Lesbian musicians have made significant contributions to the music industry and continue to be a powerful force in the LGBTQ+ community. From popstars to rockers, these artists have used their platform to advocate for equality and representation, while also creating memorable and impactful music. Here are some lesbian musicians who have made their mark in the industry and continue to inspire and empower listeners:

Hayley Kiyoko

• Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Beginning dance lessons as a child, Kiyoko's interest in entertaining led to her working as a child model and actress. Kiyoko identifies as a lesbian. She knew she was attracted to girls when she was six years old, coming out to her parents in the sixth grade.
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Young M.A.

• Katorah Kasanova Marrero, better known by her stage name Young M.A, is an American rapper. She first gained widespread recognition with the release of the quadruple-platinum hit single "Ooouuu", breaking the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, boasting over 300 million YouTube views on the music video. As of 2019, she no longer self-identifies as a lesbian. When Jason Lee of Hollywood Unlocked asked Young M.A about her orientation, the rapper stated, "No, I'm Young M.A . . . . We don't do no labels.”
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Shura

• Alexandra Lilah Denton, known professionally as Shura, is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is known for her work in the genres of electropop and synth-pop. Shura is an out lesbian and an atheist, despite a long-standing fascination with religion
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Tracy Chapman

• Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, known for her hits "Fast Car" and "Give Me One Reason", along with other singles "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", and "Crossroads". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist. While being an icon in the music industry, singer Tracy Chapman has kept most of her life private, especially about being an out lesbian.
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King Princess

• Mikaela Mullaney Straus, known by her stage name King Princess, is an American singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and record producer from Brooklyn, New York. She is signed to Mark Ronson's label Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records. In February 2018, King Princess released her debut single "1950". King Princess on identifying as a lesbian: "I am a girl who dates girls and I have been for a long time."
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Donna Missal

• Donna Joy Missal is an American singer-songwriter from New Jersey.
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Fletcher

• Cari Elise Fletcher, known as Fletcher, is an American singer and songwriter. Fletcher's breakthrough single "Undrunk" was released in January 2019 and became her first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached number one on Spotify's Viral Chart in the United States. Fletcher is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and actively supports organizations such as GLAAD, The Trevor Project and It Gets Better.
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Lauren Sanderson

• Lauren Sanderson is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and currently based in Los Angeles. Her music blends influences of pop, R&B, hip-hop, and through it, she aims to empower her fans and be “the voice for people who may not be able to speak”. Sanderson is an out and proud lesbian, and though her songs don't focus on queer issues, they do tend to focus on her relationships.
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girl in red

• girl in red is an openly gay indie-pop, Norwegian singer-songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence with her homemade bedroom pop songs about romance and mental health featured on the early EPs Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
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Melissa Etheridge

• Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist. Her self-titled debut album Melissa Etheridge was released in 1988 and became an underground success. Etheridge came out publicly as a lesbian in January 1993 at the Triangle Ball, a gay celebration of President Bill Clinton's first inauguration.
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Queen Latifah

• Dana Elaine Owens, known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, actress, and producer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album All Hail the Queen on November 28, 1989, featuring the hit single "Ladies First".
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Tegan and Sara

• Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta, composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin. Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumentalists. The pair have released nine studio albums and numerous EPs. Both are openly gay.
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Feloni

• Trish Best, known by her stage name Feloni, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Her coming out as a lesbian was featured on MTV's LOGO documentary show Coming Out Stories.
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Sinéad O'Connor

• Shuhada Sadaqat is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, The Lion and the Cobra, released in 1987, charted internationally, and her single "Nothing Compares 2 U", released in 1990, was named the number one world single by the Billboard Music Awards. She has openly stated, “I don’t believe in labels of any kinds, put it that way. If I fall in love with someone, I wouldn’t give a shit if they were a man or a woman…”
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Linda Perry

• Linda Perry is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for several other artists. Perry is a lesbian. In 1995, she told a journalist from The Advocate, "All my life I've loved women, and that's it. I've never been any other way."
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Brandi Carlile

• Brandi Marie Carlile is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans many genres. As of 2020, Carlile had released six studio albums and earned eleven Grammy Award nominations. In 2002, Carlile identified herself as a lesbian. She told the Los Angeles Times, “I don’t have to have a lot of formality around it….there were people before me who paved the way.”
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LP

• Laura Pergolizzi, known professionally as LP, is a lesbian and an American singer-songwriter. LP has released five albums and three EPs. LP wrote songs for other artists including Cher, Rihanna, the Backstreet Boys, Leona Lewis, Mylène Farmer, Céline Dion, and Christina Aguilera.
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St. Vincent

• Annie Erin Clark, known professionally as St. Vincent, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. She began her music career as a member of the Polyphonic Spree. She was also a member of Sufjan Stevens's touring band before forming her own band in 2006. She does not identify as a lesbian or gay and once told Rolling Stone: "I don't think about those words. I believe in gender fluidity and sexual fluidity. I don't really identify as anything...”
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Meshell Ndegeocello

• Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello, is a lesbian, American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her later work.
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Brandy Clark

• Brandy Lynn Clark is an openly lesbian major-label country music singer-songwriter. Her songs have been recorded by Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, the Band Perry, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, and Kacey Musgraves. She was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2015 Grammy Awards.
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MUNA

• Muna is a queer, American electronic pop band consisting of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson.
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The xx

• The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx, and formerly Baria Qureshi. Romy is now openly queer and has said she is no longer "afraid or embarrassed" to write explicitly queer love songs.”
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Kera and the Lesbians

• Described as “bipolar folk from Southern California”. The lead singer Kera Armendariz is the only actual lesbian in Kera and the Lesbians, as her bandmates are all dudes.
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