Huh?
According to one of those now-ubiquitous millennial-minded lists (100 great this, 100 great that), the late Lady Day is one of the, yes, 100 great women of rock 'n' roll.
The Holiday inclusion (at No. 6, no less) is one of the eyebrow-raisers of the survey put together by a panel of more than 300 female movers-and-shakers for cable's VH1.
The music network will reveal all 100 "rock" greats in a five-hour, five-night documentary series, debuting July 26. The list shapes up this way:
Soulful Aretha Franklin ("R-E-S-P-E-C-T") is No. 1; with Tina Turner (No. 2), Janis Joplin (No. 3), Bonnie Raitt (No. 4), Joni Mitchell (No. 5), the aforementioned Holiday (No. 6), Chrissie Hynde (of the Pretenders) (No. 7), Madonna (No. 8), Annie Lennox (of the Eurythmics) (No. 9) and Carole King (No. 10) rounding out the Top 10.
Diana Ross, who played Holiday in the 1972 film, Lady Sings the Blues, rates no higher than the Top 20 for her work with the Supremes--one of the supreme Motown acts of the 1960s. And Ross rates no higher than No. 38 for her work as a solo.
Of course, the Ross-Holiday mix-up is nothing compared to the Barbra Streisand-Pat Benatar flip-flop. La Streisand, never to be confused with a member of the Who, was named the 32nd greatest double-X chromosome rocker of all time; while, Benatar, she of the anthemic "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," trailed in 39th position.
Another curious inclusion on the "rock" list: Tammy Wynette (No. 73), aka the First Lady of Country Music. Wynette has country company in the form of Loretta Lynn (No. 65), aka the Kentucky-born Coal Miner's Daughter, and Dolly Parton (No. 34), the Tennessee-bred crooner of "Tennessee Homesick Blues."
No word on why Hee Haw staple Minnie Pearl was overlooked, nor why VH1 didn't just call this thing the "100 Greatest Women of (Plain-Old) Music."
Other notable "rockers," according to the network's list: Big Mama Thornton (No. 80), Peggy Lee (No. 93) and (of course!) Ella Fitzgerald (No. 13).
The blue-ribbon panel helping make these selections include such rock 'n' roll experts as Ms. founder Gloria Steinem, designer Donatella Versace, actress Sandra Bullock and director/Laverne Penny Marshall.
Complete list