exceptional voices of female singers (non-classical)


What I'm talking about here is what critics of classical singing refer to as "the instrument": the exceptional beauty or uniqueness of the timbre of the voice qua voice.  For the moment, put aside preferences w.r.t. repertoire, interpretation, performance, style, delivery, etc., and just consider the *sound* of the voice.  We're *not* talking about favorite female artists here, because that kind of preference is based on a whole amalgam of factors.

I suspect some of the top figures in the category I've tried to define often aren't very popular among audiophiles, because of those many other factors.

My first three nominations: Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, Eva Cassidy.

128x128twoleftears
slaw,

Perhaps I am. I have several CD’s and a live recording. And all of them are full of foul mouth obscenities with a voice that even Janis Joplin could not tolerate.

ozzy
@ozzy

She’s made a major change in her life. Check out her latest/last one or two lps.

I hope you can make the change to now accept her for who she wants to be,

Everyone deserves another chance..

Slaw

Agree with Hope Sandoval and Tierney Sutton and would like to add Shara Worden.
Anne Bisson,Jennifer Warner, Karen Eason,Linda Ronstadt,Dusty Springfield,Carole King,Rickie Lee Jones,Anita Baker.  All good to me. 
I just spent 2 hours of copy and paste on YouTube and have discovered so many new singers to enjoy!
There goes the vinyl budget for February!
Thank you