These 13 Girl Groups Changed the Music Industry Forever
These 13 Girl Groups Changed the Music Industry Forever
Alexandra Schonfeld, Emily KrauserFri, June 26, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC
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From left: Mel B, Mel C, Victoria Beckham (née Adams), Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton of The Spice Girls pose for a photo during a portrait session in Paris in September 1996; BLACKPINK members Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie and Rosé attend the MTV VMAs at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Aug. 28, 2022Credit: Tim Roney/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Girl power! The golden age of Motown ushered in a new wave of chart-topping, all-women-led groups, including The Supremes.
The original trio's legacy and commercial success would later open doors for '90s bands like the Spice Girls, TLC and Destiny's Child, as well as more modern-day bands like BLACKPINK and KATSEYE.
"We were lucky enough to watch [Diana Ross] perform in London very early in our career, and I think a lot of us had our parents be big fans of Diana Ross and The Supremes, and I personally grew up in a lot of Motown as well," the Spice Girls' Melanie "Mel C" Chisolm told PEOPLE in December 2025.
Of all of these incredible music acts, the Spice Girls are the best-selling girl group of all time, with over 100 million records sold worldwide. The other women on this list are just as impressive — it's hard to argue with TLC's over 85 million albums sold worldwide (via Lifetime) or Destiny's Child's 60 million, per the Los Angeles Times.
These female-led musical acts have all had incredible, enduring legacies — and some are still building theirs today. Here are some of the biggest girl groups in the music industry.
01 of 13
The Supremes
From left: Cindy Birdsong, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson of The Supremes pose for a portrait in New York, circa 1967Credit: James Kriegsmann/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
The Supremes are one of the most iconic Motown acts of all time. Comprised of Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, the group had 12 No. 1 hits, per Billboard, including "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me" and "Stop! In the Name of Love."
Ross was just 15 years old when she first joined Ballard, Wilson and Betty McGlown (who was later replaced by Barbara Martin) in a group called The Primettes.
After auditioning for Smokey Robinson, who brought them to Motown Records, they were introduced to Berry Gordy and signed a record deal in 1961. Shortly after, Martin left, and the group changed its name to The Supremes.
Their 1964 album Where Did Our Love Go was a smash, featuring three of their No. 1 singles. The hits would keep coming for the next three years, at which point Cindy Birdsong replaced Ballard, and the group underwent another name change to Diana Ross and the Supremes.
In 1970, Ross left to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Jean Terrell. The group continued to release music with a rotating cast of singers until 1976.
Of the original Supremes, only Ross is still alive and performing. Ballard died in 1976 at age 32, while Wilson died at age 76 in February 2021.
Wilson's daughter, Turkessa Babich, and Ballard's daughter, Lisa Chapman, accepted The Supremes' lifetime achievement award at the Recording Academy's 2023 special merit ceremony on behalf of their mothers.
02 of 13
The Ronettes
From left: Nedra Talley, Estelle Bennett and Ronnie Spector (née Veronica Bennett) of The Ronettes pose for a portrait in the United Kingdom, circa 1960Credit: Paul Naylor/Redferns
For the Ronettes, superstardom was a family business.
Ronnie Spector (born Veronica Bennett), her sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley made waves in the 1960s with songs like "Be My Baby" and "Walking in the Rain" and toured with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
The Ronettes' memorable style set them apart from other girl groups, and despite only releasing one studio album, their popularity loomed large.
"We wanted to be different, because there were all these other girl groups with wide dresses. When the Supremes came on, they had on gowns. I said, 'Uh uh. That's not our look.' My aunt made us our first outfits, and I told her, 'I don't want anything wide, we want something tight,' because we'd dance," the Ronettes frontwoman told PEOPLE in November 2018.
The group performed live together for the last time in 1966. Post-Ronnettes, Ronnie pursued a solo career, briefly reformed the group with two new members and collaborated with the likes of Eddie Money, Southside Johnny and Joey Ramone.
The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Estelle died in February 2009 at 67, per The New York Times. Ronnie died of cancer in January 2022 at age 78. Talley, the last surviving member, died at 80 in April 2026, according to AL.com.
03 of 13
The Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters perform at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, N.Y., on Aug. 25, 1985Credit: Ebet Roberts/Redferns
The Pointer Sisters also kept it in the family — the iconic trio was made up of real-life sisters Anita, Bonnie and June Pointer.
The Oakland, Calif., born-and-raised siblings rose to fame in 1973 with the song "Yes We Can Can." They continued to top the charts throughout the '70s and '80s with hits like "I'm So Excited," "Jump," "Slow Hand" and "He's So Shy."
