The 25 Hottest Solo Singers in Rock History

Regina Spektor is an enigma. Her songs are usually based on scenarios and characters drawn out of her imagination, she doesn’t stick to a consistent musical style and she’s associated with the anti-folk scene in NYC—all while looking as cute and quaint as a kindergarten teacher.

Harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom has a haunting vocal sound that’s been co-signed by everyone from The Decemberists to M. Ward to The Roots, who worked with her on their single, “Right On.” Plus, it must help her popularity in the industry that she looks like a Rooney Mara and Fiona Apple hybrid.

Suzi Quatro was easy on the eyes during the glam rock days, but she’s much more than that. She was the first female bassist to become a household name.

Joni Mitchell wasn’t just a hippie icon in the 1960s and 1970s, she’s a symbolic figure in pop culture history. Her unprecedented album Blue still plays amongst college kids of this generation and her effortless style is still emulated by hipsters today.

Given her parents are Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte Gainsbourg was bound to be beautiful and multi-talented. Clearly, she adopted all of their best characteristics and formed a prolific singing and acting career all her own, as evidenced by her work on Lars Von Trier’s most jarring films, Antichrist and Melancholia, and her three successful folk rock/electropop albums, 5:55, IRM and Stage Whisper.

Once known as the Queen of Rock, Ronstadt was arguably the most commercially successful female singer of the 1970s. Not only did she gain respect as one of the first solo female rock stars to headline her own tour, but her iconic album, Heart Like A Wheel, which famously featured Ronstadt’s gorgeous profile on its cover, went double-platinum.

With several Juno Awards (the True North’s equivalent of the Grammys) on her mantle, Feist is one of the Canada’s most beloved singer-songwriters. Not only does she release a constant stream of passionate folk singles, but she physically embodies the elegant music she puts out.

We’re sure her inclusion in this list might enrage some people, but the Avril Lavigne is objectively a hot pop rock star. Sure, she doesn’t personify punk rock, but her singles undeniably got stuck in your head and she got you to take a second look once she traded in her tie and striped sleeve for a form-fitting corset.

With blonde hair, blue eyes, and a sweet smile, Carly Simon must have shocked many ex-boyfriends when songs about them came out (including James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, and Mick Jagger). While never revealing the true subject of her hit song “You’re So Vain,” Simon proves how sexy a little mystery can be.

When Michelle Branch broke into the scene in the early aughts, her acoustic, soft rock music was like a breath of fresh air in a landscape dominated by pop groups. Not to mention, she was a welcome departure from midriff-bearing pseudo-teen starlets, which made it acceptable for fans of all ages to fawn over her.

With her indelible tough chick persona, Benatar could be considered the queen of power pop rock ballads for teenage girls. Her hit, “Love is a Battlefield,” is still used to justify many high school breakups.

She’s had a career spanning over 20 years, but critics have been saying that her latest album, Let England Shake, is her lyrical masterpiece. But that’s no shocker coming from the British beauty, given the she is famous for recreating her image and dabbling in a new genre with each one of her albums.

Despite gaining fame making her own music, the beguiling French singer is most famous for inspiring the work of other icons. She’s been name dropped in a poem by Bob Dylan, her songs have been featured in classic films including Attenberg and Wes Anderson’s latest effort Moonrise Kingdom and she’s cited as the inspiration for Nicolas Ghesquière, the head designer of Balenciaga.

While the “Queen of Folk” was always lampooned on SNL, her appeal was clearly no joke. Joan Baez has always attracted a lot of attention, including songs written by ex-boyfriend Bob Dylan, and an almost-proposal from Steve Jobs.

A Fine Frenzy, known to her folks as Alison Sudol, could easily pass as an A-list Hollywood actress, given she looks like a cross between Jessica Chastain and Christina Hendricks. But, alas, her talents lie elsewhere: in writing clothing commercial favorites, e.g. “Blow Away” for Banana Republic, and deeply profound heartbreak ballads, e.g. “Almost Lover.”

Before starting a successful music career, Nico had already modeled all over the world by the time she was seventeen. However, she didn’t just float through life on her looks. Nico recorded songs written by Bob Dylan before creating her own music and becoming the hottest folk rocker of all time.

If her debut album, Exile in Guyville, was any indication, Liz Phair isn’t shy about exploring her sexuality. In fact, most of her career has been spent posing for photoshoots naked behind her guitar and writing sexually explicit lyrics—just google the meaning of “H.W.C.”

It’s no wonder that Prince’s protégé, Sheila E, is considered a “Sex Cymbal.” She’s able to perform vocally and drum better than most of your favorite bands, at the same time.

At first, Jones’ own blend of blues and alternative rock makes you feel a little soft listening to her. But once you hear that her debut album, Come Away With Me, was certified diamond, you'll realize pretty everyone shares your admiration for Jones and her music.

Forget Lady Gaga and Uffie comparisons, the Swedish chanteuse owns her own brand of sensuality. She maintains an enduring, ethereal aesthetic in both her personal and musical style, most notably seen in her video for “I Follow Rivers.”

Nowadays, hearing the name M.I.A. doesn’t come without the image of her flipping bird during the 2012 Super Bowl and recalling the gunshots from her hit single “Paper Planes.” But that only adds to the bad ass persona that’s made her one of the archetypal rock stars of this generation.

Kate Bush is undeniably strange (just watch the video for “Wuthering Heights” and “Babooshka”), but she managed to turn her weird shtick into an undoubtedly successful and influential career. She was the first ever female British solo artist to top the UK album chart with Never Say Never and she was cited as a muse by two other musical icons, Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten and singer Rufus Wainwright.

Although Faithfull is best known for her relationship with Mick Jagger and inspiring the Rolling Stones hit “Sympathy for the Devil,” she’s had quite a consistent solo career that’s been under constant reinvention—just take note of the differences between her 1979 new wave-y album Broken English and her more bluesy 1987 album Strange Weather. However, one thing has remained constant throughout the five decades of her career: She’s considered one of the most prepossessing singers in music history.

Fiona Apple has the kind of raw sex appeal that can melt you inside just by her staring at you. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that her voice oozes sexuality. Just soak your ears in “Criminal,” “Paper Bag,” and her latest single, “Every Single Night.”

Also known as Chan Marshall, Cat Power is everything you could want and expect from the quintessential indie rock singer. She’s a got a deeply soulful voice, a knack for writing lyrics that read like poetry (check out every song on her best-selling album The Greatest) and model good-looks qualified by her own Chanel campaign.