It's International Women's Day (3/8), and in honor of the day, Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, has made a new playlist of "Visionary Women" for Apple Music. Included on it are songs by Billie Holiday, Laurie Anderson, Aretha Franklin, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Big Mama Thornton, Jenny Lewis, Nina Simone, Ma Rainy, Boney M., Sonic Youth, Nico, Earth Kitt, Alice Coltrane, Chaka Khan, Betty Davis, Tina Turner, Patsy Cline, Nancy Sinatra, Sister Sledge, Gladys Knight, Joni Mitchell, PJ Harvey, The Supremes, Grace Jones, Joan Jett, Erykah Badu, Dolly Parton, Madonna, Kate Bush, Bikini Kill, Missy Elliott, Tori Amos, Cate Le Bon, Bjork, Dua Lipa, Beyonce, Tierra Whack, Edith Piaf, Lana Del Rey, Cat Power, Cibo Matto, The Breeders, her own new single "Pay Your Way in Pain," and more.
Speaking to Apple Music about the playlist, Annie said, "When people ask me about my favorite guitar players, I say look no further than Sister Rosetta Tharpe." She also spoke about Billie Holiday, saying, "Holiday sang the song 'Strange Fruit' onstage in New York in 1939 to protest the lynchings of Black people in the South. Her performance was so powerful that a racist FBI agent named Harry Anslinger made it his mission to try to destroy her career. While he did not succeed, he did manage to make her already difficult life even more difficult. So fuck that dude to the obscure loser bin of history, and long live the genius spirit of Billie Holiday that will live on forever through her transcendent work."