With a 2023 GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist, Anitta marked a special moment for Brazil. Not only was it the first time a Brazilian artist was nominated in the category in nearly 50 years, it was an indication that the world is ready for more.

While Latin music's prominence today is undeniable, most of its stars — from Puerto Rico's Bad Bunny to Spain's Rosalía — are Spanish-speaking. As Anitta and rising Brazilian acts begin to infiltrate mainstream music, so does their native language, Portuguese, and rhythms like baile funk, brega, and samba.  

According to IFPI's 2023 Global Music Report, it may not be long before Brazilian artists see the commercial success their Spanish-speaking peers have: Brazil reentered the Top 10 Music Markets in 2022 — the only Latin American country to do so. And as Anitta's GRAMMY nomination hinted, Brazil's female artists are helping to lead the charge, from viral TikTok star Marina Sena to Latin GRAMMY winners Liniker and Ludmilla.

As Women's History Month nears a close, let the Brazilian celebration continue. GRAMMY.com spotlights six other rising Brazilian female soloists who are eager to break barriers and introduce the world to their artistry.

Marina Sena

Marina Sena first went viral on TikTok with "Por Supuesto," the third single off her debut album, 2021's De Primeira. The album helped Sena earn her first Latin GRAMMY nominations for Best Portuguese Language Song and Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album in 2022.

Weaving influences that go from pop and axé to reggae and samba, De Primeira (a name that means both "top notch" and "doing something right on the first try") reveals a born-ready pop star. Sena's languid, impish voice gives shape to irreverent lyrics about love and lust, and the result is permeated in an omnipresent nostalgia. One of Brazil's biggest revelations, Sena freshens the quintessential elements of her country's music — diversity, passion, poetry — and shows she's more than ready to take over the globe.

Duda Beat

Born in the sunny Recife, northeast of Brazil, Duda first became known as the queen of "sofrência" — a neologism for suffering from love and being needy at the same time. Motivated by years of heartbreak, she purged all those stories into her debut album, 2018's Sinto Muito (a double-entendre between "I'm sorry" and "I feel a lot"), and found an audience who resonated with her musical catharsis.

Mixing Brazilian genres such as brega and pagode with a dream pop varnish, she released her sophomore album Te Amo Lá Fora in 2021. Though she has yet to announce a third LP, Duda Beat has been teasing a new side of herself in recent interviews — one that she hopes will turn her into "queen of happiness" as well. 

Liniker

Fans may know Liniker from the band Liniker e os Caramelows, which she founded in 2015. But since she left the group in 2020, fans got to know Liniker as a dazzling solo star.

With a deep, resounding voice, she crafts exuberant pieces that explore soul, jazz, samba, bossa nova, and more — all underlined by a celebration of Black music as a whole. And even just one album in, Liniker has already made history: Her debut effort, Índigo Borboleta Anil (Indigo Butterfly Indigo), won Best MPB Album at the 2022 Latin GRAMMY Awards, making her the first openly trans artist to ever win a Latin GRAMMY.

Ludmilla

If there's one thing Ludmilla strives to present, it's female empowerment. This Rio de Janeiro native — also known as a carioca — has a honeyed, cheeky timbre that she uses in self-confident anthems like "Cheguei" and "Só Hoje." Her lyrics place women as agents instead of objects, subverting a genre that is so often dominated by men; as an openly bisexual woman, Ludmilla also plays an important role in representing queer Brazilians through her songs and music videos.

After first rising to fame through Brazilian funk renditions, her global pop appeal led her to become a Latin GRAMMY winner. In 2022, her latest album, Numanice 2 (a neologism loosely meaning "feeling nice"), won the Latin GRAMMY for Best Samba/Pagode Album.

IZA

Brazil's own R&B diva, IZA went from recording YouTube covers in 2014 to topping the country's charts three years later. Her debut album Dona de Mim (Owner of Myself) was nominated for Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album at the 2018 Latin GRAMMY Awards, hinting her potential as a future icon of a generation.

