She Rocks Awards Names First 2027 Honorees: Melissa Manchester, Victoria Williams and Kiki Wong
The 2027 She Rocks Awards has announced its first three honorees: Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester, folk-rock artist and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund founder Victoria Williams, and Kiki Wong, touring guitarist with The Smashing Pumpkins. The ceremony takes place Saturday, 30 January 2027 in Anaheim, California, during the NAMM show — the annual trade exhibition for the music products industry. (Billboard)
It is the 15th-anniversary edition of the awards, which launched in 2012 and has honoured more than 170 women across the music and audio industries since. Past recipients include Melissa Etheridge, Gloria Gaynor, Pat Benatar, The Bangles, Chaka Khan, Sheila E., The Go-Go's, Linda Perry, Ronnie Spector, Lita Ford, Esperanza Spalding, Shirley Manson, Amy Lee, Lzzy Hale, Suzi Quatro, The B-52s, Colbie Caillat, Nita Strauss and Tal Wilkenfeld.
Two-time Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer-songwriter Samantha Fish returns as co-host. Laura B. Whitmore, founder of the Women's International Music Network — the organisation behind the awards — co-produces the event. NAMM is a presenting sponsor, and the ceremony is open to the public, not only to industry badge-holders.
The three honorees span distinct corners of the music business. Manchester's career as a singer and songwriter earned her a Grammy and a catalogue of pop and adult-contemporary hits dating to the 1970s. Williams, whose own performing career runs across folk, rock and country-inflected material, is also recognised as a founding artist of the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a non-profit that provides financial assistance to musicians in need. Wong's profile has risen through her work as a touring guitarist with The Smashing Pumpkins, bringing a current rock-stage credential into the 2027 lineup.
Additional honorees, performers and special guests will be announced in the coming months, according to Billboard. Tickets are on sale now at sherocksawards.com.
For attendees, the NAMM show overlap means the awards sit inside one of the largest music-gear trade gatherings in the world, drawing instrument makers, retailers and audio professionals to Anaheim each January. The She Rocks Awards runs as a public-facing event within that industry setting — a room where touring musicians, songwriters, engineers and gear-industry figures share a stage.
That mix has been the awards' framing since the beginning: recognising women not only on stages but across the broader music and audio economy, from performers to behind-the-scenes professionals whose work rarely gets a spotlight. Fifteen editions and 170-plus honorees in, the 2027 ceremony adds three more names to that list.
