Still Shining! Recommended Female Singers of 1980s Western Music
The 1980s saw dramatic changes—from technological advances to the birth of MTV—and produced many massive hit songs that made music history.
At the same time, a wide range of genres flourished, from new wave and soul to disco and pop, and it was also an era that saw the rise of many leading female singers.
This article highlights female Western artists who colored the era, focusing on those who debuted in the 1980s while also including artists who had been active since the 1970s.
Enjoy it together with the hit songs these women sang in the ’80s!
- Debut songs by female Western artists from the 1980s
- Love songs in Western music that were hits in the 1980s. World-famous classics and popular tracks.
- [Definitive Edition] Masterpieces and Hit Songs of 80s Disco
- Nothing but classics! A nostalgic collection of ’80s Western ballads
- Top 1980s Female Singer-Songwriters: Popular Songs Ranking [2026]
- [Western Music] A Recommendation of the Lady of Soul: Wonderful Female Soul Singers
- [1990s] Still Shining! Recommended Female Singers in Western Music
- Ranking of Popular Western Music Artists of the 1980s [2026]
- [80s Western Music] A roundup of debut songs by girl bands
- Club Hits: Dance music from Western artists that energized the dance floors in the 1980s
- [1980s Western Music] Nostalgic 80's Best Hit Songs
- 80s Western pop hits featured in commercials. A roundup of nostalgic CM songs.
- 1970s Female Singer-Songwriters: Popular Songs Ranking [2026]
Still Shining! Recommended Female Singers of 80s Western Music (41–50)
I’m Every WomanChaka Khan
She is the queen of R&B, blessed with overwhelming vocal power and a soaring high-tone voice, and has influenced countless female singers.
Her career dates back to the 1970s, when she debuted as the lead vocalist of a funk band and churned out hit songs through the mid-1980s.
Although she also went through a difficult period without major hits, she continued to work across genres, and in 2019 she proved she was still going strong by releasing her first new album in 12 years.
Still Shining! Recommended Female Singers of 80s Western Music (51–60)
Freeway Of LoveAretha Franklin
Even within the long career of Aretha Franklin, the world’s most famous “Lady Soul,” the late 1970s to early 1980s—when the disco boom was in full swing—was a period short on hits.
In 1985, however, Who’s Zoomin’ Who, produced by Narada Michael Walden, became a smash and the biggest hit of Aretha’s career, which seems to have drawn mixed reactions from classical soul fans.
That said, I want to emphasize that even with a poppier sound, the appeal of Aretha’s voice was not diminished in the slightest!
I’m Coming OutDiana Ross
A giant in the world of Black music and one of the most successful Black female singers in America.
She had already secured her status as a top star in the 1960s as the lead singer of The Supremes, and she went on to achieve great success in her solo career from the 1970s onward, when she also ventured into acting.
Speaking of her in the 1980s, it has to be Upside Down, created with Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards in step with the disco boom.
A definitive dance classic that’s frequently sampled!
In conclusion
As mentioned at the beginning, the 1980s were also a time when many female singers were in the spotlight—from pop singers to self-contained singer-songwriters, from disco and soul divas to vocalists fronting bands.
There are plenty of big hits and classic songs, of course, but it gets really interesting when you dig deeper, including the more obscure ones!