Ella is my favorite singer of all time, and Summertime is my favorite song. However this was not Ella at her finest, in fact every other rendition of Ella doing Summertime is superior to this. This is great footage, and the pianist is doing some interesting things, but this clip will not make new fans.
Singing and it's interaction with the listener, are beyond any kind of particular measurement, to me. It's like the age old argument of best guitarists or best drummers, horn players etc etc .... There is something that happens between the music and the listener, that is impossible to define. Also for me at least, no matter what the instrument, the best is what I feel like listening to. Sometimes it could be any one of many Mahalia Jackson Bjork Billie Holiday Pat Benatar Linda Ronstadt Patsy Cline Anne Wilson Aretha Franklin There are so many, I couldn't pick one .... just like guitarists, I need them all for it to be worthwhile
If you count the Blues Shouters and/or Psychedelic Screamers as ¨The Greatest¨, hear is a vote for Janis Joplin!
She doesn't have the range of some of the others mentioned, but I'd prefer to listen to this girl anyday: Karen Carpenter among my other faves Lisa Fischer (“20 Feet from Stardom” Documentary) Roberta Flack (The vocals on “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” can not be topped… and the song is as great as any ever) Eva Cassidy As far as range is considered, my faves are Linda Ronstadt Mahailia Jackson (sadly, sang GOSPEL only)
No, we're talking the same people posting the same famous people because it's easier than discovering more new talent when you're chest-deep in records you've had since high school. Here's a gal you haven't heard the end of her vocal control and power yet...
Whitney Houston - in Whtitney's prime, this is an easy choice for me. Power, confidence, poise and grace, elegance, nuance, tone, range, tenderness, raw emotion - she had it all. Her articulation and phrasing are impeccable as well. As good as her studio performances were, she was even better live when she has freedom to play with the song a bit more. She was a performer in every sense of the word. One of a kind - breath control, tone, range, emotion, changing keys, while having the most serene voice I’ve heard. There will never be another like her. She can pick up the energy of the song with power and tone it down with such serenity in a simple second, making you feel the emotion of every syllable. One of the most beautiful mixed voice and head voices I've ever heard - she was able to transition between chest-mixed-head voice flawlessly. Ella and Aretha are right there for me though. They all do certain things uniquely different, which makes 'the best" impossible. But Whitney needs to be in the conversation - she was nicknamed "the voice" for a reason.
I really don't think there's any *one* greatest... ...but I'm still gonna put in a vote for Mary Margaret O'Hara. I've never heard anything else sing like this.
Billy Holiday ❨years active 1933–1959❩ Monica Zetterlund ❨years active 1958–1999❩ Tülay German ❨years active 1962–1987❩ Donna Summer ❨years active 1968–2O12❩
This is the sound of a woman who has been stunning the world since she wrote this song at age 11. Then she sang it at the Nobel Peace Prize concert at age 19, barefoot, looking like a forest-born waif. The next year she packed them in at Nidaros Cathedral in Oslo, amazing vocal fans and singing experts with her technique and unusual style. She's just revisited this song - her first worldwide hit from 2015, at age 24, in an acoustic guitar performance.
I think it is next to impossible to single out one female amongst the plethora of great singers in popular music history, but maybe I can whittle it down to seven picks. Adele Ella Fitzgerald Sarah Vaughn Patsy Cline Dusty Springfield Linda Ronstadt Carrie Underwood