IZA's first major hit, 2017's reggae fusion single "Pesadão," overviews many of the themes and experiences that permeate her Black empowerment ethos. As "Pesadão" showed, IZA's music is made out of sheer resilience — a characteristic as unfaltering as her towering vocals.

Luedji Luna

Another stirring voice singing about Afro-Brazilian representation is Luedji Luna. Born in Salvador, Bahia to politically active parents, this globally acclaimed singer knows that love is a primal force for change. 

With two studio albums so far, 2017's Um Corpo no Mundo (A Body In the World) and 2020's Bom Mesmo É Estar Debaixo D'Água (It's Really Good to be Underwater, which was nominated for Best MPB Album at the 2021 Latin GRAMMY Awards), her discography dives into MPB, jazz, and blues to form a stunning depiction of the joys and struggles of life as a Black woman. Through her elegance and depth, she turns the wheels of the world, quietly, from the inside.

With their different backgrounds, life experiences, and musical gifts, these six women reflect an exciting moment for Brazilian music. But this list is simply an introduction to the talent of this vast country — which may just be the next to take over the world.

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Peso Pluma marked his musical destiny with a Tupac tribute tattoo in the center of his clavicle: "All Eyez On Me." 

The Mexican artist, born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija, doesn't remember exactly what year he inked his chest. He knows it was well before his debut in music. Those four words reflected Peso's irrefutable confidence that the world's eyes would eventually be on him. 

The world's eyes are indeed on Peso Pluma. In less than two years, the singer achieved global fame by singing corridos tumbados, traversing a path never before trodden by a música Mexicana artist. 

At 25, Peso Pluma is at the forefront of a new generation of música Mexicana artists that have successfully modernized traditional Mexican rhythms, such as corridos, by infusing them with elements from urban music and a hip-hop aesthetic. The weight of representing an entire genre and a country could be great for some. But pressure doesn't affect Peso Pluma; on the contrary, it motivates him to keep working to exalt his roots. 

"We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. And that doesn't mean we have to slow down; it doesn't mean everything is over. This is the beginning of everything," Peso Pluma said in a TikTok video before a performance at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Canada, a little over a year ago. 

Out June 20, Peso's extensive new album ÉXODO seeks to cement his global star status further. Over 24 tracks, the singer continues to explore corridos tumbados and digs into his urban side via much-awaited collaborations with reggaeton and hip-hop icons. Among those big names is Peso's teenage idol, the American rapper and producer Quavo, as well as further afield collaborations with Cardi B.  

"ÉXODO is a project I've been working on for over a year before we even won the GRAMMY. GÉNESIS was an incredibly special project, and I knew we couldn't make the same diamond twice," the singer tells GRAMMY.com in a written interview. 

Peso Pluma's path to the global stage has been lightning-fast. While he started releasing songs in 2020, Peso will remember March 2023 as the month that propelled him into global mega-stardom. His collaboration with Eslabón Armado on "Ella Baila Sola" led him to become a household name outside his native Mexico.  

The hit resonated with an audience eager for new sounds, accompanying social media videos and surpassing a billion streams on Spotify. "Ella Baila Sola" became the first Mexican music track to top the platform's global chart. On Billboard, it conquered No. 1 on the magazine's Global 200 chart for six weeks and reached the coveted No. 4 spot on the Hot 100 chart. The mega-hit took Peso Pluma and Eslabon Armado to make their Latin GRAMMY stage debut in November with an electrifying performance.  

Another collaboration, "La Bebe (Remix)" with Mexican reggaeton artist Yng Lvcas, released a day after "Ella Baila Sola," also contributed to Peso Pluma's virality in a completely different genre, but one in which he feels comfortable: urban music. 

Learn more: Peso Pluma's 10 Biggest Collabs: From "Bzrp Sessions" To "Ella Baila Sola" &"Igual Que Un Ángel" 

As Peso Pluma gained traction with a global audience, his February 2022 single with Raúl Vega, put him, for better or worse, on the map in Mexico. The warlike content of "El Belicón" lyrics and video clip attracted attention for the way it allegedly promoted narcoculture. 

