Monday Fun: 11 Great Female Guitarists

Fridays are all about fun and wasting time at work. Every Friday we try to bring you something fun and guitar related that’s worth taking a break from the rigors of your Friday. Well, last Friday we screwed that up in the form of not doing it – so here it is, on Monday.

Here are 11 gals that know how to play guitar, along with some video and a little info for each. We’re gonna let the video do most of the talkin’ however.

Most of the pictures are enlargeable, and video opens on this page.

Orianthi

Extremely talented, with Steve Vai and Carlos Santana singing her praises, how can we argue? She was also hand picked by Michael Jackson for his “This Is It” tour, and was once offerred the gig as guitar player for Carrie Underwood.

She’s extremely versatile, and a nice gal to boot.

Video

Ana Vidovic

In my eyes few genres can match the art of classical guitar.  No shreddy rock solo has anything on the complexity of polyphony and counterpoint. Ana started her mastery of this craft at 5 years old, and has played over 1000 live shows since 1988, and has studied at The National Music Academy with Istvan Romer, and The Peabody Conservatory with Manuel Barreuco.

Video

Lita Ford

From the Runaways to her solo career, to a pretty cool tune recorded with Ozzy, Lita Ford certainly has carved out a name for herself in the world of metal guitar. She was managed by Sharon Osbourne as well.

As of 2010, she’s back at it, after a long break for her family.

Video

Jennifer Batten

Jennifer has played with Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson, and sustained a pretty decent solo career and session work.

Video

Marnie Stern

With a 2007 Debut of “In Advance of Broken Arm” Marnie Stern is the baby of this group.  She has a very interesting an artistic finger-tapping technique, and a earthy punk-ish sound.

2 albums followed her Debut, one in 2008, and another in 2010.

Video

Nancy Wilson

Everybody has heard Nancy Wilson, even if you don’t know it. The odds are good that you have – because Nancy has recorded over 60 albums, mostly with the band Heart.

“These Dreams”, “Will You Be There”, and “Stranded” are just a few songs you probably know with Nancy on guitar.

Video

Bonnie Raitt

We actually featured Bonnie’s signature strat right here. From her first commercially successful song in 1977, to huge success in the 90′s, to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, Bonnie Raitt knows success.

She’s had 18 albums covering a wide variety of music, and she’s won NINE FLIPPIN Grammys. Nice, Bonnie.

Video

Joan Jett

We also featured Joan Jett’s signature Gibson, here.

Joan Jett is known for founding The Runaways, and her solo career as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. She’s got a dozen Top 40 hits behind her, and has toured with Aerosmith, Queen, and The Police.

She’s also played a great range of styles (within the Rock and Roll genre).

Video

Liz Phair

You can’t play some of Liz Phair’s music around your kids, but she definitely holds a place on our list of female guitarists because she’s got some real strength with melodies in her songwriting. She’s been around awhile too, between 1993 and 2010 she’s released six albums, won two Grammys, composed music for 3 television shows, one of which she won an ASCAP award for.

Video

Jewel

Jewel has 9 albums to her name, 7 books published either by or about her, she’s been on Extreme Home Makeover (as a guest designer, she didn’t have her home made over), Dancing with the Stars, played herself in and episode of CSI, as well as many other television appearances. As one of the youngest on this list, she’s been one of the busiest!

Video

Sheryl Crow

On top of her immediately recognizable voice, Sheryl Crow’s list of accomplishments and activities is enormous. She’s played with Micheal Jackson, Eric Clapton, The Stones, Sting, Kid Rock, Don Henley and many others. Her music is cool and refreshing, still, after 7 albums.

Video