Influences

Wildflowers

Four female torchbearers for singer-songwriters everywhere.

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton was born January 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, as the fourth of 12 children to a dirt-poor farming family in the Appalachian Mountains.

By 10 she was performing on local radio and television, and by 13 had made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry.

The move to Nashville came in 1964, where the star’s big break came when country star Porter Wagoner invited her to join his television show.

It would be her songwriting ability and distinctive voice that would lead to crossover hits in the form of “Jolene” (1973), “I Will Always Love You” (also 1973), and “9 to 5” (1980). With her 1977 duet “Islands in the Stream” with Kenny Rogers also doing huge numbers. Beyond music, as an entertainer she branched into acting in films like 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias.

In 1986, she founded her own record label, Dolly Records, paving the way for greater artistic freedom and financial empowerment. She also developed Dollywood, a theme park in her hometown, which has become a major tourist attraction and local employer. Her wider philanthropy includes the Imagination Library, donating millions of books to children worldwide.

In her personal life, her enduring relationship with husband Carl Dean – the couple married in 1966, until his death in 2025 – provided the foundation for her artistic ambitions.

Artists like Miley Cyrus, Kacey Musgraves, and Miranda Lambert have all cited her as a critical influence on their songwriting and careers; as a singer, songwriter, businesswoman, and philanthropist. "Dolly is a force of evolution and transformation in our industry,” stated Taylor Swift. “Her humour and playful spirit are definitely my favourite aspects of her personality…. There’s so much about Dolly Parton that every female artist should look to. Her resilience, creativity, and ability to be herself unapologetically."

Joni Mitchell

Born in Alberta, Canada, in 1943, Joni Mitchell’s work blends introspection and a natural, narrative-style, of poetry, delivered in the classic North American singer-songwriter style. A striking voice, presence, and image – album after album – she’s proven a cultural hill on which fans are happy to die and an inspiration for generations of female musicians to follow in her wake.

Mitchell began as a busker before being signed to Reprise Records from her earliest recordings, where she distinguished herself not just as a singer but as something of an auteur and musical outlier. She played guitar in more unique tunings and voicings, wrote with a rawness, and went as far as insisting on co-producing her records, which was not the norm for musicians of that era, and almost unheard of for women in the mid-1960s and early ’70s.

She gave birth to a daughter, born Kelly Dale Anderson in 1965. At the time, Mitchell was a 21-year-old struggling art student in Toronto. Unable to provide for her child, she placed her for adoption, and would later describe feeling as though she had no option, with “no money for diapers, or a room to take her to.” As a single mother in the conservative climate of the 1960s, times were very different.

The truth about Mitchell’s decision – and her daughter’s identity – only became public in the 1990s after a former acquaintance sold the story to a tabloid. Their paths eventually crossed again in 1997, when Kilauren Gibb, by then a fashion model and mother herself, sought out her birth mother.

Music-wise, second album, Clouds (1969), won Mitchell her first Grammy Award, laying groundwork for a career in music. Ladies of the Canyon (1970) became an instant FM radio hit, and Mitchell’s first gold album, selling over half a million copies and cementing her spot in the world of folk-rock.

It would be Blue (1971) – described as one of the most influential albums in modern music history – that would set her apart. The record included the song “Little Green,” written about her daughter, it served to break cover on the musician’s past, and new ground on what might be expected of the tradition of singer-songwriter. With the record namechecked across time, by artists from Bob Dylan to Prince. It inspired direct generational successors in the likes of Suzanne Vega, Tracey Chapman and Alanis Morissette.

Following Blue, Mitchell continued her evolution. For the Roses (1972) incorporated orchestral arrangements and yielded her first hit single, “You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio.” But it was Court and Spark (1974) that fully bridged musical genres, hitting No. 2 on the Billboard charts, earning four Grammy nominations, and producing Mitchell’s only Top 10 single stateside, “Help Me”.

Mitchell’s increased incorporation of jazz and experimental sounds in the late 1970s alienated elements of her folk and pop audience. In albums Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (1977 double album) and Mingus (1979) – conceived and realised alongside legendary jazzer Charles Mingus – though revered today, received mixed reviews and low sales upon release. Especially compared to her earlier work.

