It's a trope as old as pop music itself: Once a band becomes successful, the lead singer strikes out on their own. Often credited to clashing male egos, women have played no small part in this phenomenon; from Diana Ross to Beyoncé, music history is littered with the forgotten remains of abandoned groups. Now ATRL will pit six former frontwomen against each other to determine who did it best all by herself.
Hailing from across nearly every major genre, these solo careers are some of the most successful of the past three decades (no Pussycat Dolls need apply!). Among the contenders: Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's, one of the biggest all-female bands of all time; Annie Lennox, the Eurythmics' androgynous and hypnotizing lead singer; Wynonna Judd, a country favorite for her family band, the Judds, and tabloid stable for her hot mess of a personal life; the Fugees' Lauryn Hill, whose one solo album was a Grammy sensation; Gwen Stefani, who ventured in an entirely new artistic direction during a hiatus from No Doubt; and Fergie, who temporarily left the Black Eyed Peas to rule the charts in the mid-2000s.
You can help decide the winner by listening to the following 70 tracks, ranking each one individually on a scale from 1-10, and then sending me your ballot by Sunday, October 28. Those results will determine which song stands above the rest—and which queen truly ruled the realm of solo stardom.
I just realized you didn't include Waiting on Vain for Annie. WHYYYY?! :johnny:
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Originally posted by EJQL8
COLD, PRECIOUS AND LOVE SONG FOR A VAMPIRE TOO!
I tried to keep the number of songs down by including only the most "relevant" singles. My criteria was songs that charted on the Hot 100 or high on certain genre charts. I also included "Into the West," since it won an Oscar. Sorry if you favorite Annie songs got left out as a result!
I gotta do this one: Annie better win this!!! Just those singles between "Why" and "Whiter Shade of Pale" alone **** all over the rest of the songs in this rate
Also, here for Gwen, "Heaven Is a Place on Earth," "Doo Wop," and some of Fergie's stuff
I actually haven't listened to Wynonna Judd, so it'll be interesting to do it for the first time.
Yep and she's gonna get dragged so hard in this rate.
I hope Fergalicious at least makes top 15 though. And even though Fergie TRIED as hard as she could to make me hate Big Girls Don't Cry with those cheesy ass lyrics and awkward verses, I'll always love that song to death.
Had I never seen the Just Stand Up! live performance I would have given it a 0 like I give most charity singles, but the pure messiness of that performance boosts the song to an 8. Every single girl was doing the most and I loved every second of it.
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