The belatedly composer Richard Strauss in one case said, “The human voice is the almost beautiful instrument of all, but information technology is the most difficult to play.” Strauss was right, but y’all don’t have to carry a melody perfectly to make an bear on with a song. It’s then much more than that.
A great singer can surprise you lot through a powerful howl or a quiet whisper. An iconic singer can leave yous emotional, inspired and changed forever. These music legends shaped our worlds with their exceptional vocal talent and timeless music catalogs. Because of that, they are the greatest singers of all time.
xxx. Jónsi
The Icelandic mail-stone band Sigur Rós creates magnificent soundscapes using classical and minimal elements. Only their compositions don’t come up to life without frontman Jónsi’s angelic falsetto. He offers a soft merely powerful coo that amplifies the emotional tone of each Sigur Rós rail.
Jónsi’due south ethereal way is a rare musical technique that doesn’t even require language. Half the fourth dimension, he composes lyrics using his ain musical language chosen “Hopelandic.”
Key Tracks: “Hoppípolla,” “Svefn-thou-englar,” “Olsen Olsen”
Y’all can’t talk almost opera without mentioning this legendary Italian tenor. Pavarotti’south operas sold more than than 100 million records, making him one of the most successful singers of all time. His crystal clear tone separated him from the pack and made him ane of the best singers of the 20th century.
Opera had a bad reputation for being too sectional for boilerplate listeners, only Pavarotti helped change that narrative. His crossover into popular music helped bridge the gap between popular music and the opulent world of opera.
Fundamental Tracks: “Turandot / Act 3: Nessun dorma!,” “Rigoletto / Act iii: ‘La donna è mobile’,” “La traviata / Human action i: ‘Libiamo ne’lieti calici’”
28. Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Bixler-Zavala is the fiery frontman of progressive stone bands The Mars Volta and At the Bulldoze-In. With a range spanning from D2 to C7, his electrifying voice easily weaves through different vocal styles with precision. Whatever punk ring in grooming should take notes from his blaring vocals.
As the vocaliser of several bands, Bixler-Zavala was able to parlay his talents across genres. He brought psychedelic, urgent energy to the world of jazz and Latin rock without losing his hard rock edge.
Key Tracks: “Inertiatic Esp,” “L’Via L’Viaquez,” “Ane Armed Scissor”
27. Chet Bakery
Jazz wasn’t “cool” until the chiseled trumpeter Chet Baker stepped onto the scene. In the 1950s, the dreamy sighs he finessed catapulted him to distinction. Unfortunately for the earth, his vox as well led him downward a path of destruction.
Baker was introduced to heroin 4 years later recording his outset record. His soft, sorrowful phonation was absent for the rest of his career, and no singer has ever matched the audio of his fragile cries.
Key Tracks: “I Fall in Beloved Also Easily,” “My Funny Valentine,” “It’s Always You”
26. Christina Aguilera
Something wild separated Aguilera from her pop music contemporaries of the belatedly 1990s. None of the other singers sounded similar soul dynamos of the ’30s and ’40s. To enhance the drama, she pairs her soulful, sonic screams with a melisma that can showcase her four-octave range in seconds.
There isn’t a voice quite like Aguilera’due south in pop music — or in any other genre she explores from project to project. That’south what makes following her career so unique. She tin have a voice like hers anywhere and go out a major impact.
Key Tracks: “Ain’t No Other Man,” “Cute,” “Information technology’s a Homo’s Man’s Human’s Globe (Live)”
25. Prince
Prince’s music can compel you lot to practice a lot of things. Cull any vocal from his 39 studio albums and he will make yous desire to dance in your underwear, kiss a stranger and cry in the rain — perhaps even in the aforementioned song. Go ahead, try it.
Why? Because Prince had the ability of personality in every one of his songs. He evoked confidence, playfulness and shamelessness in his music, encouraging you to plug into your deepest emotions and desires.
Key Tracks: “Purple Rain,” “Raspberry Beret,” “Call My Name”
24. Amy Winehouse
By blending ’50s doo-wop and ’90s hip hop with her smoky voice, Winehouse explored a musical earth in the early 2000s that was uniquely her own. Her anguished contralto made her a fine jazz vocalist, simply Winehouse’s demons elevated her into a timeless storyteller.
Unfortunately, the early 2000s were as well a time when digital media invaded stars’ lives at their nigh vulnerable moments. Winehouse barbarous prey to celebrity clickbait, and the world lost another icon.
Key Tracks: “Love Is a Losing Game,” “Dorsum to Black,” “The Girl from Ipanema”
23. Amalia Rodrigues
In her native Portugal, Rodrigues is widely regarded as the “‘Rainha practise Fado” (“Queen of Fado”). The genre consists of mournful, melancholy songs that are ofttimes about the sea or poverty, but Rodrigues gave it a new life and a global platform.
