Musical "Firsts" for Women's History Month 2025

Plus female musicians we've already lost this year

Mar 04, 2025

Backstory & resources for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day
“Firsts” for Women In Music In the Past 12 Months
Women We Lost in 2025

Late President Jimmy Carter initially signed a proclamation in 1980 declaring March 2-8 National History Week. That occurred two years after the original “Women’s History Week” started in Sonoma County, CA to coincide with International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8th. IWD was established in 1911.

U.S. Congress declared March “Women’s History Month” (WHM) in 1987. Due to various resolutions associated with the law, each year the president must re-authorize and proclaim March as WHM. Fortunately, presidents since 1995 have done so.

If there is one thing I’ve learned: Don’t take precedent for granted.

Of course, every month is Women’s History Month at Herizon Music as we spotlight women’s contributions to modern music. Still, HM celebrates this month one way or another and encourages you to do the same to keep the flame burning and women’s historical contributions on the books and in AI databases.

The various groups that lobbied for this law formed the National Women’s History Alliance that chooses a theme for each year.

This month’s theme is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.” The IWD March 8th theme is “#accelerateaction for gender equity.” Download any of IWD’s template/customizable resources for your own site. Maybe the National Women’s History Alliance will have similar resources next year, but the website does list over 200 classroom digital resources for you to choose from in your own celebration. It’s disappointing to find that only five of those resources fall into the “music” category.

👇🏻 Keep scrolling for music videos from recently departed sisters in music. 👇🏻

Musical "Firsts" for Women's History Month 2025

In keeping with the spirit of both themes, let’s celebrate “firsts” for women in music over the past year. This complements the 2024’s Over-Achieving Women issue that posted two months ago.

Beyoncé became the first black woman to win Country Album Of The Year GRAMMY with Cowboy Carter in 2025 and became the first black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 2024 with her song “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

Amy Allen became the first woman to win a GRAMMY For Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical in 2025. She was nominated for her work on hit songs, including Sabrina Carpenter's "Please Please Please" and "Espresso.” She was also recognized for co-written tracks by Tate McRae, Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Timberlake, Leon Bridges, and Koe Wetzel.

Dua Lipa became the first female artist ever to have four songs surpass 2 billion streams on Spotify in March 2024.

Ella Langley was the first woman to end a 51-week drought for women at No. 1 on Billboard Country Airplay Chart and the ONLY woman to hit #1 in 2024. Country radio continues to decline in female representation. Dr. Jada Watson, lead researcher of SongData and professor at the University of Ottawa, reported that female artists represented just over 8% of the songs programmed on country radio during 2024. That is DOWN from 9.81% in 2023. WTF?!?

Roxanne Shanté took home the 2025 GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award, making her the first solo female rapper to receive this recognition.

Michelle Merrill became the first female Music Director of the Winston-Salem Symphony and the only woman to lead a professional orchestra in the Carolinas.

Taylor Swift is the first artist in history to sell over $2 billion in ticket sales for her “Eras Tour” that ended in December 2024. This smashed the previous tour record held by Coldplay for $1 billion in sales.

Ivy Queen. The Puerto Rican genre pioneer became the first reggaeton artist to headline Carnegie Hall on November 20, 2024.

Women We Lost in 2025

It’s only March, yet we mourn the loss of women we love in music. Please leave names of any other female artists who crossed over in 2025 in the comments. RIP to:

Angie Stone. The R&B/hip-hop singer (63) was in the first all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence to release a rap single. She tragically died in a car accident on her way to a performance in Atlanta on March 2, 2025. (Legacy tribute)
Roberta Flack. The soul/jazz singer (88), who was also a pianist and teacher, died peacefully on February 24, 2025. Cause of death was not reported, but she was previously diagnosed with ALS. (Billboard obit)
Maryanne Faithfull. The actress and rock icon (78) overcame numerous health problems and a near-death experience to release her last album She Walks In Beauty in 2021. She died peacefully at home on. (BBC obituary)
Paquita la del Barrio. Born Francisca Viveros Barradas, the traditional and contemporary Mexican music singer (77) who spoke out against machismo culture died on February 17, 2025 of a heart attack in her sleep. (NY Times obituary, en español from letrafranca)
Susan Alcorn. American pedal steel guitarist and avant garde composer (71), died on January 31, 2025 of natural causes. (Nowhere Street Tribute)