History: All-female Bands

Groups composed solely of women began to flourish with the advent of rock and roll. Among the earliest all-female rock bands to be signed to a record label were Goldie & the Gingerbreads, to Atlantic Records in 1964, The Feminine Complex to Athena Records in 1968 and Fanny in 1969 when Mo Ostin signed them to Warner Bros. Records. There were also others, such as the Ace of Cups (1967) and the Shaggs (1968).
Roger Ebert, in his audio commentary for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) claims credit for inspiring all-female rock bands with fictional band Carrie Nations created for the film, stating that such bands were quite rare at the time, but started to spring up in the film's wake.
In 1975, the Canadian duo of sisters, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, recorded the first of a string of albums. Joan Jett's first group The Runaways were an early commercially successful, hard-edged, all-female band, releasing their first album in 1976; other members included Cherie Currie (vocals), Sandy West (drums), Jackie Fox (bass) and Lita Ford.