More than 120 years after the genre developed, Rodrigues’ voice put fado on the globe map and launched her into distinction. To this day, the earth regards her every bit one of the nigh important singers of all fourth dimension.
Key Tracks: “Fado Português,” “Barco Negro,” “Cancao Exercise Mar”
22. Bruce Springsteen
In the early years of his career, Springsteen relied on passion over technique in his music. His method did the trick, thanks in large part to his talent for relatable storytelling. Blueish-collar workers of America establish a usher to turn their feelings into dynamic music.
Spanning rock ‘n’ roll, blues and land music, Springsteen became the voice of the working man’south struggle. He helped everyone revel in the glory days while walking through the badlands.
Cardinal Tracks: “Built-in to Run,” “Human Touch,” “Born in the U.s.a.A.”
21. Nina Simone
The “High Priestess of Soul” has a flaming weep that sticks to you like syrup. The piano virtuoso brought outrage, misery and intensity to her performances similar no other artist of her fourth dimension. Later in her career, she refocused her burn and force to support the civil rights movement.
With the release of “Mississippi Goddam,” Simone became a blazing phonation for racial equality at a time when no one else released protest songs.
Key Tracks: “Mississippi Goddam,” “Ne Me Quitte Pas,” “I Honey You Porgy”
20. David Bowie
The British legend’s feathery baritone was capable at best, but Bowie was far more than a singer. He was the most talented actor on stage every time he stepped in front of the crowd. Each character he played had a unique, outstanding flair for invading your consciousness.
Ziggy Stardust took y’all to outer space. The Sparse White Duke provided controversy and neo-cabaret. Halloween Jack was effortlessly absurd. And behind all these entertainers was the vivid voice of David Bowie.
Key Tracks: “Starman,” “All the Young Dudes,” “Rock ‘N’ Coil Suicide”
19. Marvin Gaye
Motown Records defined the soul-pop sound that dominated the 1960s. The vocalist that led the flock of tender songbirds was the velvet crooner Marvin Gaye. The “Prince of Motown” had the smoothest vocalization to ever dominate the airwaves.
Gaye started out equally a gentle singer with a divine falsetto simply subsequently evolved into a luxurious romantic. “Let’s Get It On” remains one of the most sexually dynamic songs of all time.
Fundamental Tracks: “Let’s Get It On,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “What’s Going On”
18. Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was more than a vocalist. He could take simple lyrics about a hound dog and turn them into euphoric broadcasts. His vocalization was extremely powerful, and his entire torso shook during his performances in a way that prompted network censors to hide his moves on television.
The passion and volume from “The Rex of Rock ‘northward’ Roll” were what truly captivated audiences. His strong, tall chest gave him a unique prepare of pipes, custom made to deliver some of the wildest concerts the 20th century had e’er seen.
Primal Tracks: “Dear Me Tender,” “Whatever Mode You Desire Me (That’s How I Will Be),” “Hound Canis familiaris”
17. Billie Vacation
A at-home, seductive softness came from Billie Vacation when she sang. But behind the big-ring and cabaret glamour was a hurting no vocalist could escape. A lifetime that included teenage prostitution, abuse and addiction was her reality, and they affected how she sang.
As a jazz singer with such a twisted past, information technology’s no surprise she captivated her audiences with wild vocal risks. A true artist can have tragedy and turn it into dazzler.
Primal Tracks: “Strange Fruit,” “When You’re Smiling,” “I’ll Be Seeing You”
xvi. Edith Piaf
There’s a reason Piaf’southward legacy will never dice. “La Môme Piaf” (The Little Sparrow) was a songbird who specialized in songs most beloved, loss and sorrow. As the globe’south ultimate balladeer, she emoted her pain like no other.
After her passing in 1963, fans go along to immortalize her in biographies and films. 2007’s
La Vie En Rose
was the first French-language film to ever win an interim Oscar. That’s because Piaf’s music transcends linguistic communication.
Fundamental Tracks: “La Vie En Rose,” “Mon Dieu,” “Non, je ne regrette rien”
15. Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston volition ever exist America’southward ultimate pop star. Equally a child of gospel choirs and church hymns, Houston speedily learned what to do with such a powerful voice. And then information technology came as no surprise that a talent like hers launched her to global superstardom.
Every vocal run she sang shot upwards like a firework earlier exploding at its highest peak. It’s no wonder that many consider her 1991 rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to be the greatest of all time.
Key Tracks: “I Will Ever Love You lot,” “I Take Nothing,” “How Will I Know”
14. Otis Redding
Otis Redding isn’t known for his song range. Depression notes were rarely sung in his songs, and high notes were even rarer. Yet, with every song from Redding, you felt an emotional depth incomparable to anyone else.
His life was tragically cut short in a plane crash, only his legacy as one of soul music’s greatest talents lives on.