Away from the road and studio, Mitchell also endured personal trials, health challenges and critical backlash. Remaining defiantly independent of thought throughout. It is felt that Mitchell’s romantic and creative relationships shaped both her life and music. Her first marriage, to folk singer Chuck Mitchell, was brief and tumultuous; they married in Toronto and performed together before separating after a year and a half. Afterwards, Mitchell’s love life was somewhat typical of the spirit of ‘that time’. Where she became entwined with what might be described as California’s ‘countercultural elite’ of the 1960s and ’70s. Graham Nash and David Crosby (from Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young)) were for periods both lovers and collaborators as part of LA’s Laurel Canyon musical hub. She also developed deep friendships and creative bonds with figures such as Stephen Stills, Cass Elliot, Jackson Browne, and later Herbie Hancock, Paul McCartney, and Elton John. Her second marriage to producer Larry Klein lasted a decade but ended in the 1990s.

From her upbringing in Canada she migrated through New York, Detroit, and LA. When fame overwhelmed her in the 1970s, she retreated to a hippie commune in Crete, before returning to the restorative quiet of Canada’s seaside. Her longtime home has been, for decades now, a hilltop mansion in Bel Air, Los Angeles. Although described as semi-reclusive – largely due to her health – she is also thought to still spend some time on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Canada.

She is a lifelong painter, often alternating painting periods with songwriting, describing it as a form of ‘crop rotation for her soul’. She has battled serious health issues, including polio as a child and a more recent battle with a rare illness affecting her mobility.

Her music catalogue now spans over 20 albums. Earning the star nine Grammy Awards including a win for Turbulent Indigo in 1995. Still as relevant as ever, in 2021 she struck a global administration deal with Reservoir Media, which allows the company to manage publishing worldwide on her behalf.

A Polar Music Prize winner, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Songwriters, Mitchell was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on May 6, 1997. In the star’s absence, Shawn Colvin delivered the induction speech, and the award itself was accepted on Mitchell's behalf by the aforementioned Graham Nash.

Brandi Carlile, Lana Del Rey, Laura Marling, Norah Jones, Sara Bareilles, and members of the band, Haim, have all repeatedly acknowledged how Joni Mitchell’s craft and stylistic progression inspired their own approach to songwriting. Throw in Fiona Apple, St. Vincent (Annie Clark), Phoebe Bridgers, Sharon Van Etten, Julia Jacklin, Lianne La Havas, and Björk and Mitchell’s confessional writing, melodic inventiveness, and ability to blend genres still resonates strongly with generations of women in contemporary music. With Taylor Swift publicly praising Mitchell’s songwriting as inspiration for her albums Red and folklore.

Kate Bush

Kate Bush was born Catherine Bush in Bexleyheath, Kent, England, on July 30, 1958, into what would loosely be described as a creative family; given that her mother was an Irish dancer, and her father was a doctor who played piano. Siblings Paddy and John have also worked in music and literature.

As a musician, her career is one typified by unyielding creativity, unflinching artistic courage, and the unshakable belief in ‘a vision’. All serving as an object lesson in how ‘the avant-garde’ in myriad forms can artfully coexist in pop’s mainstream.

Bush first topped the UK singles chart with “Wuthering Heights” in 1978, making her the first woman to reach number one with a self-penned song. When aged just 19. Her break in music came when pressing a demo of the song in the hand of neighbour, Dave Gilmour, guitarist with Pink Floyd.

Her debut album, The Kick Inside, introduced a singer and songwriter, not unlike Taylor Swift, unafraid of literary references. Add to that unconventional arrangements, theatrical presentation, esoteric instrumentation, and ethereal vocals, making the star’s hallmark traits everything pop music is supposed not to be.

Rarely content with the expected, Bush’s third album Never for Ever (1980) was the first by a British female solo artist to enter the UK charts at number one. Her only tour in 1979 became a massive spectacle of theatricality, infamous both for its visual flair and the tragic death of a lighting engineer. Bush’s directorial panache culminated in ambitious visuals for singles and albums alike. All said to be influential in the visual and musical language of artists from Björk to Florence Welch.

Her self-produced album The Dreaming (1982) was described as a forward leap into digital experimentation. It would be Hounds of Love (1985), that sent the star stratospheric. Widely regarded as her masterpiece, the album topped UK charts, displaced Madonna at No. 1, and yielded iconic singles (and videos) like “Hounds Of Love”, “The Big Sky” and “Cloudbusting”. Add to those the iconic pounding rhythms of the anthemic “Running Up That Hill”, a track which soared again to UK No. 1 in 2022 after its featured use in the hit Netflix TV series, Stranger Things. The epic track’s re-emergence saw it breaking records for chart longevity.

A relationship with bassist Del Palmer lasted through the 1980s and early ’90s, before the star would go on to marry guitarist Danny McIntosh in 1992. The pair remain married, and parent their son, Bertie.

