From the first recording session for Elvis Presley to the launch of the Grammy Awards, women have played an essential role in music business milestones, often with less acknowledgement than male executives. In honor of Women’s History Month, and to coincide with Billboard’s 2022 Women in Music issue, we recognize six female pioneers who shaped the music industry.
When Gabriel died at the age of 99 in March 2021, her nephew, Ed Mauro, told The New York Times that her success in music came “when the playing field wasn’t level.” Gabriel — considered to be the first female producer to work for a record label — had another take: She told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 1983: “I didn’t know I was somewhere I shouldn’t be.”
