Who in your mind is the greatest female artist of all time? (Rock era)*

Nina Simone

 

Maybe I'm wrong but have I not seen Sheryl Crow mentioned yet. Think about her for a moment....singer,songwriter,multi-instrumentalist,bass,guitar,keys,producer,entertainer,and more. If I had a band and needed a great female artist I don't think I could do better than Sheryl Crow. She could have made it in the music industry on many different levels.

If I'm thinking true artist who can conjure up a great song and perform it in a unique way that's not a copy of previous artists or genres then hands down it's Joni.

There are so many categories you could put females in...singer,songwriter,performer,etc.. but I like the multi-talented ones like Christine Perfect Mcvie.

 

I think it has to be Madonna. She is the central figure in the emergence of what we currently call "pop" music, the most popular sort of music today. She was wildly popular in her time and continues to be today, and from the start her music had the characteristic qualities of current pop music: electronic instrumentation, sprightly production, frank lyrics, an emphasis on dance, and a more plastic vocal style that isn't as theatrical as traditional pop and doesn't swing as much as R&B. Different enough from disco to be distinct from it--lighter, springier, and retaining fewer elements of R&B--but similar enough to be of a part with more recent music in the vein of Beyonce or Katy Perry. She is practically an Elvis figure for today's pop music.

 

Joni Mitchell is docked points for making dubious comments about Bob Dylan!

 

Ella Fitzgerald.

Yes, I realize that she wasn't a songwriter, but her phrasing was perfect and she was hip to the bebop thing.

What a voice.

 

I'm not sure how the OP can ask for the "greatest female artist of all time", then limit it to the "rock era."

That said, within the rock era, I'd go with Tina Turner.

Otherwise, Billie Holiday.

 

Tough one. But if it's only one, then Joni.

 

Nina Simone.

 

Who is she/he?

 

Siouxsie Sioux (real name Susan Janet Ballion), the lead singer of "Siouxsie and the Banshees".
Definitely one of my favorites!

 

Kate Bush

 

Carole King, amazing songwriter and great voice

 

Bonnie Raitt

 

As a complete artist, no one beats Joni Mitchell, although Sandy Denny is right up there, too.

Best performer/interpreter? Much more difficult. No one woman has dominated rock/pop vocals the way Ella Fitzgerald dominated jazz vocals, it's more a matter of individual taste. Dusty Springfield deserves more respect than she usually gets, although if it were a contest Aretha would win. I'd like to throw in a vote for Tracey Thorn, though, because probably no one else will.

 

I finally picked up her first solo album "Writer" not expecting much, but found it to be surprisingly strong. Some of the songs are real gems. Even before Tapestry Carole was churning out hits like it was nobody's business.

 

I forgot about Sandy Denny. Definitely one of the great female singers.

 

Linda Ronstadt

 

Prince.

 

My Top Three Greatest Female Artists of All Time:

Diana Ross
Connie Francis
Brenda Lee

 

Someone's already mentioned Mick Jagger, now Prince, what about Morrissey?

 

Brenda you mean

 

I could go with the herd saying Fitzgerald or Simon but i just don't care about them, i do care about this:

 

As an artist, I would nominate Joni. To stretch the definition, she even did the artwork for many of her album covers.
As an interpreter, Linda Ronstadt ranks very high in my book.

 

I don't know that she's the greatest but she is in my top 10....

Kate Bush
Judee Sill
Bonnie Raitt
Joni Mitchell
Laura Nyro
Madonna (even though I'm not much of a fan)
Janis joplin
Amy Winehouse
PJ Harvey
Carly Simon
Donna Summer
Lucinda Williams
Sade
Linda Ronstandt
Adele

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...-female-singer-songwriters.html?frame=2384344

 

I'll answer "great" as "most influential".

It is apparently understood that Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon are all pretty important to the development of the singer-songwriter movement. What if Carole King keeps writing songs and never sings them? Mitchell probably still succeeds. What if Carly Simon enjoys marriage instead of complaining about it? Mitchell probably still succeeds. What if Joni Mitchell stays home and raises her daughter? Maybe Carly Simon takes off. Maybe Carole King becomes an early major player in the singer-songwriter movement. (I personally think that King is more likely to accomplish this than Simon, but opinions may vary.) I don't think either of them makes the singer-songwriter movement's success any more certain than Joni Mitchell does.

Given: The singer-songwriter concept is the most important development for women in music to arise in the rock era.
Given: The Lilith Fair era is the high watermark of the singer-songwriter concept for women.

Without Sarah McLachlan, there is no Lilith Fair.
Without Kate Bush, there is no Sarah McLachlan.
Without Joni Mitchell, there is no Kate Bush.

Therefore, Joni Mitchell is the greatest female artist of the rock era.

I realize that Kate Bush's UK success may not owe anything to Joni Mitchell, but I think that something needs to connect Joni Mitchell to Sarah McLachlan, and Kate Bush is what I came up with. Without the Mitchell-Bush connection, I'm not sure what the music world looks like for women other than acts following in the shoes of teen idol singers or genre acts from Nashville or Detroit.

For the record, I'm not a fan of Joni Mitchell.