In 1974, after releasing their country single "Fairytale," written by Anita and Bonnie, the Pointer Sisters became the first Black female group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. The song later won the group its first Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group in 1975.
The Pointer Sisters were the only Black women to have won a Grammy in a country music category until Beyoncétook home Best Country Album for Cowboy Carterin February 2025. In total, the group won three Grammy Awards.
Anita would release a duet with Earl Thomas Conley in 1986 before going solo the following year; however, she continued to sing with her siblings until her retirement in 2015 due to unspecified health reasons.
The Pointer Sisters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 and were inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 1998.
Anita died of cancer in January 2023 at age 74. She was preceded in death by her sisters — June died of cancer in April 2006 at age 52, per The Spokesman-Review, and Bonnie died in June 2020 at age 69.
04 of 13
The Go-Go's
From left: Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's pose for a portrait in Hollywood, Calif., in 1985Credit: George Rose/Getty
After first coming together as a group in 1978, the Go-Go's would rise to fame over the following decade as the band responsible for songs like "Our Lips Are Sealed," "Vacation" and "We Got the Beat" and progenitors of the early '80s pop-rock sound. Their debut album Beauty and the Beat went double platinum in 1981.
The Go-Go's originally consisted of Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Margot Olavarria and Elissa Bello; Charlotte Caffey joined soon after. The group had some rotating members over the years: In 1979, Gina Schock replaced Bello and Kathy Valentine for Olavarria. Wiedlin stepped away, and Paula Jean Brown joined the group in 1984.
"Our bond is so strong. We've withstood a lot of things over the years," Carlisle told PEOPLE in July 2018.
At the time of their rise to stardom, they were one of the very few all-girl groups in a male-dominated industry.
"That didn't affect us one single bit. We weren't the least bit interested in any of that kind of crap," Schock told PEOPLE in October 2021. "You know, gender never came into the picture. We were just a gang of five girls having a great time, playing music, doing what we love, hanging out with our friends, running from one show to another."
Though the Go-Go's announced their breakup in May 1985, they've reunited several times over the years, including on tours, for retrospective albums and reunion concerts. Some members went on to pursue projects on their own and wrote songs for pop stars like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, per the band's official website.
In May 2016, Carlisle, Wiedlin, Caffey and Schock performed their hit "We Got the Beat" at the Billboard Music Awards to celebrate the song's 35th anniversary. Later that year, they played their final show of a farewell tour at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. In July 2018, the Go-Go's performed three shows at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Philharmonic, and in July 2020, they released their first new song in 19 years, "Club Zero." They made their Coachella debut in April 2025.
The Go-Go's received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August 2011 and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 and the California Hall of Fame in 2024.
Their tunes even made it to Broadway in 2018 with the jukebox musical Head Over Heels, co-produced by Gwyneth Paltrow.
"You get the five of us in one room, the energy is palpable," Schock told PEOPLE of the band's longtime connection. "We have this crazy chemistry that happens, and you can't buy that."
05 of 13
The Bangles
From left: Michael Steele, Vicki Peterson, Susanna Hoffs and Debbi Peterson of The Bangles pose for a portrait in Tokyo in June 1986Credit: Midori Tsukagoshi/Shinko Music/Getty
It all started with an ad.
Debbi and Vicki Peterson began playing in bands during high school, and their goal was to create an all-female group. Susanna Hoffs, a singer and guitarist, responded to an ad the sisters placed for a female musician, which led to a garage jam session in Hoffs' parents' basement, per the Los Angeles Times. After placing another ad for a bassist, Annette Zilinskas joined the group — despite never playing bass (but she was willing to learn!)
Originally called "The Bangs," the group released their debut single, "Getting Out of Hand," in 1981 and became part of the Paisley Underground, a group of musicians reviving a sound popular in the 1960s. The following year, they changed their name to The Bangles.
In 1983, Zilinskas left the band and was replaced by Michael (Micki) Steele, Vicki's roommate who was formerly of The Runaways. With that cast of musicians, the band created their first studio album, 1984's All Over the Place.
Throughout the 1980s, the group churned out hits like "Manic Monday" (written by the late musician Prince), "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Walking Down Your Street." They also posed on the cover of Rolling Stone, opened for acts like Cyndi Lauper and Queen and performed on Saturday Night Live.
The band went on hiatus in the 1990s, though they recorded a song for the soundtrack of 1998's Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
Steele has since left the band. The remaining trio continued to tour after her departure, including their last tour in 2016 to support their compilation album of early rarities, Ladies and Gentlemen... The Bangles!. Their sixth studio album, Sweetheart of the Sun, dropped in September 2011. They later teamed up with some of their contemporaries to create a collection of covers, 2018's 3x4.
