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Adele won multiple Grammy Awards in major categories such as record and album of the year at the 2017 Grammy Awards ceremony, the latest achievement for the 鈥�25鈥� singer, who is glittering alongside such musicians as Beyonc茅, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift in a stunning constellation of current female artists who continue to dominate the recording industry.

Adele won the album of the year award for her work 鈥�25鈥� and received the record of the year prize for the song 鈥淗ello,鈥� featured on 鈥�25.鈥� She also received the Grammy Award for song of the year for 鈥淗ello鈥� and the award for best pop vocal album, among other prizes.

When Adele accepted her award for album of the year, she dedicated the prize to fellow nominee Beyonc茅, whose album聽鈥淟emonade鈥� was also nominated for best album.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 possibly accept this award and I鈥檓 very humble and gracious,鈥� Adele said. 鈥淏ut the artist of my life is Beyonc茅 and ... the聽鈥楲emonade鈥櫬燼lbum was just so monumental and so well-thought-out and so beautiful and soul-baring 鈥� all us artists here adore you. You are our light.鈥澛�

The success of these female artists comes at a moment, on the heels of the first woman to be nominated for US president by a major party, when women are聽increasingly turning toward their own聽for inspiration.聽But even as these larger-than-life pop stars are alternatively held up or criticized as role models for all kinds, female musicians and producers as a whole continue to face resistance across the industry.

鈥淏eyonc茅, Gaga and Adele 鈥� rule the world (of pop),鈥澛犅爓rote in 2011.聽鈥淭he soundtrack to pop in 2011 has three extraordinary female lead vocalists soloing all over it, drowning out much else,鈥� Ms. Empire wrote.聽

Adele and Beyonc茅 continue to be two of the most successful singers working today, with Nielsen having declared Adele's "25" the highest-selling album of 2015 and Beyonc茅's "Lemonade" becoming the singer's sixth album to sell 1 million copies in June 2016. (All of Beyonc茅's albums also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, which measures album sales.) But they are hardly alone 鈥� Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Ms. Swift are just a few of the other big female stars who continue to turn out hit after hit.聽

聽lauds聽Adele's singing talent as a "towering force of nature" and Swift's songwriting skills as "the top-tier of her generation when it comes to both country music and pop."

But when adoring fans want these female stars to serve as role models for a generation beyond being simply successful entertainers, things can get complicated.

Twitter trolls jeered at former first lady Michelle Obama when she called Beyonc茅 a role model on Twitter in 2015, with noting that some "critics pointed out the 34-year-old songstress dresses provocatively, dances suggestively on stage and in videos, while some of her tracks feature 'sexually explicit' lyrics." However, others "highlighted the fact that Beyonc茅 is one of the industry's biggest success stories and [her] 'body confidence' is a great example to young girls struggling to love themselves," Ms. Owoseje wrote.

聽noted that many of these singers are routinely asked if they are feminists "and if they shied away from the label, outrage would greet them online.... To Lady Gaga, feminism was about protecting 'the integrity of women who are ambitious.' Taylor Swift realized, she said, that she had 'been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so.' Feminism was being defined down to its most benign interpretation. It was less a political platform than a brand identity."

惭别补苍飞丑颈濒别,听 agreed that artists such as Adele, Beyonc茅, Rihanna, and Swift were a force in 2016, writing, 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to consider 2016鈥檚 music without thinking about the women who made it.鈥� But Ms. McKinney sees another problem: the dearth of women overall in the music industry.

鈥淭he celebration of pop鈥檚 biggest female stars at 2017鈥檚 [Grammys] ceremony will imply that it was another great year for women in music,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淎nd no question, it was 鈥� for a handful of them.聽 What that narrative obscures, however, is how difficult it remains for women to break into the industry at every level... Only 22.3 percent of the 206 songs in the Top 40 were sung by women.鈥�

McKinney also found that women were scarce behind the scenes, writing, "23 of the 463 producers who created Top 40 pop in 2016 were women" and adding, "Take one of the night鈥檚 most prestigious awards, Record of the Year. That category honors the performer and producers of the year鈥檚 best song. Five tracks are nominated: one each by Rihannah, Beyonc茅, and Adele, one by Twenty One Pilots, and one by Lukas Graham. 36 individual people are listed as nominees for the creation of those five songs. Four of them are women. To borrow from Adele: Hello?"

Other major winners at the ceremony included Chance the Rapper, who received the best new artist prize, as well as Twenty One Pilots, who received the award for best pop duo/group performance for 鈥淪tressed Out.鈥� David Bowie, who died in 2015, received multiple awards, including the best rock performance prize for 鈥淏lackstar鈥� and the best rock song award for the same work.聽