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House heads are no doubt familiar with DJ Heather, the Chicago-based DJ who has a long history of mixing genres with finesse. Back in 1997, the Chicago Tribune featured her in an article on — you guessed it — the rise of female DJs. That piece noted that Heather opened for artists like Jamiroquai and D'Angelo. (Both were kind of a big deal for the time.) Since then, she has contributed sets to high-profile series like Fabric and BBC Essential Mix. DJ Heather continues to play across the U.S., sometimes on her own and sometimes with Colette (see below).

3. Sandra Collins

A few months before the first Coachella, Woodstock '99 hit New York and became a symbol of everything that could go wrong at a music festival. That aside, Sandra Collins was one of the handful of DJs to play the rock-oriented event. Her bio still mentions the lengthy, middle-of-the-night set, which all seems kind of crazy now. How often do you see a DJ play more than an hour at a festival?
That's the kind of clout that Sandra Collins had during the 1990s dance music boom. She was a DJ whose name burst out of flyers on Melrose Avenue. That success continued in the early years of the new millennium. Some of her highest profile mixed CDs, like ones from Cream and Perfecto, came out after 2000.

4. DJ Baby Anne

Calling herself "bass queen," DJ Baby Anne's signature track of the same name hit in 1999. The Floridian DJ's break-heavy style was particularly popular at the turn of the century, when she released a slew of singles and DJ mixes. She's still putting out music today. Check out her cut "Khal Drogo" on SoundCloud. It's worth a spin just for the title, more the fact that it absolutely captures the bass-heavy sound of today's festivals.

5. Andrea Parker

In the 1990s, British DJ/musician Andrea Parker earned the love of electronic music fans who liked their tracks a little dark. In 1998, !K7 included her in their fantastic mix CD series, DJ-Kicks. Her productions were released by Mo' Wax, the label owned by UNKLE's James Lavelle. Early in the next decade, she toured with Radiohead. Parker currently owns two record labels — aperture and Touchin' Bass — and continues to perform and release mixes.

6. Colette

Along with DJs Heather, Lady D and Dayhota, Colette is part of the Superjane collective. That's an all-female group of DJs who history goes back to the 1990s. Colette's house style, distinctive in part for the fact that she's also a singer, has earned her oodles of fans. With help from her audience.


7. DJ Irene

When Southern California native DJ Irene refers to herself as "Diva DJ Irene" on her website, it's not an understatement. In the mid-1990s, few locals were as well known as this purveyor of progressive house. She played Hollywood club Arena during its mid-1990s heyday and released an L.A.-centric mix CD when the rest of the world ignored the city's contribution to the dance world. Recently, DJ Irene turned up behind the decks at the Abbey and has been playing gigs in various cities across the United States.

8. Lady D

Like DJs Heather and Colette, Lady D emerged from Chicago's thriving club scene of the 1990s. In 2000, she released the romantically groovy mix, Naked Kaleidoscope, which captured the low-light, lounge-y feel of clubs at the time. Lady D has announced that she will be touring this year to celebrate her 20th anniversary behind the decks.

9. Miss Kittin

In the early 2000s, dance music went through a dramatic shift when DJs started working with '80s-inspired synth-pop and Italo-disco influences. At the forefront of this movement was French DJ Miss Kittin. Club kids of the time may be more familiar with Miss Kittin's voice, heard on her collaborations with Felix da Housecat, The Hacker and Golden Boy. Her DJ skills, though, are phenomenal. Her style is eclectic enough to sound timeless. In fact, Miss Kittin's mixes, including Radio Caroline Vol. 1 and her contribution to the Bugged Out series, remain essential listening. Check out SoundCloud to keep up on her mixes and tracks.

10. Ellen Allien

In the early 2000s, it seemed like Berlin was the center of the dance world and Ellen Allien, who actually started DJing years earlier, became one of the city's biggest champions. Allien produced one of the biggest hits of the electro-meets-techno era, "Stadtkind." Her label, BPitch Control, was responsible for many more 12-inch releases that made their way from Germany to hip clubs in the U.S. An astute DJ as well as a producer, Allien continues to tour. However, her gigs tend to be concentrated in Europe and Latin America.