06 of 13
Spice Girls
From left: Mel C, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham and Mel B of the Spice GirlsCredit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
The Spice Girls first spiced up our lives when they landed on the scene in 1996 with their generation-defining debut single "Wannabe."
Made up of Melanie "Mel C" Chisholm (Sporty), Geri Halliwell (Ginger), Emma Bunton (Baby), Melanie "Mel B" Brown (Scary) and Victoria Beckham (Posh, born Victoria Adams), the group was initially put together by father-son management team Bob and Chris Herbert, The New York Times reported.
"Wannabe" was a No. 1 hit in 37 countries, and their 1996 debut album Spice would go on to become the best-selling album by a girl group of all time, with over 23 million albums sold worldwide. It remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.
The group's second album, Spiceworld, was accompanied by the 1997 film Spice World. The film grossed around $100 million worldwide (via E! News), and its premiere was even celebrated by the royal family, with Prince Harry, Prince William and then-Prince Charles joining the celebration at London's Leicester Square.
The premiere wasn't the only time the women brushed shoulders with royalty. Earlier that year, they ignored royal protocol at the 1997 Prince's Gala when Halliwell and Brown left lipstick marks on Charles' cheek, with Halliwell even patting the King's butt.
Following the movie's success, a massive 1998 Spiceworld Tour followed, during which the group performed to over 2 million fans across North America and Europe. Their third and final album, Forever, was released in November 2000.
Halliwell left the group in 1998, and the remaining four powered through until December 2000, when they announced an indefinite hiatus. They officially split in early 2001. All five women released solo albums over the years, though Posh Spice's music career was overshadowed by her namesake fashion brand and marriage to retired soccer starDavid Beckham.
That wasn't the end of the Spice Girls, however. Not only does their legacy loom large, but they also reunited for tours and special performances over the years, including their last U.K. stadium tour in 2019.
The many years apart allowed Mel C to reflect on just how big an impact her group had not only in the '90s but still has today.
"And we just got this like complete overview from a different perspective of how much of an effect the Spice Girls had had on not only a generation of people but how this legacy is being discovered by new generations all the time," she told BBC Merseyside in April 2026. "So we're all dead proud."
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Despite fans hoping for a 30th anniversary reunion in 2026, Mel C confirmed during a March 2026 appearance on Australia's The Smallzy Show that "no, there is no reunion."
However, she was hopeful the Spice Girls would collaborate again one day.
"We are communicating all the time. We want to do something," Mel C said. "Who knows when, but I still feel very optimistic, and I keep my fingers crossed that you will see the Spice Girls together at some point in the future."
07 of 13
Destiny's Child
From left: Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé and Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child attend the MTV Music Video Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sept. 7, 2000Credit: Dave Hogan/Getty
Destiny's Child gave us some of the most memorable songs of the millennium, including "Bootylicious," "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Jumpin' Jumpin' " and "Independent Woman Pt. 1."
"We had no idea of what its impact would be," Beyoncé told The Guardianin August 2006. "We had no idea that [our second album] The Writing's on the Wall would be as big a record as it was. Especially worldwide … at that time that we'd talk to people at the record company and they'd say, 'Look, they don't even play R&B in Europe right now.' "
However, before they reached their final iteration, a Grammy-winning trio made up of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, the group was initially signed in 1996 with LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, not Williams.
In the 2000 video for "Say My Name," fans were introduced to Luckett and Roberson's replacements: Farrah Franklin and Williams. Later, Franklin quit, leaving Rowland, Williams and Beyoncé to create a hit song titled "Survivor."
The trio achieved massive success. "Independent Woman Pt. 1" was No. 1 on the Billboard charts for 11 weeks, a feat that secured the group a Guinness World Record for "Most weeks at No.1 on US singles chart — girl band."
They released their fourth and final album, Destiny's Fulfilled, in November 2004. Months later, in June 2005, Destiny's Child announced their disbandment amid a world tour and performed their final concert in Vancouver, Canada, in September 2005.
They've remained close friends and reunited as a group both on multiple occasions, including Beyoncé's 2013 Super Bowl performance, her 2018 headlining Coachella performance and the final stop of her Cowboy Carter Tour in Vegas in July 2025. Rowland and Beyoncé supported Williams on Broadway in November 2024. Roberson and Luckett also attended Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour in 2023.
08 of 13
From left: Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins, Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas and Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes of TLC pose for a studio portrait in Hollywood, Calif., in 1999Credit: Ron Davis/Getty
TLC made waves in the '90s as a trio, featuring Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.
They had nine top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Waterfalls," which spent seven weeks at the top of the chart, "No Scrubs," "Creep" and "Unpretty." Belying its upbeat, catchy melody, "Waterfalls" hit on serious topics, including the AIDS crisis and the illegal drug trade in the U.S., driving home the fact that the three members were never afraid to take on difficult subject matter.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), TLC is the second-biggest-selling female group behind The Chicks, with 23 million certified units.
Tragically, Left Eye was killed in a car accident in April 2002 while doing charity work in Honduras. She was 30.
T-Boz and Chilli have carried on the group's legacy and continued to perform as a duo. That legacy has even hit the stage — in June 2026, CrazySexyCool —The TLC Musical, named after their blockbuster 1994 album, made its world premiere in Washington, D.C. Starting in August 2026, the duo announced they will embark on their co-headlining tour with Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue in North America.
At '90s Con in March 2022, Chilli reminisced on what made their group so special.
"The chemistry between the three of us when Lisa was here is just something that is either there or it's not. I can't sing her part, [T-Boz] can't sing my parts, we can't do Lisa's raps. Everybody has respect for the other and what they do; we just come together through all of it, and this is deeper than a marriage. We're sisters, this is my sister, and we're always going to be together," she said.
09 of 13
Fifth Harmony
From left: Ally Brooke, Normani, Camila Cabello, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah Jane of Fifth Harmony attend the Players' Awards presented by BET at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on July 19, 2015Credit: Bryan Steffy/BET/Getty
Perhaps the most noteworthy group to come out of the American version of X-Factor, Fifth Harmony released two albums during their tenure as a group, Reflection and 7/27, and scored multi-platinum singles, including "Worth It" and "Work From Home."
"Sledgehammer" earned the group their first top 40 Billboard Hot 100 entry in the U.S., and it was eventually certified platinum.
The group — made up of Camila Cabello, Lauren Jauregui, Normani, Dinah Jane and Ally Brooke — was formed during season 2, and they came in third place. All five women are now solo artists, following Cabello's unexpected departure in 2016 to launch a solo career.
Though the remaining members continued to perform following Cabello's exit, they officially went on hiatus in March 2018.
"It was a whirlwind. I'm going to say how proud I am of Fifth Harmony, of what we did, of what we did for music, what we did for female empowerment, what we did for girl groups," Brooke said of her time in the group, while noting the difficulties she faced during that time. "We will be in the history books, y'all."
10 of 13
Little Mix
From left: Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock of Little Mix visit the KISS FM Studios in London on Oct. 11, 2018Credit: John Phillips/Getty
Like One Direction before them, Little Mix got their start on The X-FactorUK in 2011, when the judges placed Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson and Jade Thirlwall (who goes by the stage name JADE) together. They were the first group to be chosen by the public to win the show, according to Wonderland magazine, and they only took off from there.
Little Mix had several hits, including "Wings," "Woman Like Me," "Black Magic," "Confetti," "Secret Love Song" and "Touch." Their debut album, DNA, broke a record previously held by none other than the Spice Girls when it entered the U.S. charts at No. 4.
"It's so refreshing to see females owning it right now," Pinnock told the magazine in 2015. "Girl power is what we're about. It's what we stand for as a group. We want to do everything we can to make women feel better about themselves."
In December 2020, Nelson announced she'd be stepping away from the group. A year later, the remaining trio — who continued to tour and released their hits album Between Us, which featured several previously unreleased tracks — said they'd be taking a hiatus from music but said they were "not splitting up."
"I struggled the most to adapt to life after the group — the other girls had better distractions: families, kids," Thirlwall told Harper's Bazaar UK in November 2025. (Edwards, Pinnock and Nelson are all moms.)
Thirwall added, "They went into a new chapter willingly. It was just me. I didn't know what to do with myself. Since I was 18, I lived and breathed Little Mix. It just took me a minute to adjust."
All but Nelson have since released solo albums.
11 of 13
The Chicks
From left: Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines and Emily Robinson of The Chicks (f.k.a. Dixie Chicks) pose for a photo session in L.A. on Sept. 1, 2002Credit: Harry Langdon/Getty
They're still not ready to make nice! Since releasing their first album in 1990, The Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks) have cemented their place as country legends.
The Chicks are the best-selling female group in U.S. history, with 33 million albums sold nationwide, per PBS.
The group first consisted of sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, along with Robin Lynn Macy and the late Laura Lynch, and they released their first three albums independently. By 1995, Macy and Lynch left, and Natalie Maines joined the sisters, creating the trio we know today.
