What are your top 3 favorite female singers?


What are your top 3 favorite female singers?

jusam

Imany (Slow Down; Take Care of the One You Love; You Will Never Know).

Judith Durham (of the Seekers) (The Carnival is Over; Morningtown  Ride).

Marianne Faithful (The Gypsy Faerie Queen; What Have They Done to the Rain; The Ballad of Lucy Jordan; etc.).

Margo Timmins

Linda Ronstadt

Lucinda Williams

(Runner up might be Alison Krauss)

I have come very late in life to an appreciation of Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA.

Aside from being gorgeous, in her prime I think she had one of the finest voices in pop music.  Such bell-like purity of tone, incredible range without over singing, incredible versatility.  And of course when combined with Frida the famous ABBA “third voice” arose.  Both girls were talented singers to start out with but Benny and
Bjorn pushed them to their limits over and over until they became thoroughbreds in the pop singing world.  

 

I like many groups with female vocalists, but if I think about vocalists who I can just admire even for sheer talent and tone, my other favorites would be Karen Carpenter,  Barbara Streisand.

(And the Heart sisters...)

Sandy Denny

Joni Mitchell

Grace Slick

(also June Tabor, Shawn Colvin, Alison Krauss, Margo Timmins)

Agreed! All A list female vocalist. I would like to add Beth Hart to the list if I may.

"I leave the light on" from her 37 Days albumn. It's harrowing.

 

bdp24 -- I saw Emmylou once. Was it at the Troubadour? The Greek? Anyway, one of my favorite recording artists but her live performance was listless and underwhelming. Yeah, I was heartbroken.

From days gone by: Tammy Wynette, Dusty Springfield, and Darlene Love.

In the now: Iris DeMent (very nice to see her included by two others), Emmylou Harris, and Lucinda Williams.

KD Lang (non country songs)

Julie London

Chantal Chamberlin

There are many that are just a hair under these three and some are so close it is hard to distinguish.

Tough to do… well, I’ll pick 3 I didn’t see:

 

Dianne Reeves

Nnenna Freelon

Shirley Horn

 

Way too many choices based on mood.

 

Certainly obscure from the "all time" greats, yet very engaging sonically...

Diane Reeves

Jacinta

Cheryl Barnes

kathleen battle [classical] - sheer aural beauty and agility over gravity.

tie between karen carpenter and patsy cline [pops - both had rich alto singing voices of complexity and emotional power] 

julie london [jazz/pops], a contralto powerhouse and a naturally bluesy talent. when she sang "get out of town" or "why don't you do right," she meant it with guts.  

 

"Favorite" to me means who most touches my soul, so:

Joni 

Eva 

Patty Griffin

 

 

 

My favorites are in a smaller niche, but the question asks, "MY" favorites, so here they are"

1. CeCe Winans

2. India.Arie

3. Vanessa Bell-Armstrong

Rhiannon Giddens 

Bonnie Raitt

Sarah Jarosz

Eva Cassidy

Grace Slick

Joni Mitchell

Cassandra Wilson

Beth Hart

 

 

Post removed 

- Dawn Upshaw

 

- Lady Gaga

 

- Joan Baez (could also have gone with Christa Ludwig)

@whipsaw, @voodoolounge good call on Cécile McLorin Salvant

For those who do not know her, try YouTube: Jacky Terrasson and Cecile performing ’Oh my love’ Here we have a girl with soul, unlike someone like Norah Jones with her nauseating one octave drivel.

And greatly entertaining is this awesome little Amy Winehouse-like 9 year old. With eyes closed it’s impossible to guess her age!

 
Jacqui Naylor
Filippa Giordano
Viktoria Tolstoy
Tuck and Patti (usually well recorded)
 

Allison Krauss

Sade

Long list for 3rd but will go with Joss Stone as I didn't see her mentioned

 

Cecilia Bartoli

Stacey Kent

And I may catch some flack here(!):

Charlotte Wessels

How about my 3 favorite Scandinavian singers? 

Sidsel Endresen Norwegian

Viktoria Tolstoy Swedish

Sinne Eeg Danish

Ane Brun Norwegian

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I tried anyway

This week my top three are:

Sophie Zelmaani

Natalia Lafourcade
Jade Bird

Last week they were:friend like Eva or Linda or Bonnie 
Filippa Giordana

Maria Mena

Nellie McKay

Next week will probably be three new ones, including someone I’ve never heard or heard of prior. Or maybe I’ll be back to an old an old friend like Eva or Bonnie or Linda. Too soon to tell. 
All time favorites is a different question. Also, sneaky way to circumvent the limit of three. All time? No such thing for me

and let me add: nina simone, annie haslam, sarah vaugham, joni mitchell, eliane elias, carmen mcrae, elis regina, gal costa.

Lots of great names provided - I would add Karen Matheson (Capercaillie) to the list.  Captivating voice in both English and Gaelic.