In an industry often dominated by male artists and opinions, it's more vital than ever to celebrate the phenomenal female talent shaping today's music scene. Beyond global superstars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, a new wave of musical powerhouses are emerging.
As part of GLAMOUR's ‘Sound of the Summer’ issue, starring the female forces Darkoo, Joy Crookes and CMAT, we've curated an essential listening list of other noteworthy talent – from the poetic lyrics of Arlo Parks to TikTok sensation Lola Young, these are the female musicians that you need to add to your playlist immediately.
As one of GLAMOUR’s three Sound of the Summer covers, Afrobeats star and viral sensation Darkoo speaks to Olive Pometsey about self-love, navigating depression and defining her own career.
Beabadobee
Filipino-British singer-songwriter Beabadoobee honed her pop rock craft with YouTube tutorials after being expelled from school at the age of 17. She has described being inspired to make music by the Juno soundtrack, which we love.
A huge fangirl of Taylor Swift – who she opened for on the US leg of her Eras tour – and Chappell Roan, Beabadoobee has opened up about the lessons she learned while touring with Taylor, including her lessons in sobriety while performing and living with imperfection.
Sasha Keable
Singer-songwriter Sasha has collaborated with Disclosure and Katy B, with her sound consisting of notes of R&B, jazz, soul and gospel – think Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill vibes. After graduating from BRIT School, she signed with Tinie Tempah's independent record label Disturbing London and worked with Jorja Smith on her 2021 EP Intermission. Check out her most recent single Act Right as well as WHY released at the end of last year.
Flowerovlove
Born Joyce Cissé, Flowerovlove's sound is completely built around nostalgia. She has spoken about wanting her fans to feel the same way she does when listening to artists such as Frank Ocean and One Direction, which she grew up listening to. Her 2023 single Love You was featured in Netflix's much-loved queer TV series Heartstopper. A girl like me and Breaking News are two of her top tracks.
Chloe Qisha
One of the most exciting female musicians around, Malaysian-born and London-based Chloe was training to be a therapist when she decided that music was her calling. After starting out writing songs at university, she dabbled with releasing covers on YouTube and fell in love. She has described her 2025 single 21st Century Cool Girl as an ode to her teenage self, capturing the anxiety and drama around relationships and dating in your youth.
Biig Piig
Born Jessica Smyth, Irish rapper and singer Biig Piig performs in both English and Spanish, having lived in Spain for 8 years during her childhood. She reportedly adopted her stage name, ‘Biig Piig’ as a joke after seeing it on a pizza menu, but it's stuck with her once saying that the moniker 'puts no pressure on me to be a certain way - I can be a mess, and I can also be cute and put together." She has collaborated with the likes of Metronomy and Glass Animals, but her dreams took form in music tech class, which inspired her to perform at open mics in London's Soho. Her tracks Feels Right and Sunny top Spotfiy.
Ceechynaa
Citing Nicki Minaj as an inspiration, Essex-based drill rapper Ceechynaa's lyrics challenge gender stereotypes, and have been described as “sexually aggressive”. Always passionate about issues that also matter to GLAMOUR, she gave a speech about beauty standards as a teen, removing her false eyelashes and wig to show her authentic self – which went viral, as did her 2024 single Peggy, in which she describes “pegging that man at the back of a bus”. Amazing.
Grace Carter
Brighton-bred Grace's debut single Silence was a viral sensation, leading her to tour with Dua Lipa, Jorja Smith (who also features on this list), Rag'n'Bone Man and Lewis Capaldi. Fans have connected to her reflective lyrics and poppy R&B sound, and has been open about her early music being inspired from her experiences being part of a broken family and the experiences that define you in your 20s. Her most recent single You Got The Thing (feat. Blanco) was released last October.
*Adds to playlist*.
Mahalia
A YouTube video of Mahalia singing her 2017 track Sober, and the rest is history. She has collaborated with American rapper Rico Nasty on 2021 track Jealous and was nominated for a Grammy in 2021 for featuring on All I Need by Jacob Collier. Pop fans may also recognise voice from duetting with Ed Sheeran on Gold Rush. Her latest single, released in March this year, Different Type of Love, features Dancehall artist, Masicka.
Nia Smith
BRIT School alumna Nia has been dubbed by many as the new voice of soul music, and with tracks like her debut single, Give Up The Fear, followed by Personal we can't disagree. Hailing from South London and impressing the likes of SZA enough to go support her on tour, Nia is headed for great things.
Jorja Smith
Jorja was discovered after her cover of Labrinth's Earthquake made it to the ears of a record producer. She has since supported the likes of Drake and Bruno Mars on tour, collaborated with Stormzy – with her 2018 single Let Me Down – as well as co-writing and performing I Am on Kendrick Lamar's soundtrack album for Marvel blockbuster Black Panther. Pretty impressive.
Anna Cafolla meets the new pop sensation whose unfiltered humour and raw honesty is about to soundtrack your season, as she fronts one of GLAMOUR’s Sound of the Summer covers.
Arlo Parks
Where do we begin with Arlo? A poet and vocalist who steals hearts with one line or one note, Arlo's music is a tonic for the soul. She started out at Brighton's Great Escape Festival, shortly after performing on the BBC Music Introducing stage at Glastonbury. Her lyrics touch sensitively on the inner workings of both love and depression, in particular Eugene and Black Dog respectively.
She talks the ‘beautiful chaos’ of writing poetry and spotlighting injustice in the music industry.
Lola Young
Lola stormed the industry when her 2024 single Messy went viral on TikTok. She became the youngest British female solo artist to reach number 1 since Dua Lipa did in 2017 with New Rules. In April of this year, Messy became the biggest streaming single from a British artist globally. Incredible. Her latest single One Thing is supremely sexy, its lyrics and vibe soaked with the singer's insistence on exploring “sex and passion without strings needing to be attached”, admitting it's something she struggles with but wants to talk about all the same.
She also made headlines recently with accusations of her “nepo baby” status due to the fact that her great aunt wrote children's book The Gruffalo. Lola has hit back at these claims, stating that she is not one, or an industry plant.
Holly Humberstone
Holly is a favourite amongst all who have loved and lost. Her smart lyrics on the troubles with renting and the way a city can always remind you of a past romance (if you don't listen to her single London is Lonely and immediately relate, you can't sit with us). She won the Rising Star BRIT Award in 2022, and joined the likes of Maisie Peters, Suki Waterhouse, Sofia Isella and RAYE when she supported Taylor Swift during her London leg of her Eras tour. Talk about iconic.
Celeste
Starting out with lending her vocals to electronic music stars such as Avicii, Celeste made her solo singing debut on Lily Allen's label Bank Holiday Records, going on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for a track she co-wrote, Hear My Voice, for the The Trial of the Chicago 7 which followed the true story of anti-Vietnam war protestors who are charged with conspiracy. Since then singles This is Who I Am and Everyday have been praised by fans and critics alike.
