Janis Joplin and Grace Slick in the rock scene. Aretha Franklin in soul. Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan in jazz. Barbra Streisand, Agnetha Fälkstong and Whitney Houston in pop music. Others: Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballé, Nico, Amy Winehouse.
since a lot is subjective, I'm going to go with Olivia Newton-John. I listen to mainly rock and pop, so there are probably vocalists from other genres who are superior.
I give you the absolute powerhouse pipes of Baby Jean Kennedy of the funk/rock group Mother's Finest! One of the absolute greatest female vocalist of all time! Her opening note says strap on your seat belt and get ready!
Seems like Ella and Karen are getting the most nods, in my very cursory, short-term poll memory...Aretha too!
Vocal View Taylor Dayne Voice Type Voice Type: Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano Range: C#3-A5-Bb5 For those of you don’t know Taylor, she is a vocalist best known for her songs in the 80s and 90s. Known for her unique and powerful voice, Taylor is a singer who takes her vocals seriously. She is often compared to Anastacia and Patti, but Taylor is amazing in her own right. Soprano With all that great technique, Taylor can fool some. Her great development of her mixed voice gives her comfort. This tricks some into thinking she is a soprano. Firstly, she has a lot of comfort down low (Send Me A Lover) . She makes use of her lows often and notes such as F3s, G3s and A3s are nothing for her. In addition, If she were a soprano, we would see her bloom as she ascends mixed voice. Her voice would find more resonance, considering she has great technique up there. Her thicker folds give her a lot of stamina. This allows her to spend a lot of time in the soprano range, but her true comfort lies lower. Dramatic As Taylor is a mezzo, she can only be a coloratura, lyric or dramatic (not spinto). Taylor has an icy, metallic and booming voice. Just like a dramatic there isn’t any warmth in her timbre- its very cold and steely. Her voice is very weighty and cavernous. These qualities all point towards a dramatic voice. Vocal View: I love that Taylor harnesses her natural power with great projection, placement and breath support. She is truly fantastic!
I'm going to name one singer who can spit out hard rockers and softer songs. Chrissie Hynde. Love her voice and the different material she has recorded and performed for 40+ years. For me, she still has it.
Like many here, I love female vocalists. Linda Ronstadt. Aretha Franklin. Carly Simon. Barbra Streisand. Donna Summer. Olivia Newton-John. Joni Mitchell. Bonnie Raitt. Karen Carpenter. Maria Muldaur. Mahalia Jackson. Mariah Carey. I do not think there is one that is superior to all the rest. Too many are so good at what they do. In terms of pure vocal ability, I am not sure I am able to qualify that. Women like Streisand, Summer, Whitney Houston et al that have strong vibratos and the ability to hold long notes might be considered to have ability that women like Janis Ian, Sade or Astrud Gilberto lack. I love reading the posts but I could not name just one woman or even just 10. Sure makes for good reading though.
Ella Fitzgerald, could do everything & combined wonderfully with Louis Armstrong. Karen Carpenter, unfortunately she was hamstrung by having to sing her brothers songs but her voice was unique in its crystalline quality. I am not sure anyone else comes close to those two.
I liked most of the songs that Richard Carpenter and John Bettis co-wrote. The material contained on the Carpenters' 2nd through sixth albums is my favorite, though I did like a lot of what was on Passage and of course the Christmas albums. Karen's singing on those early to mid 70's albums is what people think of when they cite Karen-her alto voice was at it's absolute best then. No doubt had she lived and if her health had been restored, her voice would have been remarkable in the 80's when she would have been in her 30s.
