She's Every Woman: The Power of Black Women in Pop Music

She's Every Woman tells the stories of some of the most important female performers of our age-Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and more, and uses their lives as a lens to look at the importance of black women in pop music. Former editor-in-chief of Billboard and Vibe magazine, Danyel Smith, offers a narrative history of black female pop stars. Drawing on hundreds of original interviews and years of personal and editorial experience with the artists, Smith charts the evolution of African American women in popular music, and how their music, and their place on stage, evolved from "race music" and "girl groups" to the world domination of Whitney Houston, Beyonce and Rihanna. Starting with the 1950s and touching on the major names of each decade, She's Every Woman will be a story driven narrative of some of the most unforgettable voices of our age and charts their impact on the music industry and popular culture at large.