With just over one month left of 2019, now is the perfect time to look back and appreciate all of the incredible achievements of the year. Without a doubt, women have been at the forefront of those milestones, especially in the music industry.
This week’s ARIAs was the perfect example of that. 19-year-old musician Tones and I AKA Toni Watson took home four awards – Best Independent Release, Best Breakthrough Artist Award, Best Female Artist Award and Best Pop Release – for the banger none of us can get out of our heads, ‘Dance Monkey.’
In her acceptance speech, Watson said: “thank you to Australia, for letting me know I’m okay just the way that I am,” and later said, “sometimes I don’t think that I’m not the most relatable female artist. I’m not into makeup or dresses, or typically girly things.”
“But, to me, those things don’t really define what it is to be a female artist in this industry anymore. It’s being brave and courageous, and true to yourself. No-one could have ever prepared me for the whole world judging me and comparing me to other artists.
“But what’s most important is that you have to be a good person and care about others and carry yourself well.”
Other talented Aussie women in music who won big at the 2019 ARIA Awards included Sampa the Great, Kaiit, and Amyl and the Sniffers – a band that’s proudly fronted by female vocalist Amy Taylor.
Across the pond, sisters were doing it for themselves this year, too. Both Billie Eilish and Lizzo have had stellar years, with record-breaking tracks and multiple Grammy award nominations.
Then there are pop music prodigies like Charli XCX, who has just launched her own Netflix series Nasty Cherry: I’m With The Band, Dua Lipa, who is currently touring her chart topper ‘Don’t Start Now’ all around the world, and Halsey, who just won Best Pop/Rock track for ‘Without Me’ at the American Music Awards.
And how could we forget the incredible women who are kicking goals in, and out of the limelight. In 2019, singer songwriter Julia Michaels released her EP, Inner Monologue Part 1 but she also co-wrote Selena Gomez’s most recent track ‘Lose You To Love Me,’ amongst other popular songs over the last decade.
It’s a similar story for singer songwriter Sasha Sloan, who has written for artists including Idina Menzel, Maggie Lindemann and of course, Camilla Cabello.
2019 has been an awe-inspiring and empowering year for women in music and we can only hope the same arse-kicking girl power continues into 2020 and beyond.