Despite growing criticism, Peso Pluma remained tight-lipped regarding references to high-profile members of the Mexican drug trade, as well as drug use and trafficking. In a rare admission to GQ magazine, the singer explained this is a "delicate subject to talk about, but you have to touch on it with transparency — because it's the reality of things." 

"In hip-hop, in rap, just like in corridos, and other urban music like reggaeton, it talks about reality. We're not promoting delinquency at all. We're only talking about things that happen in real life," the singer explained.

With the success of "El Belicón" and "Ella Baila Sola" under his belt, Peso Pluma released GÉNESIS in June 2023. Despite being his third album, Peso considers it his true debut in music. 

"I didn't want to delete my previous albums [Efectos Secundario and Ah Y Que?] because they represent my beginnings," Peso told Billboard in a cover story published a few weeks after the release of GÉNESIS. In the same conversation, the singer said he saw himself winning his first GRAMMY and breaking more records. 

Read more: 5 Takeaways From Peso Pluma's New Album 'GÉNESIS' 

In February 2024, Peso Pluma did just that. He took home the golden gramophone for Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano) — his first GRAMMY Award. This victory didn't weigh on him as he approached his next production. "It pushed me to want to create something different that the fans haven't heard from me before," Peso Pluma tells GRAMMY.com. 

While GÉNESIS and ÉXODO may differ in substance, they share similarities beyond music. That both records pull from the Bible for their names is not a random occurrence; the opening book of the Hebrew and Christian Bible delves into the genesis of creation, while the Book of Exodus explores the themes of liberation, redemption, and Moses' role in leading the Israelites through the uncharted waters of the Red Sea. 

"ÉXODO is the continuation of GÉNESIS, which was the beginning," Peso Pluma explains to GRAMMY.com. "ÉXODO means new beginnings, a new era for me. We are preparing for the next chapter, and that's what we are doing for Mexican music, paving the way, laying the groundwork for what's next because it doesn't stop here."  

His "sophomore" album is divided into two discs: the first is corridos, and the second is urban. It also continues the line of collaborations, with twenty tracks where Peso Pluma shares the limelight. 

"Some of my fans were craving música Mexicana, and some were craving urbano, and I wanted to give them everything while still staying true to myself and choosing songs and lyrics that spoke to me," he continues.  

ÉXODO's disc one starts with "LA DURANGO," the album's fourth single, featuring Eslabon Armando and Junior H. In the record, he also invites collaborators such as Natanael Cano and Gabito Ballesteros for "VINO TINTO" and Mexican rising star Ivan Cornejo on the melancholic "RELOJ," among others. 

For Side B, Peso enlisted heavyweights from the urban genre in the Anglo and Latin markets: Anitta in the steamy "BELLAKEO," Rich The Kid in the bilingual "GIMME A SECOND," and Quavo in the existential trap "PA NO PENSAR." Cardi B, Arcángel, Ryan Castro, Kenia OS, and DJ Snake complete ÉXODO's genre crossover. 

In ÉXODO, luxury, drugs, alcohol, and women continue to take center stage in the lyrics, accompanied by fast-paced guitar-driven melodies and reverb-dense vocals. However, the production sheds light on the vulnerable side of Peso and explores the unexpected consequences of becoming globally famous. 

"Fans really get to see the other side of the coin; there are two sides to me. It's darker, rawer," Peso says about the record. 

In the songs "HOLLYWOOD" and "LA PATRULLA," for example, Peso details how this musical path keeps him up at night, as well as his aspirations, and how he remains the same despite his success. 

Perhaps one of the deepest and rawest songs on the album is "14:14," a track inspired by the Bible verse 14:14 from the Book of Exodus, which, the singer explains, was fundamental amidst the turbulence he faced on the way to global stardom. 

