This was very tough. Not because there aren't a lot of great female vocalists. There are. The challenge here was to pick my three best female vocalists, ever! This forced me to consider their vocal talents - and not just the quality of the songs or music, that each particular artist delivers. For example - I simply adore the music of SHERYL CROW. But, would I rate her as one of the three greatest vocalists ever? Probably not. So, included on my short list is: - ALISON GOLDFRAPP [From GOLDFRAPP] ALISON KRAUSS ALLISON DUBIN ANETHA FALTSKOG [The BLONDE from ABBA] ALISON KRAUSS AMANDA MCBROOM ANASTACIA ANGELIQUE KIDJO ANNE MURRAY ANNIE LENNOX ANITA BAKER BARBRA STREISAND BASIA TRZETRZELEWSKA [From MATT BIANCO] BIC RUNGA BRANDY CLARK BROOKE FRASER CARLA BRUNI CAROL KIDD CELINE DION CHINA FORBES [From PINK MARTINI] CHRISTINA AGUILERA CHISTINE MCVIE [ From FLEETWOOD MAC] CILLA BLACK DEE CASTENSEN DIANA KRALL DIONNE WARWICK ELIZABETH FRASER [From COCKTEAU TWINS with MASSIVE ATTACK] ELLA FITZGERALD ENYA EVA CASSIDY FILIPPA GIORDANO FIONA APPLE GRACE JONES HAILEY TUCK HANNAH REID [From LONDON GRAMMAR] HOLLY COLE IMOGEN HEAP [with URBAN SPECIES] JANIS IAN JONI MITCHELL JUDITH DURHAM JULIE ANDREWS KANDACE SPRINGS KAREN CARPENTER KAREN SOUZA KARIN BURGQUIST [From OVER THE RHINE] KATIE MELUA LANA DEL RAY LINDA RONSTADT LISA EKDAHL LIZZ WRIGHT LUCINDA WILLIAMS LULU MADELEINE PEYROUX MARIANNE FAITHFULL MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER MARY HOPKIN MELISSA ETHERIDGE MELODY GARDOT MINDY SMITH MINNIE DRIVER [AND she's a successful MOVIE STAR!!!] NANA MOUSKOURI NATALIE MERCHANT NINA SIMONE [AND one of the greatest JAZZ PIANISTS EVER!] NORA JONES PETULA CLARK POLLY BROWN [From PICKETTYWITCH] RENEE GEYER RICKIE LEE JONES SADE SAM BROWN SANDY SHAW SARAH GROVES SHANA HALLIGAN [From BITER:SWEET] SHARON ROBINSON SHELBY LYNNE SHERYL CROWE SHIRLEY BASSEY SIA [Also with ZERO 7] SINEAD LOHAN SINEAD O'CONNOR SIOBHAN DE MARE [From MONO] SIOBHAN DONAGHY [From the original SUGBABES] SKY EDWARDS [From MORCHEEBA] SOPHIE BARKER [From ZERO 7] STEVIE NICKS [From FLEETWOOD MAC] TAMMY WYNETTE TRACEY THORN [From EBTG with MASSIVE ATTACK] TRACY CHAPMAN So down to my three finalists... This was truly an impossible task, so I simply picked the three that remain in heaviest rotation around our way, at this current time in my life. [It could be a different pick tomorrow...] ALISON KRAUSS, Forget About It (1999) STACEY KENT, Dreamsville (2001) K. D. LANG, Ingenue (1992) I have also noted what I believe to be their finest moments on record One final thought: An honorable mention must go to MIKE MILOSH, lead singer of RHYE. MILOSH is obviously NOT female, but he sounds more female than a lot of the ladies. If you happened to miss the RHYE debut - WOMAN - from 2013, be sure to check it out! |
Opera - Claudia Muzio Rosa Ponselle Roberta Peters Pop - Ruth Etting Ella Fitzgerald Judy Garland @ sondeknz The question was top 3, not a list of 90. I have 42,000 LPs/78s/CDs. I chose my top three from recordings dating back 100 years, of which 20% have female singers. I don't doubt you prefer nearly all contemporary singers but there have been more accomplished singers over the period of recordings (although you mention Fitzgerald and Garland). |
Lorraine Feather - Astonishing voice and writes great lyricsTierney Sutton - A true professionalJane Monheit - Very skilled, great voice I'd put Emmy Rossum on the list if she'd stop recording pop schlock and record some good material (jazz). Outstanding skill, can sing for beauty and power. She's a great actress, but there are other great actresses. She's a top level singer. Some others: Cassandra Wilson, Maureen McGovern, Lena Horne |
@ sondeknz The question was top 3, not a list of 90. I have 42,000 LPs/78s/CDs. I chose my top three from recordings dating back 100 years, of which 20% have female singers. I don't doubt you prefer nearly all contemporary singers but there have been more accomplished singers over the period of recordings (although you mention Fitzgerald and Garland).@fleschler Sorry you didn't enjoy my list. I wasn't trying to show-off. I had simply hoped that going wider on list would help others to find some new favourites. Certainly I have found a load of new voices myself, through this thread. Based upon your own Top 3 picks, I think you would be most rewarded by exploring the music by STACEY KENT. ELLA FITZGERALD was 4th on my list, but I have to admit the other three get heavier rotation these days. I think my mentions of NINA SIMONE, JUDITH DURHAM and others qualify as "earlier" artists. I never mentioned JUDY GARLAND. Just not my bowl of satsumas. All highly subjective, of course. |
@ sondeknz My mistake, you didn't mention Garland. I heard Stacey Kent. A small, thin sounding voice. I prefer fuller sounding voices with a wider frequency range. Judith Durham was okay, had pitch problems when she sang. I might as well list June Christy, Jeri Southern, Dinah Washington, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday as some of my jazz favorites. Dorothy Kirsten, Rise Stevens and Conchita Supervia (Spanish songs) as great crossover opera - pop singers |
