List of female bass guitarists

This is a list of notable female bass guitarists.

A

Stephanie Ashworth

• Adele played bass in tracks "Best for Last" and "Make You Feel My Love" on her album 19
• Gaye Advert (from The Adverts)
• Kianna Alarid (from Tilly and the Wall)
• Chloe Alper (from Pure Reason Revolution)
• Jennifer Arroyo (formerly of Kittie)
• Stephanie Ashworth (from Something for Kate)
• Talena Atfield (formerly of Kittie)
• Melissa Auf der Maur (formerly of Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins)
• Carla Azar (from autolux)

B

Butterfly Boucher, 2009

• Laura Ballance (from Superchunk)
• Jo Bench (from Bolt Thrower)
• Christina Billotte (formerly of Autoclave)
• Gina Birch (from The Raincoats)
• Lori Black (from Melvins)
• Vicki Blue (formerly of The Runaways)
• Joanna Bolme (from Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks)
• Butterfly Boucher
• Fallon Bowman (formerly of Kittie)
• Shanne Bradley (founding member of The Nips and The Men They Couldn't Hang)
• Beverly Breckenridge (from Fifth Column and Phono-Comb)
• Rosemary Butler (formerly of Birtha)

C

• Yolanda Charles
• Tish Ciravolo (sASSafrASS, Rag Dolls, The Velvets, They Eat Their Own, Shiksa and the Sluts, Lypstik). Founder of Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, who supply guitars made for females
• Sheryl Crow played bass on her second album, Sheryl Crow, and frequently plays bass during her live performances

D

• Kimberley Dahme (from Boston)
• Victoria De Angelis (bassist of Italian rock band Måneskin, winner of Sanremo 2021 and Eurovision 2021)
• Kim Deal (formerly of Pixies, also lead singer/guitarist of The Breeders)
• Blu DeTiger
• Mohini Dey
• Jane Dodd (formerly of The Chills, Verlaines and Able Tasmans)
• Gail Ann Dorsey (session bassist for David Bowie and many other musicians, and toured with Lenny Kravitz)
• Donna Dresch (bassist and guitarist from Team Dresch)
• Stefanie Drootin (bass for The Good Life, also lead singer/guitarist for Consafos)

E

• Islam Elbeiti

F

Nicole Fiorentino, 2007

• Alla Fedynitch
• Jennifer Finch (from L7)
• Nicole Fiorentino (from The Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Spinnerette)
• Theresa Flaminio
• Sharin Foo (from The Raveonettes)
• Maya Ford a.k.a. "Donna F" (from The Donnas)
• Kathy Foster (from The Thermals)
• Jackie Fox (from The Runaways)
• Misia Furtak (from Très.b)
• Miki Furukawa (from Supercar)

G

• Manou Gallo (Côte d'Ivoire, formerly of Zap Mama)
• Eva Gardner (formerly of The Mars Volta, now with Lyra and toured with Pink)
• Inara George (from The Bird and the Bee)
• Debbie Googe (from My Bloody Valentine)
• Kim Gordon (from Sonic Youth)
• Ellie Goulding
• Gail Greenwood (from Belly and formerly of L7)
• Camila Grey (Uh Huh Her)

H

• Rachel Haden (from The Rentals; formerly of That Dog)
• Janine Hall (formerly of The Saints; later Weddings Parties Anything and Young Charlatans)
• Bianca "Butthole" Halstead (from Betty Blowtorch; formerly of Butt Trumpet)
• Leslie Hardy (formerly of Hole)
• Juliana Hatfield (formerly of Blake Babies, played bass on The Lemonheads' It's a Shame about Ray; currently singer/guitarist)
• Maureen Herman (from Babes in Toyland)
• Annie Holland (formerly of Elastica)

I

• Joyce Irby (from Klymaxx)

J

• Joan Jett (from Joan Jett & the Blackhearts; normally plays rhythm guitar, but played bass for The Runaways in 1977)

K

Marjolein Kooijman, 2010

• Carol Kaye (One of the most recorded bass players in history)
• Charlotte Kemp Muhl (from The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger)
• Kerri Kenney-Silver (formerly of Cake Like)
• Debra Killings
• Holly Knight (formerly of Device) handled the bass parts on the band's lone album 22B3

L

Sara Lee, 2007

• Mai Leisz
• Laura Lee (from Khruangbin)
• Sara Lee (from Gang of Four, The B-52's, Robert Fripp's League of Gentlemen) and Indigo Girls
• Paz Lenchantin (from Pixies, formerly of The Entrance Band, A Perfect Circle and Zwan. She has also contributed to songs for Queens of the Stone Age)
• Jenny Lewis (from Rilo Kiley)
• Jenny Lee Lindberg (from Warpaint)