"[The] verse 14:14 says 'The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.' This verse couldn't be truer," Peso Pluma says. "Over time, I learned to really trust in this and believe that some things are not up to me and I should trust the process."  

In the song — one of the few on the album without a collaboration — Peso references the challenges of his profession and how his faith has kept him afloat amid the vicissitudes. "Things from the job that no one understands/I hide the rosary under my shirt so I don't poison myself, so I don't feel guilty/because whatever happens, the Boss will forgive me," he sings.

In "BRUCE WAYNE," Peso Pluma croons about the passionate feelings his career arouses: "First they love you, and then they hate you/wishing the worst, envy and death," the song says. 

The singer resorts to comparing himself to a superhero figure again. In an unusual twist, Peso crosses comic universes, moving from his now traditional reference to Spider-Man to one from the DC Comics world: Bruce Wayne, Batman's secret identity. A wealthy man, part of Gotham's high society, Bruce Wayne is known for transforming his darkness into power while remaining reserved and isolated.  

"Everyone has two sides of them, even me," Peso tells GRAMMY.com. "Peso Pluma on stage is a high-energy person, someone who is powerful and dominates a show and isn't afraid of anything. And then there is Hassan, who's chill and more relaxed and who deals with all the realities of life." 

During the year and a half it took him to complete ÉXODO, Peso Pluma had to deal with the diverse nuances of a global star's life, including a widely publicized breakup from Argentine rapper/singer Nicki Nicole, the cancellation of one of his shows in October 2023 after a Mexico drug cartel issued a death threat against him, and a media frenzy over his alleged admission to a rehabilitation clinic, the latest a rumor he laid to rest during a March interview with Rolling Stone for his Future of Music cover story. 

"The reality is, all these days, I've been in the studio working on ÉXODO," the artist explained to Rolling Stone. 

Most of 2023 was a successful balancing act for Peso Pluma, who combined touring, an album release, rare media engagements, two Coachella appearances, all the while developing another record. According to the singer, ÉXODO was created in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Mexico. "We go to the studio everywhere!" Peso says. "It doesn't really matter where we are; I love to get into the studio and work when we have free time." 

Like GÉNESIS, ÉXODO will be released via Peso Pluma's Double P Records, of which he is the CEO and A&R. Much of the talent the Mexican singer has signed to his label took part in the album's production, and songwriting process. 

"For the Mexican music side, I had the whole [touring] band with me; I like to have them involved in the process so that we can all give our input on how it sounds, discuss what we think needs to be changed, create new ideas," he explains. 

Peso Pluma knows that echoing the success of 2023 is no easy task. He was the most streamed artist in the U.S. on YouTube, surpassing Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, and was the second most-listened to Latin artist in the country, amassing an impressive 1.9 billion streams, according to Luminate. 

Música Mexicana emerged as one of the most successful genres in 2023, witnessing a remarkable 60 percent surge in streaming numbers, adds Luminate's annual report, crediting Peso Pluma along Eslabon Armado, Junior H, and Fuerza Regida as part of this success. 

Collaborations on and off the mic have undoubtedly played a significant role in the rise of Música Mexicana on the global stage. Peso knows that the key to continuing onward is teaming up with renowned artists inside and outside his genre. 

"All of us coming together is what pushed música Mexicana to go global," the singer affirms. "We showed the world what Mexico has to offer, and now no one can deny the power and talent we have in our country."  

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After establishing herself as a global pop star, Brazilian singer Anitta is bringing the music of her country to the forefront. On the just-released Funk Generation, the Latin GRAMMY nominee puts a spotlight on funk carioca — Brazilian funk.

On the 15-track album, Anitta sings in Portuguese, Spanish, and English over funk carioca beats, which are Brazil’s aggressive and hyper spin on genres like hip-hop and Miami bass. As with her previous releases, Funk Generation has elements of EDM, reggaeton, and pop, but the rhythms also known as baile funk are the star. The album represents a new era for Anitta, which she first kicked off in June with "Funk Rave," a single and video that captures the spirit of Brazil's favelas where funk carioca was born. 

