BEST FEMALE VOCAL EVER


HELLO TO ALL...

I've started a BEST MALE VOCAL seperately - if you want to contribute to that, please go that discussion...

I personally think the BEST FEMALE is so much harder than the Best Male, and I already have so many names in mind that I thought I'd wait and see others suggestions.

SO PLEASE OFFER YOU HUMBLE OPINION - BUT PLEASE, offer only one.

THANKS to all who cotribute...
justvintagestuff
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Can’t believe Astrud Gilberto (ala Girl from Ipanema, Agua De Beber, Summer Samba) hasn’t surfaced yet. ... put a little samba in your life! :)
How can it be one best if there are so many different styles.. here are a few, each in her own category. 

Mireille Mathieu
Anna Netrebko
Tong Li
Yep. I was being a bit PC, i.e. not being too effusive, but she is my favorite vocalist by a mile. Other can be beautiful etc, but she can bring tears to my eyes! :-)
I want to add to my previous post of only four words about Eva Cassidy.
She could sing in just about any style.
You couldn’t categorize her. 
That was one of the reasons I believe she did not make it big while she was alive.
Yet she was extraordinary in every style.
She had a seemingly limitless vocal range, and an emotional impact like an atomic bomb.
Also assuming popular music (as opposed to classical) I am a sucker for the throaty (and sometimes quavery) voice of Stevie Nicks. May not have the range of so many great entries above but she is my pick for this forum.

Like to ad:

Liza Minelli - Cabaret. More power than the rest together.

Mirella Freni - La Bohéme (best male to Pavarotti). Classical but you
can´t oversee her just because of that...

Janis Joplin - for the rawness and feeling (Me and Bobby McGee)

Nina Simone - for the interpretetation (Mr. Bojangles)
Justvintagestuff, how about one jazz, and one rock 'n roll singer.

Billie Holiday-Strange Fruit, and Darlene Love, a pure Rock n Roll singer if there ever was one. Check out her "White Christmas" from the Phil Spector Christmas album. Accept no substitutes.

And thank all of you for mentioning Eva Cassidy. I looked her up because I didn’t recognize her name. That’s got to be the wonderful woman who sang a completely original, heartfelt version of my favorite chestnut "Over the Rainbow" on NPR on my way home from work years ago. I could never remember her name and never heard her again. Soon as I googled her name that song popped up. Simply unforgettable voice and delivery. I’m going to be able to find her albums now at long last. Thanks so much. You’ve made my day.

Mike
All of the ladies mentioned here are great. It would be hard, if not impossible, to rate just one as the best. A lot depends on personal music tastes and styles.
Each have performed fantastic songs while other of their songs were not so memorable. Versatility is certainly a large factor and requires a lot of talent. Maybe we listen to the tonality and depth of their voices even performed in songs we don't particularly like.
To all the ladies mentioned here.....not just one is best. You are all GREAT.

+1 re Judith Durham.

Given the OP’s admonition to only mention one name, and based on my assumption that the thread was not intended to address opera and classical singers or to take repertoire into account, I cited Connie Francis earlier in the thread. However I could just as easily have named Judith, and in fact I pondered which of the two to cite.

Following are comments I made and quoted about Judith earlier this year in the following thread:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/exceptional-voices-of-female-singers-non-classical

Based on the purity and sheer beauty of her voice, I would cite Judith Durham, best known as the lead singer of The Seekers although she has had a distinguished solo career as well.

Following is a brief excerpt of comments about her provided by a British gentleman whose bio is shown at the end of an article he wrote entitled Judith Durham: The Voice of the 20th Century. Obviously some of what he has to say in this paragraph and in the rest of the article is debatable, as well as being subjective to a considerable extent, but his comments are not without foundation IMO.

Judith Durham (of the Seekers) is the greatest of them all. The voice of the twentieth century, in my not very humble opinion. Clarity, spine-shivering (I’ve already used “spine-tingling” and I’m all for a bit of variety), astonishing purity – all that is obvious straightaway. But listen to The Carnival is Over or the amazing Just a Closer Walk and you hear a vocal beauty which is unique and reaches a level no one else can get near to. Callas is just a tear-jerker by comparison; Carpenter just a female crooner; Piaf just a screeching Gallic banshee. Judith Durham combines a bold, even brash, confidence in her own ability with a deeper humility which lends her remarkable sound an even more profound character.

