Most underrated female recording artists..

Linda Ronstadt hands down! 

Just listen to her discography. 

Thank you for those who have dug a bit deep and recommended some less famous names. 

I have: 

Maydie Myles: Her version of The Look of Love is worth exploring for that one song alone. 

The Swingle Singers (A cappella) adaptation of Nick Drake's River Man is a female vocal piece of magic.

Gwen McCrae's take on Misty Blue should be taken out and dusted off just for the reminder of what a great pairing of song and singer that recording is. 

I don't care, let the haters hate, but Madonna's recording of Little Star is sweet and passionate and quite real. 

Amanda Bergman from Sweden is less about vocal perfection and instead has a style that is captivating. Subtle but excellent backing band. Try Falcons and Golden for starters. 

Something traditional: Dutch singer Trintje Oosterhuis takes on the Burt Bacharach songbook. Start with Anyone Who Had a Heart and hear her go from a raspy whisper to full on afterburner. 

Now approaching 30 years ago (got that makes me feel old) Everything But the Girl recorded Rollercoaster which is just Tracey Thorn's voice and mostly acoustic guitar and bass. Great stuff.

Back to unknown: Dobet Gnahoré is a singer from the Ivory Coast and her West African songs are a fresh take on modern music.

Canada's Feist had a few hits, then faded, but is well worth rediscovering. Can't go wrong with the entire Let it Die album

Enjoy the journey!

Great thread! I've got some listening to do. One that I'll mention is Diane Schuur. I did a quick search here on Audiogon and found discussion so I'm not really confident in my complaint that she's underrated. I do find her voice to be exquisite and I don't see a whole lot about her, so I get the impression that I'm more positively impressed than most. 

Linda Ronstadt "Underrated"?! Doesn’t everyone appreciate her? Well, except for Elvis Costello ;-) . Am I taking the question too literally?

Those who like Iris DeMent LOVE her. How about Lou Ann Barton? Tammy Wynette? Mavis Staples? Ruth Brown? Arlene Smith (of The Chantels. Listen to her sing "Maybe" to have your mind blown)? Darlene Love? Emmylou Harris? Sure, appreciated, but not enough so. Kasey Chambers? Julie Miller? Sam Phillips? Maryann Price? Listen to her sing "I’m An Old Cowhand" on Striking It Rich by Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks. So salacious!