Ode to girl trios



Three girlies up on a stage together. What do they have in common? They’re a trio. And everyone loves them. Now more than ever, girl trios are making their names known across genres. On the surface, this feels kinda like a new thing. Then I thought back: girl* groups, specifically girl trios, have existed since before WWI. Every genre has had its own rendition, and now the greater music landscape is experiencing something of an “indie” (mostly figurative) takeover. I didn’t even realize how many trios are in my rotation/the rotation of the industry until I actually took the time to write a few of them down. Soon, it was hard trying to find a place for the list to stop.

*It’s important to note here that my use of the term “girl” in “girl groups/trios” is very fluid and does not refer strictly to one gender. Many people in these “girl trios” that I will mention fall on all sorts of places across the gender spectrum. Labeling things as “girl”-something, in my opinion, has evolved to a place to basically refer to those who are not cishet men (see: recent TikTok ‘girl dinner’ trend). Just making it clear that I do not say “girl” to exclude anyone of any nonconforming or fluid gender.When thinking about the first in a line of hundreds of girl trios, the Boswell Sisters stick out. Martha, Connie, and Helvetia Boswell were three sisters from New Orleans who gained popularity in the 1920s for their vocal harmonies and vaudeville performances. This group inspired the Three X Sisters, who also got their start in vaudeville in the late 1920s, and the Andrews Sisters, among many others. The Andrews Sisters, specifically, gained massive popularity in the late 1930s, and experienced the height of their fame around WWII, solidifying the girl trio’s place in popular music.