Anitta later introduced Brazil's melodic funk subgenre to her global audience with the dreamy "Mil Veces." Now Anitta is expanding her funky world by bringing artists like Sam Smith, Brray, and Bad Gyal into her funky world.

"I'm going to accomplish making a lot of artists and people like funk," Anitta tells GRAMMY.com, adding that she hopes listeners "start embracing this rhythm that's very good, that invites you to dance, and that has an energy that's very unique to Brazil."

Funk Generation follows Anitta's rise to international stardom. Following a decade of making her mark in Brazil and later Latin America, Anitta went fully international with her 2022 album Versions of Me and the viral hit "Envolver." The album helped Anitta garner a GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist in 2023 and a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Record Of The Year. She later told GRAMMY.com that "dreamed" of putting out a Brazilian funk album.

Anitta has made that dream come true with Funk Generation. Here are five takeaways from her genre-bending album, including insight from the Brazilian superstar herself.   

Anitta Said Making A Funk Carioca Album Was A "Challenge"

In March 2023, Anitta revealed that she was trying to get out of her contract with Warner Music, alleging a lack of support from the label. After parting ways with Warner in April, she signed a new deal with Republic Records and Universal Latin shortly after. It seems that her new label home offered the support she was looking for: She released "Funk Rave" in June 2023. 

"This funk album has been a challenge for me because it's not a rhythm that people are doing out there," she says. "It's something that’s very new that I'm going to introduce to people so they like it, listen to it, and try to do it as well."

She Wants to Continue To Breaking The Divide Between Latin America & Brazil

While Brazil is a part of Latin America, there still exists a bit of a cultural divide with Spanish-speaking Latin American countries because of language differences. On Funk Generation, Anitta aims to bridge that gap by featuring Latin music acts who embrace her  Brazilian funk vibes. 

On the sultry "Double Team," she is joined by Puerto Rican singer and rapper Brray and Barcelona-based artist Bad Gyal, who performed with Anitta for the first time at awards ceremony Premio Lo Nuestro in February. They get into the groove in Spanish with no problem alongside Anitta.

"It's been many years since Brazil has gotten to this international level, that a lot of people are listening to Brazilian songs, and I know I've worked a lot for this to happen," Anitta says. "More Latin artists coming to Brazil, who are curious and interested in making a career there.

"It's been very important for me to create this cultural exchange because the Latino countries and Brazil are side-by-side, but it's like there's a big barrier between them because of language," she continues. "With music, we can break through."

Sam Smith Embraces Funk Carioca For The First Time 

It’s not only Latin music acts who are getting in on funk carioca with Anitta. British superstar Sam Smith joins Anitta for the freaky "Ahi," and Smith's soulful voice soars over the sleek Brazilian funk rhythms. The collaboration shows how determined Anitta is to push the music of her country into the mainstream with Smith being one of most prominent pop artists from the UK to embrace the genre. 

The song also marks an important moment for LGBTQIA+ representation with Anitta, who is bisexual, teaming up with the non-binary GRAMMY winner.

Funk Generation Spotlights Brazilian Talent 

Anitta shares her platform with more Brazilian acts in the alluring "Joga Pra Lua," an EDM-infused funk banger that invites the listener to a block party where they get lost in the music. 

Translated to "play for the moon," the track is produced by fellow Brazilian DENNIS (who recently scored a global hit with the remix of "Tá OK" featuring Kevin o Chris, Karol G, and Maluma). Anitta is also joined on the track by Brazilian hitmaker Pedro Sampaio, who sings in Portuguese.

Anitta Is Looking Toward The Future Of Funk Carioca

Despite the few features, Funk Generation is an album where Anitta largely shines solo. She not only puts a spotlight on the Brazilian genre with this LP, but pushes it to new places. One of the standouts is the frenetic "Grip" where Anitta blends Brazilian funk with elements of Miami bass music that’s reminiscent of the ‘90s. She sings in Portuguese, English and Spanish throughout the song.

