When the Go-Go’s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, 2021, bassist Kathy Valentine pointed to their achievement’s significance while also sharing the space with past and future women:
By honoring our historical contribution, the doors to this establishment have opened wider and the Go-Go’s will be advocating for the inclusion of more women. Women who have paved the way for us and others. Women who started bands, who sing and write songs, who excel on their instruments, who make and produce records. Because here is the thing: There would not be less of us if more of us were visible.
As Valentine also noted, the American institution’s formal recognition of the Go-Go’s will help redefine gendered expectations for participation in rock and other generic musical landscapes. That redefinition is a little like finding a new space whose light can shine on those once...