I’d like to think the OP question is which female voices give you goosebumps when you hear them. so for me it rules out some previous poster’s choices where I find limitations in the singer’s abilities. For instance, Sade has a great voice but her range is so limited every time I hear her avoiding a high note by going subdued it just ruins it. as far as Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, they just do anything for me (great songwriting, I’m just focusing on the voice). Picking them is like picking Neil Young as great male singer. for range and ability to sound golden, soft, harsh and use pitch nuance I find Barbra Streisand and KD Lang just have it. to me KD Lang is a female Version of Bono’s voice. Third choice is rather hard, I’d have to say Diana Ross. on a side note, nobody could argue that Cher is one the the greatest female singers....but nobody’s favorite! Popularity - yes. Goosebumps - no. |
@fleschler I’m with you on JERI SOUTHERN and DINAH WASHINGTON. Glad to hear that you’ve given STACEY KENT a chance too. After years of listening to her, I’m still totally enamoured with what MS. KENT can do with her little voice... In hindsight, it was remiss of me to leave JULIE LONDON off my larger list, also. |
Thanks to all. So many great thoughts and female singers. Thanks also for adding June Christy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Christy |
@ sondeknz Julie London had a small voice and occasional pitch problems. She still sounded very sexy. As to a female performance which always gives me goose bumps/makes me cry is Beverly Sills in The Ballad of Baby Doe. There are five fabulous arias and then the one which ends the opera is phenomenal. An American opera based on historical facts. Tremendous feeling as well as superlative singing. |
First time posting When everything is perfect you have this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBE9pU-mJwI |
@16f4, If you really want to know who was the heart of Brazilian music it was Elizete Cardoso. In 1958 her album Canção do Amor Demais was the album that first introduced Bossa Nova not only to Brazil itself, but to the world. The music was composed by Vinícius de Moraes and Tom Jobim and contains the first recordings of João Gilberto’s guitar beat, which would go on to become a staple of bossa nova. And Lord Almighty, could she sing. She was the voice on the Black Orpheus soundtrack, another bossa nova tune and in her day was just as a highly respected and talented singer as any of her American contemporaries of the day. What Brazilian music has taught me is that Bossa Nova is to Samba, what Jazz is to the Blues. And Brazilian Forró music is what we would call country music in America. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVkDfnGobmI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9kkHbEmN2c https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can%C3%A7%C3%A3o_do_Amor_Demais |
@tyray Yes, Elizete Cardoso sang beautifully and I have many albums from the 50's/60's Brazilian song and jazz. An earlier Brazilian favorite of mine is Elsie Houston. who had a very wide vocal range (she trained with 2 tremendous sopranos) and was THE Brazilian folklore musician of her generation. Here are some samples https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2gX-wUrxm8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFaX7_F189Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sip4UZ9Z5zw&list=OLAK5uy_nSOuzYfFqYvpwNzR-_SV01awWcBsoGNS8&i... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Za79PKoi3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9crRZzwWoDU&list=OLAK5uy_nSOuzYfFqYvpwNzR-_SV01awWcBsoGNS8&i... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Za79PKoi3g&list=OLAK5uy_nSOuzYfFqYvpwNzR-_SV01awWcBsoGNS8&i... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0ziC9GDY0c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEKQgXE1lqE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxUeDN-aTEQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LmDbDA2Xms collection with piano The complete Elsie Houston is available on Marston Records Elsie Houston Queen of Brazilian Song 51011-2 (1 CD) | $ 18.00
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May I suggest as one of the true great vocalists of any era: Elis Regina One of the few who was born to convey the full spectrum of emotion and life through sound. Could hit any note on a bullseye, but the real magic lies in the shades and colors in between the notes. Would love for more of her recordings to be offered in hi-res formats... Sade and Kacey Musgraves round out my current list. Beyonce honorable mention. |
@fleschler I do understand Brazil Folklore music and Brazilian Folk and two different types of music...And she has an American heritage to boot! The only American singer of her day that I may even try attempt any contemporaneous similarities is maybe Marion Anderson? Thank you introducing me to the music of Elsie Houston. Such power, softness and control in her voice...I had no idea...It’s as if she’s singing in incantations! +1 on Elis Regina too! |