M

Aimee Mann, 2005

• Michelle Mae (from Weird War and formerly of The Make-Up)
• Leslie Mah (from Tribe 8 and formerly of Anti-Scrunti Faction)
• Natalie Maines (from the Dixie Chicks) periodically plays bass during their live shows
• Aimee Mann (founding member of 'Til Tuesday)
• Zia McCabe (from The Dandy Warhols)
• Molly McGuire
• Mitski
• Patricia Morrison (The Sisters of Mercy, The Gun Club, The Damned)
• Robin Moulder (from TCR and Jack Off Jill)

N

• Michie Nakatani (formerly of Shonen Knife)
• Johnette Napolitano (from Concrete Blonde)
• Kate Nash
• Meshell Ndegeocello (Grammy-winning bassist and singer)
• Danielle Nicole (Trampled Under Foot)
• Ida Nielsen (of Zap Mama, Michael Learns to Rock, 3rdeyegirl and The New Power Generation)
• Kim Nielsen (from Phantom Blue)

O

Wanda Ortiz, 2008

• Tomomi Ogawa (from Scandal)
• Cait O'Riordan (The Pogues)
• Wanda Ortiz (from The Iron Maidens)
• Yuko Oshima (from AKB48)
• Catherine Owen

P

Britta Phillips, 2007

• Kristen Pfaff (formerly of Hole and Janitor Joe)
• Britta Phillips (from Luna and Dean and Britta)
• Tessa Pollitt (from The Slits)
• Ginger Pooley (formerly of The Smashing Pumpkins, Halo Friendlies)
• Catherine Popper (formerly of Ryan Adams & the Cardinals and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals)

Q

Suzi Quatro, 2007

• Suzi Quatro (leads an unnamed backing band. Formerly of Cradle, The Pleasure Seekers, and The Art Quatro Trio)

R

• Leah Randi
• Julianne Regan (formerly of Gene Loves Jezebel)
• Regina Zernay Roberts (from Scarlet Fever, formerly of Cowboy Mouth and Méchant)
• Kira Roessler (from Dos and formerly of Black Flag)
• Share Ross (from Vixen, formerly of Contraband, Havana 3 A.M. and the Dogs D'Amour)
• Nicole Row (from Incubus and formerly of Panic! at the Disco)
• Divinity Roxx (toured with Beyoncé, Victor Wooten, 2NE1)

S

Shingai Shoniwa, 2007

Esperanza Spalding alternates between double bass and bass guitar in her performances.

• Jeanne Sagan (from The Acacia Strain, All That Remains)
• Anna Sentina
• Kim Shattuck (formerly of The Pandoras, filled in as touring bassist for Pixies, later singer/guitarist for The Muffs)
• Shingai Shoniwa (from Noisettes)
• Melanie Sisneros (from Crescent Shield, Whole Lotta Rosies, Hangar 18, Mz Led formerly of The Iron Maidens, Sinergy, New Eden)
• Grace Slick (formerly of Jefferson Starship, Starship, Jefferson Airplane, The Great Society); primarily a singer, but sometimes played bass for The Great Society
• Debbie Smith (from Echobelly)
• Esperanza Spalding
• Donita Sparks (from Donita Sparks and the Stellar Moments and L7)
• Malka Spigel (from Githead and Minimal Compact)
• Micki Steele (from The Bangles, formerly of The Runaways)
• Eliot Sumner
• Sunmi (primarily a singer but previously played for the Wonder Girls)

T

Iracema Trevisan, 2007

• Ritsuko Taneda (from Shonen Knife)
• Rachel Trachtenburg (from Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players)
• Abby Travis
• Iracema Trevisan (from Cansei de Ser Sexy)
• Shonna Tucker (Previously of Drive-by Tuckers)

V

• Kathy Valentine (from The Go-Go's, also lead singer/guitarist for The BlueBonnets and the Delphines)
• Ivana "Ivy" Vujic (formerly with Kittie)

W

Tina Weymouth, 1978

• Kim Warnick (co-founder of Fastbacks; formerly of Visqueen)
• Tina Weymouth (founding member of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club)
• Josephine Wiggs (from The Breeders)
• Kathi Wilcox (from Bikini Kill)
• Tal Wilkenfeld (formerly toured with Jeff Beck, solo)
• Anka Wolbert (formerly of Clan of Xymox a/k/a Xymox)
• Tracy Wormworth (The Waitresses, The B-52's, Sting)
• D'arcy Wretzky (formerly of The Smashing Pumpkins)

Y

Sean Yseult, 2010

• Atsuko Yamano (from Shonen Knife)
• Naomi Yang (from Galaxie 500, Magic Hour, and Damon & Naomi)
• Toko Yasuda (from Enon)
• Jennifer York (formerly of Rachel Rachel)
• Sean Yseult (formerly of White Zombie)

Z

• Annette Zilinskas (The Bangles)

External links

• "Female Bass Players Learn Bass Guitar Intuitively." (February 14, 2008)