Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, Adele among Rolling Stone's top women artist's albums in rock history

by Jim Farber
New York Daily News
June 22, 2012

Fleetwoood Mac's 'Rumors' a bizarre inclusion with three men and two women in the band

Aretha Franklin isn't only the queen of soul. She's also the top woman in rock - at least according to the editors of Rolling Stone.

The magazine gave her the No. 1 spot on its just-revealed list titled "Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time."

Aretha nabbed the title for her 1967 disc "I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You."

Clearly, "rock" takes on an elastic shape, as the list also includes the literate acoustic musings of Joni Mitchell (whose "Blue" lands at No. 2), while the No. 3 slot goes to British blue-eyed soul singer Dusty Springfield, for 1969's "Dusty In Memphis."

The list also takes a whimsical view of gender. Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" made the Top Ten, even though the band at that time contained more men than woman (three to two).

Patti Smith, Adele, Missy Elliott, Blondie, The Supremes and Bikini Kill round out the Top 10.

The magazine is also launching a contest Friday, in partnership with Garnier Fructis, for readers to vote on an emerging female artist to appear on the back cover of a future issue.

Videos, interviews and profiles of the finalists appear on Rollingstone.com

Here's the complete Top 50 of Rolling Stone's List:
1) Aretha Franklin "I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You" (1967)
2) Joni Mitchell "Blue" (1971)
3) Dusty Springfield "Dusty In Memphis" (1969)
4) Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" (1977)
5) Patti Smith "Horses" (1975)
6) Adele "21" (2011)
7) Missy Elliott "Under Construction" (2002)
8) Blondie "Parallel Lines" (1978)
9) The Supremes "Anthology" (2001)
10) Bikini Kill "The Singles" (1998)
11) Lady Gaga "Born This Way" (2011)
12) Janis Joplin "Pearl" (1971)
13) Mary J. Blige "My Life" (1994)
14) The Pretenders "The Pretenders" (1980)
15) Patsy Cline "The Patsy Cline Collection" (1991)
16) Labelle "Nightbirds" (1874)
17) Sleater-Kinney "Call The Doctor" (1996)
18) Madonna "Like a Prayer" (1989)
19) Joan Jett "Bad Reputation" (1981)
20) Etta James "At Last" (1961)
21) Carole King "Tapestry" (1971)
22) Liz Phair "Exile in Guyville" (1993)
23) Donna Summer "Bad Girls" (1979)
24) Hole "Live Through This" (1994)
25) Heart "Little Queen" (1977)
26) Janet Jackson "Rhythm Nation 1841" (1989)
27) Dionne Warwick "Presenting...." (1962)
28) Yeah Yeah Yeahs "It's Blitz!" (2009)
29) M.I.A. "Kala" (2007)
30) Alicia Keys "As I Am" (2007)
31) PJ Harvey "Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea" (2000)
32) Dolly Parton "Best of Dolly Parton" (1975)
33) Irma Thomas "Soul Queen of New Orleans" (1978)
34) The Go-Gos "Beauty and the Beat" (1981)
35) The Ronettes "Best of the Ronettes" (1992)
36) X-Ray Spex "Germ Free Adolescence" (1978)
37) Beyonce "4" (2011)
38) Bjork "Post" (1995)
39) Fiona Apple "Extraordinary Machine" (2005)
40) Yoko Ono "Walking On This Ice" (1992)
41) Cyndi Lauper "She's So Unusual" (1984)
42) Linda Ronstadt "Heart Like A Wheel" (1974)
43) Lauryn Hill "The Miseducation of Lauren Hill" (1998)
44) Siouxie and the Banshees "Once In A Lifetime" (1981)
45) Taylor Swift "Speak Now" (2011)
46) Salt-N-Pepa "Hot Cool and Vicious" (1986)
47) Lucinda Williams "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (1998)
48) Bonnie Raitt "Give It Up" (1972)
49) The Breeders "Last Splash" (1993)
50) Alanis Morissette "Jagged Little Pill" (1995)


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