Whereas funk carioca played second fiddle to many other genres in her previous album, now the tables are turned in Funk Generation. She seamlessly blends pop with funk carioca in the fully English track "Love in Common" that could sneak those rhythms onto Top 40 radio. Anitta also finds a common thread between Brazilian funk, reggaeton, and Afrobeat in the multicultural banger "Aceita."

 The future of baile funk looks bright in Anitta’s hands.

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A synthesizer is a revolutionary musical instrument that creates (synthesizes) a wide variety of sounds using electricity and a combination of different frequencies. 

The synthesizer now exists in many different forms, but really soared to fame in the '70s and '80s, powered by visionary women. Born from the 1922 debut of the Theremin, an invention popularized by pioneer Clara Rockmore, the synthesizer has since become a staple across all musical genres.

In 1964, Bob Moog introduced the first modular voltage-controlled synthesizer and radically changed the sound and composition of music — the Moog Modular remains one of the most sought-after synths to this day. It was another female synth pioneer, Wendy Carlos, then a music composition graduate student at Columbia University, who worked closely with Moog to refine and develop his iconic namesake synth. Six years later, Carlos brought the Moog to a much wider audience with her GRAMMY-nominated debut hit album, Switched-On Bach.

Thanks to producers like Giorgio Moroder, who transformed disco with space-age sounds on Donna Summer's 1977 dance hit "I Feel Love," synths — then still bulky, complex and incredibly expensive — burrowed their way into popular music. Synths became essential instruments in the burgeoning sounds of the '80s with new wave, synth-pop, house, and techno bringing them to different audiences.

Read on to learn about five women synthesizer legends of past and present: pioneering synth composers Wendy Carlos and Suzanne Ciani, New Order's Gillian Gilbert, LCD Soundsystem's Nancy Whang, Nation of Language's Aidan Noell.

These are not the only women who've made the synthesizer their own and used it to bring us to new sonic worlds and inspire the next generation of pioneering artists, but they are essential names you should know. (Check out the 2021 documentary Sisters with Transistors for further learning.)

Suzanne Ciani

Dubbed the "diva of the diode," Suzanne Ciani is a pioneering electronic composer and modular synth wizard. She's been active since the late-60s creating countless unforgettable and otherworldly sounds with synths, from the iconic Coca-Cola fizz sound to experimental ambient music with younger generations of electronic composers such as Jonathan Fitoussi and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Ciani performs mesmerizing live modular synth shows, and back in 1980, blew David Letterman's mind with her trippy demonstration of the legendary Prophet-5 synth and her vocoder setup.

In 1968, while getting her Master's degree in composition at UC Berkeley, Ciani met Don Buchla, the creator of the keyboard-less Buchla analog modular synthesizer. She went on to work with his company after graduation, soldering synth parts so she could afford her own Buchla synth. While working there, she asked the founder to teach her and her fellow curious coworkers synth lessons, but after the first class, Buchla told her they didn't want women in the class. The blatant sexism didn't stop Ciani, who put out her debut album in 1970 and moved to New York City in 1974 with her Buchla, soon after landing solo performance gigs at art galleries.

Her groundbreaking career revolutionized sounds in music, advertising, and entertainment. In addition to her iconic Coke sound, she composed jingles for AT&T, General Electric, Energizer and other major companies, as well as sound effects for a Star Wars disco album, and used her vocoded voice to give sound to the Xenon pinball game. Over the years she's put out tons of studio and live albums and has earned five GRAMMY nominations in the Best New Age Album category, demonstrating the genre represents so much more than flutes and chimes.

Wendy Carlos

You can't talk about synthesizers without talking about the GRAMMY-winning pioneering electronic composer Wendy Carlos. 

Long before Kim Petras became the first openly trans woman to take home a GRAMMY for "Unholy" with Sam Smith in 2023, Carlos took home three golden gramophones for her debut album Switched-On Bach in 1970 (nine years before she came out as trans). The groundbreaking album consists of short pieces of Bach's music played on the then-new Moog synthesizer, an electronic instrument she helped develop with Bob Moog, that would radically change the sound of popular music forever. All three of her Switched-On Bach wins were in the classical category, including Classical Album of the Year and Best Engineered Recording, Classical.

