Towards a feminist history of popular music: Re-examining writing on musicians and domestic violence in the wake of #MeToo

The #metoo moment has highlighted how there are ways in which a reframing of the history of popular music may be necessary to fully incorporate the experiences of women, not just as performers but as audience members and fans, some of which may require a much more negative assessment of the industry than has previously taken place. When viewed through a feminist framework that foregrounds women’s experiences and perspectives, many normalised behaviours in the history of rock – indeed, the entire ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’ mythos – take on a much more sinister edge. This chapter examines what is written about rock musicians with a documented history of violence against women, using Axl Rose and XXXTentacion as specific examples, with a view to starting this project of reframing what is said about musicians’ treatment of women. It explores how the application of a feminist framework to the analysis of such works could form the basis for a reimagined history of popular music that interrogates where and how abuse may have taken place in the past, and works towards making the spaces of popular music safer in the future.