In 1998, they broke into the mainstream with their fourth LP, Wide Open Spaces, which included the single "I Can Love You Better," their first song to land in the top 10 on the country charts.
In 2006, the group released their acclaimed album Taking the Long Way, then took a long break from the music industry.
The Chicks returned to the public eye in March 2020 with the release of "Gaslighter," their first new single in 13 years and the first off their album of the same name. That year, they also announced that they were changing their name from Dixie Chicks to The Chicks amid nationwide protests for racial justice. They've worked with nonprofit and social justice organizations on their subsequent tours, including Planned Parenthood in 2020 and REVERB in 2022.
They played their first-ever concert residency, "The Chicks: Six Nights in Vegas," in Las Vegas. In May 2026, they announced an intimate run of U.S. shows later that fall, billed as the Taking the Long Way 20th Anniversary Tour in honor of their Grammy-winning 2006 album of the same name.
12 of 13
From left: Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie and Rosé of BLACKPINK attend the MTV VMAs at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Aug. 28, 2022Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
One of K-Pop's (and the universe's) biggest girl groups, BLACKPINK first rose to the top of the U.S. pop charts in 2020, but it was their 2016 single "Boombayah" that secured their spot as global superstars. In 2021, South Korea's then-President Moon Jae-in even thanked the girl band for helping elevate K-Pop to the world stage.
The four-person group, made up of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, gets its name from the mixture of tough (black) and flirty (pink) elements in their songs.
Formed by YG Entertainment under the agency's famous K-Pop trainee system in South Korea, they auditioned to become students or "trainees."
First uttered in the 2016 debut song, the band has a signature phrase, "BLACKPINK in your area," which declares the group's plan for global domination. They've since released two Korean studio albums, 2020's The Album and 2022's Born Pink, as well as several compilation and live albums and EPs.
The women set the Guinness World Record for the most-watched music video on YouTube within 24 hours of release with 2020's "How You Like That." In February 2026, the group became the first artist to reach over 100 million subscribers on YouTube, and their most-watched music video, 2018's "DDU-DU DDU-DU," has 2.3 billion views as of June 2026.
In 2023, the group made history as the first K-Pop group to headline Coachella and to win an MTV VMA. They've also collaborated with huge names like Gomez and Lady Gaga.
Lisa, Jennie and Rosé have all had impressive solo careers, including feats like Jennie's "Dracula" remix with Tame Impala landing on 20 Billboard charts in 2026, and Rosé's "APT." her 2025 track with Bruno Mars, becoming a global hit and viral sensation.
13 of 13
Clockwise from top left: Lara Raj, Daniela Avanzini, Meiyok Skiendiel, Manon Bannerman and Yoonchae Jeung of KATSEYE at iHeartRadio's 102.7 KIIS FM Wango Tango backstage portrait studio in Huntington Beach, Calif., on May 10, 2025Credit: Sara Jaye/Getty Images for Trü Frü
KATSEYE is very much a girl group of the 2020s. Formed in 2023, its members hail from multiple countries. They have a cult following, thanks in part to their Y2K-inspired looks and a viral 2025 Gap commercial.
The six-member girl group — consisting of Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj and Megan Skiendiel of the U.S., Sophia Laforteza of the Philippines, Manon Bannerman of Switzerland and Yoonchae of South Korea — rose to fame following the Netflix competition series Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE, which debuted in 2024 and formed a global girl group using the K-Pop artist development system under BTS' record label HYBE.
In June 2024, KATSEYE dropped their debut single, aptly titled "Debut," off their debut EP SIS (Soft Is Strong), released that August. "Gnarly," their lead single from their second EP, 2025's Beautiful Chaos, was their first to reach the Billboard Hot 100. It was the second single, however, that made the biggest wave — "Gabriela" peaked on Billboard's Top 40 and earned the group their first Grammy nomination.
They also received a nod for Best New Artist in January 2026, with Raj telling PEOPLE of their initial reaction, "When we found out, we were all in tears, screaming, crying. ...It just didn't cross our minds."
In February, Bannerman announced she was taking a hiatus from the group. The other group members released a statement on social media saying they "fully support" Bannerman's decision, and in April 2026, KATSEYE made their Coachella debut without her.
Bannerman shared in her April 2026 cover story for NYLON that she and the other women of KATSEYE weren't always on the "same page."
"Being in a group, it's just about good communication and setting good boundaries and building a friendship, but also work relationship, and always remembering that it's a shared goal that we have," Bannerman said, adding, "But I think we all are at, or have been learning and are finally coming to, a point where for the group's sake, you give and you take. You pick your battles."
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