Switched-On Bach was a true labor of love and a smash hit. Working with classical musician Rachel Elkind, Carlos spent over 1,100 hours in the studio — synths then could only play one note at a time. After it was released in October 1968, it hit No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and held the No. 1 spot on the Classical Albums chart for a whopping three years. It introduced people to the future of synthesized music, and also brought new listeners into classical music. Eighteen years later, it was certified platinum by the RIAA, the first synthesized album and only the second classical album to do so.

When Carlos was working on The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, a classical synth album featuring Bach, Beethoven and others, she read A Clockwork Orange and found that her music fit the book's dystopian eeriness of the book. She shaped "Timesteps" to fit the story and sent it to director Stanley Kubrick, who hired Carlos and her long-time producer Elkind to create the soundtrack for his film adaptation of the book. 

The trio reunited in 1980 for The Shining soundtrack. Carlos also composed the 1982 Tron soundtrack on the Moog and a Crumar General Development System (GDS), an early keyboard synthesizer workstation, of which only 10 were made.

Gillian Gilbert

In 1980, Gillian Gilbert joined iconic British new wave band New Order in its creation after the tragic loss of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. She was brought on as the second guitarist to support lead guitarist Bernard Sumner, who was taking on singing duties.

She was one of the handful of talented women working behind-the-scenes at Manchester's Factory Records. She was just 19, in college studying graphic design, working at Factory Records and playing guitar in a punk band. 

She didn't yet know how to play keys or song write, so she took piano lessons and learned to read music. Inspired by their experience in the New York club scene, the band wanted to experiment with synthesizers and programmed music and she played a pivotal role in their groundbreaking sonic exploration.

"There was always a lot of the typical: 'Oh, are you the singer?' No, I’m not the singer, I play instruments. But I never got that [sexism] at Factory Records," Gilbert said in "I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women at Factory Records." 

"There was never anything about macho blokes. We were all one, and I wasn’t any different to anybody else, and the whole Factory thing was like that. There were a lot of women in Factory that gave as good as they got. It was never us and them – it was all just one big family."

In 1983, New Order and Factory Records hit gold with "Blue Monday," a pivotal club track that brought the punk and disco kids together — and the best-selling 12-inch of all time. Clocking in at seven-and-a-half minutes, it was the band's (very successful) attempt to make a completely electronic track.

"It was my job to program the entire song from beginning to end, which had to be done manually, by inputting every note. I had the sequence all written down on loads of A4 paper Sellotaped together the length of the recording studio, like a huge knitting pattern. But I accidentally left a note out, which skewed the melody," Gilbert told The Guardian about "Blue Monday" in 2013.

In 1991, Gilbert and New Order drummer Stephen Morris started side project The Other Two, releasing dance pop bop "Tasty Fish," two albums and a lot of music for TV. The two have been married since 1994 and, when the band was working on 2001's Get Ready, their second child, then just an infant, was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder. Gilbert left the band to care for her, and was replaced with Phil Cunningham.

Gilbert rejoined the band to record 2016's Music Complete, a welcome return to the dancefloor-ready synth pop they pioneered in the '80s. 

Nancy Whang

In 2002, James Murphy released his debut single as LCD Soundsystem, "Losing My Edge" and needed to quickly form a band to play the gigs he'd been getting booked for off of its success. When he called on his NYC scene friend Nancy Whang to join LCD Soundsystem, her musical experience consisted of taking piano lessons in her youth. 

Whang worked with Murphy and the rest of the band to create timeless, brooding synth pop, evolving their sound a long way from their DIY post-punk days. Her interest in synths began with her love of new wave—the second 45 record she ever bought was from Depeche Mode.

LCD has earned a reputation for well-oiled live performance, in no small part to Whang's deft playing and captivating stage presence, offering a stellar, hypnotizing live show time after time.

