Before '90s bands like Bikini Kill and L7 spearheaded the riot grrrl movement or '80s groups like the Go-Go's and the Bangles had their biggest hits, a group of pioneering women became the first all-female rock band to ever crack the Billboard Hot 100...and decades later, many music lovers have never even heard of them (even though the Beatles and David Bowie were huge fans).
Led by sisters June and Jean Millington, the group Fanny group was also the first all-female band to release an album on a major label (their 1970 self-titled debut), according to Open Culture, after which they managed to land four singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Charity Ball" from their 1971 album of the same name, a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar” “I’ve Had It,” and “Butter Boy," the last of which went to #29 in 1975.
While Mo Ostin, the man who signed them to the record label Reprise apparently considered them a "novelty act," before long Fanny was opening for bands such as The Kinks and Humble Pie (they even backed Barbra Streisandon the album Barbra Joan Streisand).
“For the longest time, we had first to prove that we could actually play,” bassist Jean told Guitar World in a recent interview.
“The first 10 minutes [of the shows], people were not believing [us] — after a while, they understood that we actually play. But that went on for a long time — having to prove that we could really play," she added.
Over time, however, the members of Fanny weren't just proving themselves to fans, they were winning over major rock stars, too.
“By the time we met the Beatles, I think they were thrilled to meet us,” recalled lead guitarist June. “We didn't meet them en masse at one time, but it was clear that they really liked us. They liked us in part because we were women who could play, and we knew what we could do well."
Bowie was another famous contemporary who was a supporter of the band. In a 1999 interview with Rolling Stone, he called Fanny “one of the finest f—king rock bands of their time, in about 1973."
"They were extraordinary: they wrote everything, they played like motherf—kers, they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody’s ever mentioned them," he continued. "They’re as important as anybody else who’s ever been, ever; it just wasn’t their time.”
While Fanny broke up in 1975, original members Jean, June and Brie Howard-Darling reunited in 2018 for the album Fanny Walked the Earth, which also featured appearances by Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s, Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson of the Bangles, and Runaways singer Cherie Currie.
Related: All-Female '90s Rock Band Announces 2026 Tour Dates 25 Years After Splitting Up
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