structural:expansion
Women in heavy metal

Women's involvement in heavy metal began in the 1960s since its very conception, given the role played by Esther "Jinx" Dawson, vocalist and leader of Coven. The next relevant milestone took place in the 1970s when Genesis, the forerunner of Vixen, formed in 1973. A hard rock band featuring all-female members, The Runaways, was founded in 1975; Joan Jett and Lita Ford later had successful solo careers. In 1978, during the rise of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the band Girlschool was founded and, in 1980, collaborated with Motörhead under the pseudonym Headgirl. Starting in 1982, Doro Pesch, dubbed "the Metal Queen", reached success across Europe (making other woman-fronted metal bands to spawn, such as Spain's Santa in 1983), leading the German band Warlock before starting her solo career. In 1983 another pioneering heavy metal singer, Mari Hamada, made her debut, achieving great success in Japan from the 1980s until well into the 21st century. Debuting as the female lead singer of the American band Chastain in 1985, Leather Leone was a pioneer in power metal vocals. In 1986, the German thrash band Holy Moses, fronted by pioneer growler Sabina Classen, issued their first album. Bolt Thrower 's bassist Jo Bench since 1987 has inspired female musicians to play metal.

In 1994, Liv Kristine joined Norwegian gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy, providing "angelic" female clean vocals to contrast with male death growls. In 1996, Finnish band Nightwish was founded and featured Tarja Turunen 's vocals. This was followed by more women fronting heavy metal bands, such as Halestorm, In This Moment, Within Temptation, Arch Enemy and Epica among others. Liv Kristine was featured on the title track of Cradle of Filth 's 2004 album, Nymphetamine, which was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. In 2013, Halestorm won the Grammy in the combined category of Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for " Love Bites (So Do I) ". In 2021, In This Moment, Code Orange and Poppy were all nominated in the Best Metal Performance category.

The most notable of these 1990s/2000s female-fronted groups was the American band Evanescence, headed by vocalist Amy Lee and featuring a musical style usually described as gothic alternative metal and hard rock with classical elements. Their first album Fallen, released in 2003, broke into the popular music scene and was a worldwide phenomenon; it earned the band two Grammy Awards and briefly catapulted Lee to a level of fame similar to that of contemporary popstars such as Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, and Beyoncé. Although their later albums have not had a similar impact, Evanescence are still one of the most commercially successful metal groups of the 21st century, having sold over 20 million records.

In Japan, the 2010s saw a boom of all-female metal bands, including Destrose, Aldious, Mary's Blood, Cyntia and Lovebites, as well as the mainstream success of Babymetal.

Women such as Gaby Hoffmann and Sharon Osbourne have held important managerial roles behind the scenes. In 1981, Hoffmann helped Don Dokken acquire his first record deal, as well as became the manager of Accept in 1981 and wrote songs under the pseudonym of "Deaffy" for many of band's studio albums. Vocalist Mark Tornillo stated that Hoffmann still had some influence in songwriting on their later albums. Osbourne, the wife and manager of Ozzy Osbourne, founded the Ozzfest music festival and managed several bands, including Motörhead, Coal Chamber, the Smashing Pumpkins, Electric Light Orchestra, Lita Ford and Queen.