Sheryl Crow has recalled a time in her career where she rarely saw women in leading roles in the music industry.

The American singer, who has been an icon in the business since the 1990s, revealed this weekend that female superstars have changed the landscape in the industry.

‘When I was coming up, there was no self-branding. We didn’t have social media. The business at large was run by men’ the 62-year-old tells Stellar Magazine. 

‘I only knew one woman who was an engineer, one woman who was in the upper echelons of a label. I knew no female managers, no female agents, no female radio programmers.’

Sheryl went on to explain that sexual harassment and abuse was rife, but women are now ‘taken more seriously’, especially mega stars like Taylor Swift who hold significant power.

‘What’s interesting is that when you get women who are bigger than the actual system in general – like a Madonna or a Beyoncé or a Taylor – it sort of is a giant ‘eff you’ to the entire history of men manipulating women’ Sheryl added.

The artist has come out with 12 albums so far including her most recent, Evolution, this year.

She came to fame in the 1990s with the hit song All I Wanna Do (1994).

Next came Strong Enough (1994),’If It Makes You Happy (1996), Everyday Is a Winding Road (1996), My Favorite Mistake (1998), Picture (2002, duet with Kid Rock), and Soak Up the Sun (2002).

Sheryl was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame last year.

She joined Kate Bush, Missy Elliott, the late George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners.

‘The people that have meant the most to me in my musical life have been inducted into this organization so to have my name in the hat with theirs, it’s a giant honor,’ she said.

‘These people… really were the architects.’