4 Female-Fronted Grunge Bands You May Have Never Heard—and Need To

The heyday of grunge has come and gone, but the genre has made resurgences off and on since the 90s. We all know big names like Nirvana and Alice In Chains. However, there were a significant number of grunge bands through the years that have since become very underrated. And many of those bands were fronted by women. Let’s take a look at four sorely underrated female-fronted grunge bands that you may have never heard of!

Keep in mind that we wouldn’t be surprised if longtime grunge fans knew each outfit on this list. We just think that their music deserves a revisit, even if you’ve already heard of them.

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1. Babes In Toyland

What would this list of female-fronted grunge bands even be without mentioning Babes In Toyland? The all-female outfit fronted by Kat Bjelland was the blueprint for much of the genre’s aesthetics, both musically and fashion-related. Their three studio albums, especially their 1992 release Fontanelle, are each essential listening.

2. Bam Bam

One could say that Bam Bam were proto-grunge, as they were around for quite a few years before grunge took off in the 90s. They were fronted by singer/songwriter Tina Bell, who is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of the grunge music scene in Seattle. The grunge outfit also featured Matt Cameron, who later went on to join both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.

3. Veruca Salt

Veruca Salt is still very much together, and they perform just as hard as they did in the 90s. Nina Gordon and Louise Post are the lifeblood of the band. If you’re not a huge grunge fan, you at least likely heard their hit single “Seether” in 1994.

4. The Gits

The Gits are one of the most underrated female-fronted grunge/punk bands of all time, in this writer’s opinion. They launched back in 1986 in Ohio but quickly became a major part of the Seattle music scene in the 90s. They were heralded by singer Mia Zapata. Tragically, the band dissolved after the horrific murder of Zapata in 1993. One can only imagine what else the band (and Zapata as an artist) would have done if she were still with us.

Photo by Ian Dickson/Shutterstock

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