Today, Kim Gordon celebrates her 63rd birthday. The frontwoman of seminal noise-rock band Sonic Youth is known for penning anthems like “Teen Age Riot”; rocking T-shirts that give girls credit for inventing punk rock and skirts that exhibit her mile-long legs; and donning that perennial uniform of unkempt bleach-blonde hair anchored by a heavy-handed rimming of liner. It’s with that inky pencil that Gordon can be sure she’s never mistaken for just another nice suburban-born mother. With an insouciant line smudged around her lashes, she nonverbally communicates a lifestyle of late-night performances—as well as a connection to a lineage of unapologetically powerful women.
The transformative power of black eyeliner has been documented for centuries, seen on commanding presences from Cleopatra to Mata Hari. Which is perhaps why so many of music’s most memorable frontwomen have made it a staple in their beauty regimens. Can you imagine Adele or Taylor Swift taking the stage without a dramatic obsidian flick of liquid? Try to picture Siouxsie Sioux or Amy Winehouse sans their signature exaggerated graphic makeup. Divas Etta James, Barbra Streisand, and Aretha Franklin all understood the importance of vocal range and the onstage impact of an extended stroke of kohl. Telegraphing everything from counterculture indifference to high glamour depending on the application technique, the beauty staple is as classic as it is individual. In honor of Gordon’s birthday, here are 19 musicians who prove that the combination of true talent and heavy liner is a surefire recipe for icon-hood.
The post 19 Musical Icons Who Prove the Transformative Power of Black Eyeliner appeared first on Vogue.
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