Regards,
-- Al

Minnie Riperton. ‘Queen of the whistle register”. It’s a shame she died so young......
Never one best.
Nina Simone, Melody Gardot, Lady Gaga,
Amy Winehouse, Karen Carpenter, kd Lang (live).
To my ear there is no better voice than Karen Carpenter. When I hear her sing it just blows my mind. Not a fan of the music but her voice just kills me. A close second would be Alison Krauss. I could listen to her sing forever. I'll throw out a jazz singer who is not often mentioned but whose smokey delivery I enjoy--Carol Sloane. 
Eydie Gorme', Linda Eder. These are the two best female singers that I have ever heard sing live. Gorme' had a voice that was awe inspiring, and the magnificent Linda Eder has been around for years - she should be a national treasure, but doesn't seek the lime light like the ass shaking, lip synching, auto tuned frauds that America adores and worships. Check out Gormes "Tonight I'll Sing a Prayer" and "What Did I Have That I Don't Have" to get an idea of what a real female vocalist sounds like. These are two of the very best in my opinion, both of whom possessed (Gorme'), and possess (Eder) incredible voices and I doubt that anybody else on this forum will mention them.
Rebecca Pidgeon - Spanish Harlem, Patricia Barber, Holly Cole, Aimee Mann, Madeleine Peyroux, Nina Simone and Christy Baron.

I really marvel at the range and power of Christina Aguilera, although the style/genre she chooses to engage in does nothing for me. Would be nice to hear her in a jazz trio, or quartet setting.

Holly Cole

Anne Wilson (early years)

Vanessa Fernandez

Grace Slick

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What, no Kate Bush fans here? Great British singer with a nice series of recordings over the past 40 years! Start with "The Kick Inside" (1978) and on from there!
I could never pick a best. I am too capricious and the choices are too many and too great. Two that I've been fascinated with lately:

Timi Yuro. I never heard of her until a few weeks ago and I think someone in the radio industry needs to be punished for that! She's just majestic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVO40-Pj5hM

Eileen Rose may be as sexy as Dusty Springfield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvHLfn1Ciuk
Why is there no discussion on recording quality?  How do you really know these "older" recording stars were really that good when the recording techniques and abilities limited how well the music sounds?  McIntosh and Martin Logan equipment can only filter and enrich, so much...


Considering all that, Laura Wright is the best vocalist for me!


I love Eva Cassidy!!! Don't sell Linda Ronstadt short. The "What's New" album recorded with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra is amazing!!!
It used to be Karen Carpenter. Now, it's Alison Krauss. Alison's voice comes across sweet, clean and clear on "Now That I've Found You" and "I Can Let Go Now". Also, listen to "It Doesn't Matter". Her voice keeps me spellbound!
The first song I think of is Tracy Nelson singing "Down So Low". Linda Ronstadt covered the song, but to me it didn’t have the power of the original.

Another great female singer is Joan Osbourne. Soul, R&B, blues. She’s great with all of them. So much shading in her singing. Can’t get enough of her.

Btw, I'm a big fan of Eva Cassidy. She had an amazing voice.
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No doubt, Ella and Sarah, an unknown to most, blues and gospel singer Alexis P Suter and I am shocked that no one mentioned the spine tingling Maria Callas. 
Clare Torry. Clare H. Torry (born 29 November 1947) is a British singer, best known for performing the wordless vocals on the song "The Great Gig in the Sky" by the group Pink Floyd on their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.
I'm a total sucker for anything Hannah Reid from London Grammar does. Hannah has power and frailties all at once. My second choice is Sara K ....check out her album Play On Words. Sade is up there and also  Bonnie Paine from Elephant Revival. 
Ann Wilson, circa Little Queen. Listen to Dream of the Archer. I saw her in concert and when she held that note (you'll know it when you hear it) it was chilling.
Obviously, not too many people here heard of French Canadian singer Ginette Reno.
Listen/watch this duet with Céline Dion... Magnificient.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0slOZv19g-k

Annie Haslam of Renaissance, particularly on the first three albums: "Prologue - Turn of the Cards."
  1. Newbee is spot on about Eva Cassidy. Been a fan of hers ever since she hit the DC musical scene. She deserves to be mentioned in any discussion about great female singers. Picking only one female vocal is impossible for me. I can’t even pick my favorite female singer. So much depends on the mood I’m in. But when I listen to any of the great ones, their voices can completely take me over, and totally mesmerize me. Among my favorite are: Eva Cassidy, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Ruth Brown, and several more I just can’t think of at the moment. They all had such fantastic recordings, it's Impossible to select one song as my favorite. I’m sure at least 50 songs would tie. For me, my choice of music is dictated by my current state of mind.