Last year, she told Synth History that her favorite synths are the Moog Mavis and the Yamaha CS-80, which she usually keeps in her bedroom and that New Order's second album, 1983's Power, Corruption & Lies is one of the top three albums that transformed her.

Whang also DJs and makes music outside of the band, including groovy dance tunes with John MacLean as The Juan MacLean, one of DFA's earliest signed acts and LCD's influences. Just as her voice is a key instrument in LCD's magic equation, it's been featured in influential early-00s alternative dance tunes like Soulwax's "E Talking" and Munk's "Kick Out The Chairs." In 2022, she joined Aidan Noell, the keyboardist in rising Brooklyn synth-pop trio Nation of Language, to drop a fresh electro cover of one of the earliest Detroit proto-techno tracks, "Sharevari."

Aidan Noell

Like Gilbert and Whang, Aidan Noell is a self-taught synth master. She and her husband, Ian Devaney, along with bandmate Alex MacKay, are keeping the spirit of new wave alive with Nation of Language, their Brooklyn synth-pop outfit inspired by the likes of Talking Heads and Kraftwerk. When Noell and Devaney got married in 2018, they requested donations towards recording their debut album instead of gifts. They self-released Introduction, Presence in May 2020 and quickly started building a following that included loyal support from taste-making Los Angeles-based KCRW DJ Travis Holcombe.

Nation of Language have been touring pretty much non-stop since COVID lockdown ended, but still had time to release a sophomore album, A Way Forward, on London indie Play It Again Sam in November 2021. They kicked off 2022 by making their television debut on "The Late Show with Steven Colbert" and dropped their third album, Strange Disciple, last September.

While Devaney is the lead songwriter for Nation of Language, Noell's deft keyboard and synth skills are an essential part of their recordings and live performance. In 2021, she wrote and released her first solo music — inspired by her love of '80s deep cuts she calls "strange new wave" — on a Behringer MS1 synth, demonstrating her natural songwriting ability. She also taught herself to DJ and is actively creating a supportive community among other indie musicians, particularly with other women synth players, like Whang.

"My friend Michelle [Primiani] [was] the band Glove, she’s one of my synth icons, and she just got the Korg Prologue which is an extremely cool machine. There’s a lot about aesthetics that draws me to synthesizers which seems superficial, but there is a look and feel to certain synths that just draw me in. Ian and I would love to have a MiniMoog. We always talk about what synth we would buy if we won the lottery. We don’t play the lottery though," Noell said in 2021.

Aidan Noell bears the torch for the next generation of the ever resourceful and pioneering synth sisterhood.

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Since her debut with Destiny's Child in 1997, Beyoncé has become one of the most decorated, record-breaking artists of all time.

In 2023, Queen Bey became the artist with the most GRAMMYs in history with 32 wins, after her seventh album, RENAISSANCE, won Best Dance/Electronic Music Album. That same LP also helped Beyoncé become the first female musician to have their first seven studio albums debut at No. 1 in the United States.

Earlier this year, she became the first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart with "TEXAS HOLD 'EM," the lead single from her forthcoming album, COWBOY CARTER.

Beyond her chart achievements, Beyoncé has dedicated much of her work to uplifting women and exploring the Black experience, from Destiny's Child's "Independent Women, Part 1" to 2011's "Run the World (Girls)" and her 2016 album, Lemonade.

To add to her extensive resume, Beyoncé is also an active philanthropist and businesswoman. Through her BeyGOOD charity, she has championed countless causes, including education for young girls. Earlier this year, Beyoncé launched her hair care brand, Cécred, alongside an annual student scholarship and salon grant.

Among the many ways Bey has uplifted women around the world, her message to 2020 graduates perfectly summed up her influence: "Make those power moves, be excellent."

Press play on the video above to learn more about Beyoncé's colossal career. Check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Run the World, as well as for more news on Beyoncé's highly anticipated COWBOY CARTER.