The greatest Female singers Question?

[kinboshi]

I agree with your debating partner.  Yes, those two women are great singers, but without blinking, I can think of a dozen excellent Black female singers.

I would like to test this.

You were right to question it.  My brain froze for a blink or five at 11...

Aretha Franklin
Witney Houston
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Dionne Warwick
Donna Summer
Diana Ross
Anita Baker
Janet Jackson
Tracy Chapman
Mary J Blige
Toni Braxton

Janet Jackson?!  Missed Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Witney Houston, Jill Scott ...

Aren't we all of black origin?

Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys are in both camps, surely? 

Can't stand Carey, but can't deny that she is a very talented singer.

[Claw75]

Obv no 'right' answer here as it's totally subjective. If you're into soul/blues/jazz/r n b your faves are more likely to be black. If you prefer rock/punk/musical theatre/opera, probably less so.

Shout out to Beth Ditto whilst i'm here too

[kinboshi]

In general not a fan of warbling and wailing females but sinead, siouxsie, shirley manson, kin's pick are all beautiful listens to me. For additional reasons I could watch debbie harry c1980 most of any day

Sinead certainly has a goregous voice, but I'm a sucker for the Irish lilt.

[Doobs]

I agree with your debating partner.  Yes, those two women are great singers, but without blinking, I can think of a dozen excellent Black female singers.

I would like to test this.

You were right to question it.  My brain froze for a blink or five at 11...

Aretha Franklin
Witney Houston
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Dionne Warwick
Donna Summer
Diana Ross
Anita Baker
Janet Jackson
Tracy Chapman
Mary J Blige
Toni Braxton

Janet Jackson?!  Missed Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Witney Houston, Jill Scott ...

Aren't we all of black origin?

Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys are in both camps, surely? 

Can't stand Carey, but can't deny that she is a very talented singer.

I did know that Mariah Carey was mixed, but didn't want to complicate by adding a third category.  See my post at 1.05 for views of Mariah's records.

You need to add Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera and Adele to the white list.  Celine is obv number 1 if we are to pick the dreariest song collection from our list of talented singers.  Whilst on the subject, I don't think I could listen to that Tracey Chapman record again, even after so long.   Don't get me wrong, I own the said record, and I even enjoyed it for a time... it was just everywhere for way too long, and now they may as well put on Achy Breaky Heart.   Think I might have to add Adele to that list too. 

So we now have a mixed race list (Mariah and Alicia) and a very talented singers whose records you have difficulty listening to list (Tracey Chapman, Adele, Mariah, Celine and I'll throw in Toni Braxton).


 

[AndrewT]

In general not a fan of warbling and wailing females but sinead, siouxsie, shirley manson, kin's pick are all beautiful listens to me. For additional reasons I could watch debbie harry c1980 most of any day

Sinead certainly has a goregous voice, but I'm a sucker for the Irish lilt.

Is that Guinness with pineapple in it?

[horseplayer]

bev knight

nap

[Laxie]

I'm not a fan of Janet Jackson's as such, but she fit the category.  So does Tina Turner, but I intentionally left her out because her raspy voice does me head in.  Lesser of two evils...

[TightEnd]

Rihanna. discuss. sales of 200m in 7 active years.

Probably number 2 current behind Beyonce? Both have scope to be all time top 10?

I try to watch this no more than 3 times a day.

[bobAlike]

Having seen both Alicia Keys at the Roundhouse and Rihanna at the NEC, Alicia is by far the superior singer. Just WOW.

[Simon Galloway]

No love for Roberta Flack ?

[Doobs]

Having seen both Alicia Keys at the Roundhouse and Rihanna at the NEC, Alicia is by far the superior singer. Just WOW.

I think that must be true, but Rihanna made better use of her talent.  Same with Beyonce and Madonna.  Can't imagine any of those 3 saying they wish they had worked harder.

[david3103]

In no particular order

Katherine Jenkins
Maddy Prior
Adele
Diana Ross
Aretha
Janis Joplin

The racial origin argument is spurious since it depends on the genre you're considering.

Btw listing Rihanna, Beyonce and Madonna in a list of great singers is like listing Audley Harrison in your Top Ten Boxers

[Doobs]

In no particular order

Katherine Jenkins
Maddy Prior
Adele
Diana Ross
Aretha
Janis Joplin

The racial origin argument is spurious since it depends on the genre you're considering.

Btw listing Rihanna, Beyonce and Madonna in a list of great singers is like listing Audley Harrison in your Top Ten Boxers

I don't think you will find many that think Audley Harrison worked hard and made the best of his talent.

[david3103]

In no particular order

Katherine Jenkins
Maddy Prior
Adele
Diana Ross
Aretha
Janis Joplin

The racial origin argument is spurious since it depends on the genre you're considering.

Btw listing Rihanna, Beyonce and Madonna in a list of great singers is like listing Audley Harrison in your Top Ten Boxers

I don't think you will find many that think Audley Harrison worked hard and made the best of his talent.

I thought we were discussing great singers, not 'people who worked hard to make the best of their talents'.
There's obviously no denying that Beyonce, Rihanna and Madonna have been commercially successful, but that doesn't make them great singers. Audley won an Olympic Gold Medal, and a WBF Belt but that doesn't make him a great boxer.

[Doobs]

In no particular order

Katherine Jenkins
Maddy Prior
Adele
Diana Ross
Aretha
Janis Joplin

The racial origin argument is spurious since it depends on the genre you're considering.

Btw listing Rihanna, Beyonce and Madonna in a list of great singers is like listing Audley Harrison in your Top Ten Boxers

I don't think you will find many that think Audley Harrison worked hard and made the best of his talent.

I thought we were discussing great singers, not 'people who worked hard to make the best of their talents'.
There's obviously no denying that Beyonce, Rihanna and Madonna have been commercially successful, but that doesn't make them great singers. Audley won an Olympic Gold Medal, and a WBF Belt but that doesn't make him a great boxer.

Well I put them together and said they made better use of their talent than Alicia Keys has.  At no stage did I say they were in the list of great singers, I specifically excluded Beyone earlier, and was responding to tightend asking us to discuss Rihanna. 

Think you were misreading what I had said.  It was just a minor tangent, and I don't think any of them are on the list of great singers, or deserve to be compared to Audley!