.

“Risk taker, no,” Lynn explains to Parade. “I just write what I feel, what is going on with me and my life. It just happened that a lot of other women felt the same. I would never set out to write something just for it to shock someone. I am not that clever.”

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