Greatest Vocalists

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1
Gladys Knight

The First Lady Of Soul

2Shirley Bassey

There are some controvercial artists in the top 10, but Shirley Bassey isn't one of them. Bassey's vocal abilities are extraordinarily exceptional, and they still are after more than a half of a century! Everything else gets down to ones personal taste in music.

The Greatest POP Vocalist of All Time!

Shirley Bassey is first on this list when it comes to Vocal Ability. All those ranked higher are entertainers who are very popular for various reasons, and many reasons are given, but technical vocal ability is not one of them.

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3Michael Jackson

No one is like MJ! The most talanted!

hb

the greatest vocals , he makes this great unique singing voice of his looks effortless , so you just enjoy listening to his words.

he is the greatest singer with great golden vocals. not just a performer he knows how to sing

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4Vitas

The spectacular Russian singer!

Absolutely the best. Always.

Vitas has the most incredible voice EVER. He can sing anything from folk to rock, pop, ballads and opera. And excels in all! His range and clarity are unbelievable.

5Freddie Mercury

by far the greatest vocalist of all time

Vocal range, power and adaptability. He sang sweet lifting ballads and energized rock n roll. No one with, the possible exception of Elvis, has ever come close.

Freddie - unbeatable and unique vocalist. The best vocalist of all times! On April, 21 in 1992 the concert was held in His honor - nobody could come close... His live vocal improvisations with the audience during concerts - was a WOW effect!

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6K.D. Lang
7K. S. Chithra
8Johnny Mathis
9Edith Piaf

I like the heavy metal but this lady is the greatest vocalist of all times

10Elvis Presley

Tom Jones is a great power vocalist, Tony Bennett has range and smoothness as does Engelbert Humperdinck BUT Elvis possesses something special in his voice, a purity, honesty and it's as if God sings through him and that's why he was called The King.

He sells more now than then.

 

11Karen Carpenter

There never has been a sweeter voice and may never be another even close.

the most beautiful, velvety, soothing voice ever

12Tom Jones
13Ella Fitzgerald
14Diamanda Galas
15Tim Buckley
16Captain Beefheart
17Celine Dion

I have seen many of the performers on this list and no one comes close to Celine Dion's Talent!

18Paul McCartney


He did a lot of great diverse music including a lot of great rockers even some hard rock in the early-mid 1970's before and during early Wings which I think is his best post Beatles music period 1970-1975(the great 1975 Wings rock album Venus and Mars I think is last true great album)and he wrote and
played a lot of great obscure album tracks and B-sides many which were better than the well known hits,although I like the hits too.


Beware My Love is a great less known heavy Paul rocker and it's the best song on the 1976 Wings At The Speed Of Sound album,Wings performed a pretty good rocking version on the very good live rock Wings album,Wings Over America.


And John also wrote in addition to
a lot of great rockers,some very sentimental songs even a few mushy did you ever hear his song for Yoko on his Mind Games album?As The All Music Guide rightfully says and points out,that the critical party line often champions Lennon as the angry realist rocker and McCartney as the melodic balladeer but they say this is a fallacy:each of them was capable in roughly equal measures of ballsy all-out rock and sweet romanticism.


There are many Beatles song examples of this too,Paul even wrote some of their earliest very good rockers,I Saw Her Standing There in 1963 which many people have said is a very good rocker,I'm Down which the all music guide calls a peerless and one of the most frantic rockers in their entire catalog,and they said The Beatles proved that they could rock really really hard with this song,John's I Feel Fine and Paul's late 1964 blues rocker,She's A Woman which they said was one of the hardest rocking early Beatles orginals and they said McCartney to often unfairly pegged as a sweet balladeer demonstrates that he was also one of the best white rock hard singers of all time with his shrill yet rich even ballsy vocal.


He also wrote a lot of very good rock songs in their later career as did John but he also wrote quite a few beautiful love songs as well.

lucyinthesky

ye, ye, ye, the wonderful composer with the heart warming voice in singing... one of the era's best singer vocalist

HOLY CRAP, he is amazing! Why the hell is he at number 41?

19Frank Sinatra

the greatest and most suave man to ever sing

Just a perfect vocalist. Phrasing, timing, pitch. He is the gold standard.

frank sinatra is the king of music

20Nico
21Jeff Buckley
22Donna Summer

she can sing everything!

Greatest voice ever... you can tell her voice apart from the rest even now at 62 years old!

23Connie Francis
24Mark Stewart (The Pop Group)
25Patti Smith
26Nick Cave
27Dinah Washington
28Engelbert Humperdink
29Tom Waits
30Jim Morrison

Sorry Tim Buckley - Jim has the edge.

31Luciano Pavaratti
32Linda Eder
33Barbra Streisand

THE GREATEST... shes look like a SONGBIRD... THE LIVING LEGEND...

34Judy Garland
35Roy Orbison
36Marvin Gaye
37Joan Baez
38Nat King Cole
39Patsy Cline
40Mahalia Jackson
41Tina Turner
42Aretha Franklin
43Linda Ronstadt
44Patti LaBelle
45John Lennon

As The All Music Guide says as singers John Lennon and Paul MCCartney were among the best and most expressive in rock. John had such a beautiful unique voice and a strong great singing voice, he and Paul could sing rock songs and love songs great! Just listen to John's beautiful singing on This Boy especially the middle parts, and If I Fell, I'll Be Back, etc and his great rock vocal on Twist and Shout which he sang and recorded in only 1 take with a very bad cold and bad sore throat, and his rock vocals on Money and Rock and Roll Music Reveloution, etc etc are also great!

lucyinthesky

46David Thomas (Pere Ubu)
47Glen Campbell
48Dionne Warwick
49Ray Charles
50Vikki Carr
51Nana Mouskouri
52Glenn Hughes
53Hayley Westenra
54Maria Callas
55Stevie Wonder
56Brian Wilson
57Dusty Springfield
58Tony Bennett
59Judy Collins

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This list was created on June 23, 2008 and has been voted on over 1,000 times.