Top Six Female Indie Artists of All Time
Here's my highly subjective list of top indie artists of all time.

Indie music has come a long way since it started in the 70s. At first, it referred to everyone who produced and distributed their music without a traditional record label. Eventually, these artists created a peculiar sound that came to be known as the indie, or alternative, genre. When most people hear someone mention indie music, artists like Chance the Rapper and Frank Ocean come to mind. Those incredible artists only paint half the picture, though.

Indie music has been blessed with amazing female talents who grew to be queens in the music industry. They broke the barriers in front of them and became the very best in the business, and we love them for it. In this article, I want to talk about those queens. I’ll take a look at the women who have bossed it for years and have become legends.

In that spirit, here are, in my opinion, the top six female indie artists of all time…

Lorde

The only thing about Lorde that says indie is her sound. Signed early on to Universal Music Group, she’s the very opposite of an independent artist. Given her sound, however, she qualifies to be on this list. In 2009, Lorde won a music competition alongside her friend and got signed up to UMG by Scott Maclachlan. After several years of development, Lorde finally made her first mark on the music scene in 2012 with the release of The Love Club EP.

One year later, she built on that first success by releasing her debut album, Pure Heroine. That album sold over a million copies within a year in the US alone and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Lorde has since released two more albums, the last one as far back as 2021. She has sold over five million album copies and won two Grammys among many other awards. She may not be an independent artist, but her sound is every bit as indie as you’ll ever hear, and she continues to be an inspiration to upcoming artists.

Ani DiFranco

While Lorde only got on this list because of her indie style of music, Ani DiFranco is a bonafide independent artist. Ani chose the indie route early on when she founded her record company, Righteous Babe Records, at only nineteen years old. She released her debut album one year later in 1990, then went on a touring spree that lasted fifteen years. Slowly but surely, she grew her stock.

In September 1995, she was invited to perform at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame at the inauguration of the Woody Guthrie Archives. Throughout the 90s, Ani enjoyed more exposure than ever before. She released many albums but continued to tour into the 2000s.

With 20 studio albums and almost 30 live albums, Ani DiFranco has earned her place among indie music queens. She’s also a huge example of the merits of performing live as an indie artist.

Bjork

A true double threat, Bjork has enjoyed success in both music and film careers spanning over 40 years. Her journey started back in 1977 when she released an album named after herself at the tender age of 11. After Bjork’s band split up, she worked solo for some time before forming another band called The Sugarcubes and signing with an English independent label called One Little Indian. They also signed a distribution deal with Elektra Records.

Bjork went on to release 10 albums and star in 4 movies, winning a string of awards as she went. She earned 1 Oscar and 16 Grammy nominations despite never winning either, and has won 5 Brit Awards among many others. All told, Bjork is a true queen of indie music.

Angel Olsen

Compared to legends like Bjork, Angel Olsen is what Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido would call a “new cat”. She released her first EP in 2011, though, so she’s no newbie. Angel Olsen became friends with Bonnie “Prince” Billy and went on to be a backing vocalist for him on tour. She also worked with other big figures of indie rock including Tim Kinsella and Cass McCombs.

Angel then signed with an independent label, Jagjaguwar, before releasing her first full-band record called Burn Your Fire for No Witness in 2014. She has since released 4 more albums, most recently in 2022, and won multiple awards from the American Association of Independent Music’s Libera Awards.

Lana del Rey

Like Lorde, Lana del Rey is not an independent artist because she’s signed to Polydor and Interscope Records, subsidiaries of UMG. Her sound, however, is everything you’d expect to hear from an indie artist. She started her music career as an independent artist in 2005 but finally hit the big stage in 2011 with her first viral single, Video Games.

She then signed with Polydor and Interscope and has gone on to reach amazing heights in her career. She has released 9 albums, featured in 9 musicals, and has won several awards.

Phoebe Bridgers

Phoebe Bridgers is the most recent of all the names on this list, but she has already made a name for herself with 3 Grammy nominations already. She started her career in 2014 but took 3 years to release her debut album to solid success. She built on that by collaborating with a series of artists, a practice which she has become known for.

She has collaborated with artists like Taylor Swift, Sza, The 1975, and Kid Cudi among several others. She has only released one more album since that first one, but recently joined a group called Boygenius with whom she released an album in 2023 called The Record.

Final Thoughts

It’s easy to only think of men when talking about indie music, but the contribution of these incredible women cannot be understated. Some of them laid the foundation in times past and others are still blazing the trail for those coming behind, but they’re all heroines not just of indie music, but of the entire music industry.

I’m sure you have other names in mind, but these are my personal favorites. It falls to you and me to take advantage of their work and make sure none of it goes in vain. So help us, God.