She endured years of public speculation and media scrutiny, especially during her long hiatus in the 1990s. The pause was in part related to a period of grief at the loss of her mother, Hannah, plus the end of her long-term relationship to Palmer and the passing of longtime collaborator Alan Murphy in 1989. These events were said to have triggered a period of exhaustion. She described herself at that time as “a zombie”, and having “run out of batteries,” the musician coped by sleeping, watching daytime TV, and generally avoiding music. Her 1993 album "The Red Shoes", and in particular the song "Moments of Pleasure", were said to be the creative outputs for dealing with these losses. She would return spectacularly with Aerial (2005), as a critically lauded double album.

It would be 2014 before the singer-songwriter returned to live performance, via her "Before the Dawn" residency at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. It marked her first series of live shows since her iconic "Tour of Life" in 1979. The 35-year absence was comprised of 22 sold-out dates between August and October, attended by 80,000 fans. It saw all seats sold within 15 minutes of release and secondary ticketing prices top £1,000, which generated £8 million in revenues. Among the attendees was Taylor Swift.

She has enjoyed 14 Brit Award nominations (winning British Female Solo Artist in 1987), seven Grammy nominations, an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, a CBE for services to music, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2020, she became a Fellow of the Ivors Academy.

She owns property in Devon and currently resides in southern England, having lived in southeast London and Berkshire. A committed vegetarian, she was raised Roman Catholic but has spoken openly about complex feelings toward faith and spirituality and how that manifests itself in her work.

In Owen Myers' book Kate Bush Speaks, the title capturing various music magazine interviews from the 1980s onwards, she said, "I have no idea what the songs mean to other people. I’m a writer, and the words mean something to me, but what the listener gets out of it is their own business." An artist. An enigma. A generational voice and talent.

Joan Armatrading

Joan Armatrading was born Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading on December 9, 1950, in Basseterre, Saint Kitts, which was then part of the British West Indies. She was the third of six children in her family. When she moved to England at the age of seven, she became part of the Windrush Generation, her family settling in Birmingham. Her father was a former band musician, but forbade the children to touch his guitar. Of her family, Armatrading is famously private. A quote from a 2003 interview, she said, “People who like my music have a legitimate interest in me, but I need to retain some privacy, not to be telling people what's going on, or what I feel. When you go home, the reason it's beautiful is because it's personal to you and the people you want to include in it.”

As a unique writing and performing presence, she became the first Black British female singer-songwriter to achieve international success during the 1970s.

First album Whatever’s For Us was released in 1972, before reinvention in the ’80s saw her move from folk and blues to sophisticated pop. Latterly, hit single “Drop the Pilot” would become a mainstay on MTV rotation, competing for airtime alongside the likes of Duran Duran and Culture Club.

Commercial success all emanated from the 1980 release of Me Myself I.

Released in May of that year, and by then her sixth studio album, the record hit number 5 in the UK Albums Chart and number 28 on the US Billboard 200. The album was also a commercial success in Australia, peaking at number 13. Produced by Richard Gottehrer – Blondie and The Go-Go’s – Me Myself I spawned two ‘hit records’ in the form of the title track and its follow-up, “All The Way From America”. The album fuses what was already there with a more new wave sensibility.

However, Armatrading’s most enduring song remains the classic ballad, “Love And Affection”. It’s from the self-titled third studio album and was released in July 1976. Peaking at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart, "Love and Affection" became her best-selling single, reaching number 10 in the UK, and was recorded entirely in London and produced by Glyn Johns, known for working with The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Johns, to this day, considered Joan Armatrading one of the best albums of his career. Lyrically, the song is a touchstone for the universal desire for emotional connection and romantic love, typified by its opening line, "I'm not in love, but I'm open to persuasion."

Armatrading has received three Grammy nominations, two Brit nominations, an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection, a BASCA Gold Badge, British Folk Festival Award, Radio 2’s Folk Award for Lifetime Achievement, and MMF’s Artist’s Artist Award. Her legacy is defined by her tireless – near restless – search for musical innovation and invention, allied to the singer-guitarist’s ability to speak directly to audiences across diverse backgrounds and musical tastes.

She lives in Surrey, where she has her own purpose-built recording studio. Armatrading entered into a civil partnership with artist Maggie Butler in 2011 but has remained forever reticent about discussing her private life publicly.

In 2001 Armatrading secured a BA (Hons) in History from the Open University. And, such is the regard in which she is held, the artist has received several honorary degrees, notably from the University of Birmingham, Liverpool John Moores University, Aston University, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

"Joan Armatrading’s songwriting is a masterclass in storytelling…” that’s according to Ed Sheeran. “Her sincerity and musicianship influenced many artists like me, reminding us that music is about real feelings and connection." Of herself, she said, “I've written what and when I want to. It's been about expressing myself.”