We have an International Women’s Day – so why not call the whole month of March “International Women’s Month,” right?

Technically, we call March “Women’s History Month” but either way, I think us ladies should be celebrated right about now!

As a hard rock and heavy metal fan, the women who capture my hearts are usually musicians or ladies involved in the rock world somehow. Recently, these six in particular have been kicking major ass.

You ready to meet them?

Let’s start with some legends.

I hope to god that you know both of the two women pictured previously, but if you don’t (GOOGLE THEM) – meet Stevie Nicks and Joan Jett. Separately, (and in Stevie’s case also with Fleetwood Mac) they’ve single-handedly changed the sound and aesthetic of rock music for fans and fellow musicians. They perform with style, grace, and grit into their 60s and 70s to this day.

Keeping up with the times and reaching new audiences, Stevie has even carved out a pretty cool acting gig as herself (or, what else… a witch) in American Horror Story. We saw her last in season 8.

Oh, and can I borrow their anti-aging serum too? When someone tells me to “respect my elders,” these are the women I think of.

You just don’t have rockers like Lzzy Hale without them. #fact

Speaking of Lzzy, let’s discuss her for a moment…

The Halestorm frontwoman lives and breathes rock n’ roll. You can feel it. You can see it. Today, she’s flying the flag that Stevie and Joan did when it comes to introduces rock to new audiences – female audiences, specifically. As women, we love seeing our own kick some ass on stage. Lzzy is, to me, the most prominent female in rock doing this currently.

Girl can sing. Girl can play. Girl doesn’t want to tear down the boys, she’d rather play with them and become one.

As proof of that (and other than the fact that she plays in a band with all dudes), I’ll offer the following piece of evidence.

Nothing is better than when rockers come together to honor the icons who were there before them.

Corey Taylor is just one of many friends in the rock world that Lzzy enjoys collaborating with.

While I’m a fan of Corey, Slipknot, Stone Sour, and most things that he’s had a hand in musically, I’m an even bigger fan of his (new) wife Alicia.

Meet Alicia Dove (now Taylor).

She’s not a musician necessarily, but she’s been a huge supporter of the rock and metal scene for a while. This has become especially evident within the past year. Oh, and don’t just call her Corey Taylor’s wife. I mean, it’s true that she is, but she’s so much more than that.

She’s a dancer. A damn good one. She founded and created the Cherry Bombs to give the rock world something different to look at: tough chicks moving to a tough soundtrack, plenty of fire and acrobatics, and an overall hell of a production when they perform. She developed their own series on YouTube to give us a behind the scenes look at the work they put in. I was glued to it.

She’s also my new favorite person to follow on Twitter. She’s hilarious, honest, and down to earth.

The way she loves Corey is inspiring too, regularly referring to him as her “king.” Aww.

Next up, another badass lady connected to metal not just by her man by her own endeavors. Meet Jessica Pimentel.

Most of you know her as Maria from Orange Is The New Black. When she’s not terrorizing Litchfield inmates, she’s fronting Alekhine’s Gun and also sings with metal icons Brujeria. She’s been a fixture in the scene since 2010 really.

Wikipedia says she’s been “playing music at the age of two and trained as classical violinist and concert master who has played at Carnegie Hall.” Wow!

Basically, she’s a badass that makes her own music and has scored some sweet acting roles for herself too.

Oh, and she’s got arm candy in Tomas Haake of Meshuggah too. They’ve been one of metal’s most solid couples since 2013.

Lastly, speaking of women who make their own music, no one experiments with this better in black metal today than Myrkur.

Amalie Bruun is a Danish composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. She performs under the name Myrkur. Trust me, if there’s a Scandinavian folk instrument that you’ve heard of, she probably knows how to play it. Her passion is connecting with her roots this way. She finds a way to use these instruments in creating her own brand of black metal.

Do yourself a favor and take yourself on a journey through Viking past by listening to her music. Oh, and go catch a show of hers too while you’re at it – she’s an intense performer and the production she uses on stage is striking. I should know. I caught one in Minneapolis in 2018.

New music from Myrkur comes out on March 20th.

Thank you for joining me in celebrating these fabulous women who rock! Are there any other women you’d like to add to this list?