Support Women Artists Sunday: The Donnas

The Donnas are an American all-female rock band comprised of lead vocalist Brett Anderson (Donna A.), guitarist Allison Robertson (Donna R.), bassist Maya Ford (Donna F.), and drummer Torry Castellano (Donna C.)

The Donnas were initially considered to be an indie punk band in their early days, often described as “the Ramones meets the Runaways,” but as their music evolved, they become more influenced by hard rock and heavy metal bands including Kiss, Sweet, L7, and Guns n’ Roses. Covers of Judas Priest’s ‘Living After Midnight’ and ‘Too Fast For Love’ by Motley Crue have appeared on past albums.

All four members were born in 1979, and first formed a group together in 1993 called Ragady Anne, while they were in Grade 8. They continued to practise and play frequently while attending high school in Palo Alta, California, eventually changing their name to The Electrocutes. In the mid-1990’s they decided to call themselves The Donnas, and met producer Darin Raffaelli, who wrote all the songs for their first album called The Donnas, released on his own label Superteem. They recorded a second album for the label, and later signed with Lookout! Records, who re-released their first two albums.

After releasing two albums of original material with Lookout!, The Donnas signed with Atlantic Records in 2001 and released their major label debut Spend The Night. This album helped make them a mainstream act, spawning a hit single ‘Take It Off’ and leading to appearances on MTV’s Total Request Live, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman. In the summer of 2003, they played the main stage of the Lollapalooza music festival, and that same year ‘Take It Off’ was nominated for Best Group Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

via TheDonnas.org

Take It Off

Fall Behind Me

The Donnas on iTunes: