Kim Gordon

With Sonic Youth and on her own, Kim Gordon keenly questions consumerism and women's roles in society with her music, writing, and visual art. Her smoky, half-spoken, half-sung vocals and feminist viewpoint added depth to Sonic Youth's experimental rock, making her a major figure within indie rock from the 1980s onward. She established herself as an inventive collaborator with P***y Galore's Julia Cafritz as Free Kitten, and in projects with Ikue Mori and Yoko Ono that strengthened her ties to the avant-garde. After Sonic Youth disbanded in 2011, Gordon resumed her career as a visual artist and published 2015's best-selling memoir Girl in a Band. As a solo artist, her juxtaposition of subversive commentary with experimental and pop sounds remained trenchant on 2019's No Home Record, 2024's Grammy-nominated The Collective, and 2026's Play Me.