It’s a femininomenon! How sapphic guitarists are reviving a queer subculture
Last year, American supergroup Boygenius set a precedent: it’s time for the mainstream industry to recognise the cultural contributions of LGBTQIA+ alternative artists. The trio swept the rock category at the 2024 Grammys (taking home three wins, including ‘best alternative album’). While the latter category occasionally bucked the trend of it largely going to men – with Radiohead, Beck and The White Stripes winning it most frequently – Boygenius’ win felt like a symbolic win, one of growth.
Now, it’s true; queer women and non-binary acts have been redefining guitar music for quite some time – we can’t ignore the impact of St. Vincent, k.d. lang, Tracy Chapman, Joan Jett, Sleater-Kinney or Joy Oladokun. But, it doesn’t ignore the reality that, until recently, women and non-binary musicians – on and off the stage – have been starting to get the recognition they deserve.
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So, what’s changing? Well, in 2018 Fender released a study revealing that 50 per cent of beginner guitarists, within the US, have been women. But it’s not just a growth of interest – the industry is making a concerted effort to accommodate aspirational women and non-binary players, releasing custom guitar and bass lines.
For example, Gretsch released a limited edition Boygenius Broadkaster Jr while Blu DeTiger dropped a Fender Limited Plus collab, both guitars marketed to their audience – one that crosses over with the LGBTQIA+ community. Let’s not forget the iconic St. Vincent and Music Man collaboration – a line of sleek guitars designed with women’s anatomy in mind, debuting it with: “There’s room for a breast. Or two”.
These changes are instrumental to making women and non-cis people feel comfortable at the helm of a guitar. After all, taking the first step to learn an instrument can be daunting. “Being queer, playing guitar has no rules or limitations,” Katie Henderson, the lead guitarist of The Aces, tells Guitar.com.
Henderson has been playing the guitar for over 10 years and feels like queer musicians are finding a unique connection with guitar music which is driving a trend of new artists. “When I was young and closeted if I couldn’t say it, I could play it. Playing guitar was my most private journal. I think music and playing an instrument has often been a language used to find community and a safe space,” she recalls. The guitar, for Henderson, became a route of vital self-expression and a way to connect with her hidden identity. “We’re seeing so many amazing queer musicians and artists, through their authenticity, having larger and larger platforms and creating that safe space for the younger generation to feel a part of, safe in and be excited to continue to grow. I hope the younger generation continues to feel encouraged to be themselves and pursue their passions.”
Katie Henderson of The Aces performing at Gasparilla Music Festival in 2022. Image: Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images
Guitar Heroes
The scope of representation for LGBTQIA+ musicians has hit a new high. Today, we see a rise of artists plastered across our screens – performing songs on TikTok, releasing covers on YouTube and DIY bands grinding away on Instagram. Their opportunity to be more visible is unmissable. It’s these upcoming grassroots acts that are connecting with aspiring guitarists from minority communities.
Take British Filipino artist Towa Bird, for example. Now, Towa Bird is inseparable from the lesbian canon; she’s a sapphic guitar hero known for her viral covers and incredible guitar skills. She’s performed with Olivia Rodrigo on the singer’s Disney documentary driving home 2 u, she’s currently opening for Billie Eilish in the US and has nearly 400,000 listeners on Spotify. However, Bird’s skyrocket to fame didn’t just begin with playing small shows as a touring guitarist with alt-artist Cassyette; it began on TikTok.
With over 1.2M followers on the app, Bird has become recognisable for her guitar covers, which she’s been posted since 2021, like her viral electric guitar rendition of Gym Class Hero’s Girlfriend which pulled in over 4.1M views or her cover mashup of Nicki Minaj and Deftones which hit 5.7M views. It’s not just Towa Bird either. Artists like MUNA (Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson), the aforementioned Boygenius (Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker) and Ethel Cain are creating a community example of how guitar music, regardless of genre or sound, is notably becoming more sapphic inclusive.
Josette Maskin of MUNA performing at LA Pride in the Park in 2024. Image: Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images
“There’s a lesbian renaissance in music but also within the industry,” Cristal Ramirez, the lead vocalist of The Aces, tells Guitar. Ramirez has fronted the Utah band for over a decade. The Aces have seen the days when their band was lauded as a game-changer for having a female drummer, bassist, guitarist, and vocalist. Now, she’s eager to see more progressive change within the band and the wider music scene.
“It’s incredible that we have a lot of feminine powerhouse voices and women in that queer space but we need to see more masculine representation, more gender androgyny in [these] spaces,” she says. As for examples, she credits the current sapphic superstars making music, whether guitar pop or not, their own.
“We have a few, but I’d like to see more,” she says. “You have, you know, someone like a Towa Bird who’s amazing and you have MUNA, with a gender-fluid group of people in their band – we need more of that. There’s a lot of really fucking amazing, talented, lesbian and sapphic queer artists and people in general that want to see that in the mainstream media.”
Polly Money. Image: Press
Welcome Our New Overlords
The demand for LGBTQIA+ guitarists, specifically sapphic women and non-binary people, is down to an “over all social change”, according to Polly Money, touring guitarist and vocalist for The 1975. The musician, also the self-proclaimed “lesbian overlord”, has seen a shift in attitudes within the industry. “The “female popstar” can now have many different faces, thanks to brave artists who have – and continue to – challenge the archetype, which now often includes having a guitar in hand, which is cool!” she says.
Performing on-stage with The 1975 and gaining a cult social media following online has allowed Money to recognise how sapphic guitarists are able to make more of a name for themselves. “Social media has allowed female guitarists to promote themselves and their talents independently and on a global scale. I know many musicians – myself included – now turn to social media when either looking for work or to hire other musicians,” she says. “The level we are seeing online is so high, which can’t help but inspire people when they’re scrolling!”
As self-promotion, internal industry shifts and greater representation overlap, a unique period has risen where sapphic musicians, including guitarists, are becoming part of a unique phenomenon: a lesbian renaissance. However, as the new artists all note, the reclamation of space within the guitar scene wouldn’t be possible without forebearers (Tracy Chapman to St. Vincent) to contemporaries (Boygenius and MUNA) paving the way.
“[The community] are seeing that someone like them can succeed as an artist while remaining true to themselves,” Money adds. “It means that when queer kids are growing up and learning who they are they have music to turn to that speaks of their experiences, and maybe even inspires them to create in a similar way.”
Angie McMahon. Image: Press
Roots Music
As a sapphic revival is underway (and thus a reconnection with queer roots in guitar culture), it’s a reminder of how pivotal these instances in music can be. Mainstreamed or not, there’s an unspoken rush for LGBTQIA+ people seeking out self-expression and individuality through music – and many of them are starting to make it big. Whether Towa Bird, Soccer Mommy or Tracy Chapman, guitar music is, once again, serving as a conduit for a community of artists to create art in their own image.
“You can’t be what you can’t see! Thank fuck for the trailblazers who have been paving the way. The more visible something is, the more you can dream your life to look that way,” Australian artist Angie McMahon tells Guitar. “It’s helpful to remember now too, with activists and social movements growing, that people sometimes just need to see that it’s safe for them to step along a path, and then the whole path lights up.”
So, as the 2025 Grammy nominations showcase an all-women sweep across all the major categories, we can hope, soon enough, it won’t be long to see more sapphic women and non-binary artists, like Boygenius, take home more awards.
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