Central Tracks: “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” “Try a Lilliputian Tenderness,” “I’ve Been Loving You lot Too Long (To Cease Now)”
13. Janis Joplin
Joplin had more than than a booming rasp in her repertoire. The control of her mezzo-soprano voice was what actually beguiled listeners. By embracing the rough edges of the notes, Joplin rebelled against cultural constraints. No one else could scream and cry on a song then beautifully.
Pitch was not her focus, nor was presentation. Joplin used her powerful voice to cast out her inner demons and sing directly from the gut. A talent perfected by very few performers.
Key Tracks: “Piece of My Heart,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Cry Baby”
12. Stevie Wonder
Some people play music to unwind; others sing to express their feelings. Stevie Wonder sings to come up to life. His singing manner is very straightforward, and information technology paints a perceptible picture. For a bullheaded musical prodigy, his other heightened senses could explain why his talent is almost supernatural.
Wonder sings at every bear witness equally if that day is his favorite day on Earth. It’due south like he can channel pure joy from his soul and sing similar no one is even watching.
Key Tracks: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours),” “Superstition,” “Living for the City”
xi. Etta James
James had the strongest set of lungs in R&B music. That power came from years of fighting addictions, abuse and troubles with the constabulary. Her experiences gave her voice layers of sass and resentment, which made her songs about love all the more relatable.
Like James, nosotros all want love, simply demons we deport can outweigh our desires. Her method for taming those beasts was to sing with unbridled emotional strength.
Key Tracks: “At Final,” “Something’s Got a Agree on Me,” “A Sun Kind of Love”
10. Piddling Richard
Little Richard’s songs are electrifying from the moment he opens his mouth. His ferocious commitment raised the level of energy required to emote rock music. Heck, there wouldn’t even exist rock music without Little Richard. He was the commencement to understand how rock music can transport shivers downwardly your spine.
Using his scratchy screams and squealing falsettos, Richard performed with unbridled free energy. It’s the kind of free energy that gets yous up on your feet without asking for permission.
Key Tracks: “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Alpine Sally (The Thing),” “Lucille”
9. Robert Plant
Robert Plant is the charismatic frontman of Led Zeppelin, i of the globe’s most innovative and influential stone groups. The band changed the sound of rock music in the ’60s and ’70s, but they couldn’t take done it without Plant’s otherworldly phonation.
On “Immigrant Vocal,” Plant’due south high-pitched howls made him audio like he came from another planet. Then, within the aforementioned song, he crooned similar a mystical fortuneteller.
Key Tracks: “Immigrant Song,” “Whole Lotta Love,” “Ocean of Love”
eight. Ella Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald is often called “The First Lady of Vocal” for good reason. Her phonation was like a fine-tuned jazz instrument, and no one could lucifer Fitzgerald’due south silky scatting abilities. She could improvise with the precision of a professional horn player.
Fitzgerald paired her vocalization with a focus on each note that whatever songbird would impale for. When you lot sound like an musical instrument the style she did, the audience connects in a deeper way that goes far beyond lyrics.
Key Tracks: “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” “Summertime,” “They Can’t Have That Away from Me”
7. Johnny Cash
Country music resonates with music lovers because its subject affair is so relatable. No singer in the genre told stories quite similar Johnny Cash. His voice was calm but deeply layered and pained. The Man in Black shared his hardships with a vulnerable honesty you wouldn’t expect to find under such a tough exterior.
With every song, he cried through his devastatingly withered baritone. Information technology didn’t matter if the song was state, blues, folk or gospel, he broke our hearts every time.
Key Tracks: “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire,” “Hurt”
half dozen. Ray Charles
By combining blues, gospel and R&B, Ray Charles pioneered soul music with his smooth, seasoned voice. He brought new life to radios with his fast, improvised chuckles that permit the earth know he was having fun — and everyone else was just along for the ride.
When he recorded “What’d I Say” live in 1959, the squeals from himself (and the audience) made it the most sexually charged song on the radio.
Central Tracks: “What’d I’d Say,” “I’ve Got a Adult female,” “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her At present”
5. Darlene Love
Producer Phil Spector tried to hide Darlene Love from the world. Her kickoff hit “He’s a Rebel” didn’t characteristic her proper name. Instead, The Crystals capitalized on her guttural calls. The vocal became i of the defining songs of the girl grouping era of the 1960s, merely in reality, Honey’s voice dominated the whole genre.
Now that she’due south out of the girl group shadow, Love gets the proper respect she deserves. She is a booming force behind a microphone, and one of the brightest, most important voices in popular music.
Key Tracks: “Today I Met (The Boy I’yard Gonna Marry),” “Christmas (Baby Please Come up Home)” “He’s a Rebel”
4. James Dark-brown
The lyrics weren’t important in a James Brown song. What mattered was the moment when Brown released his earth-shaking bleat to jumpstart the band. He was a lively, outrageous performer who gave every song his all, pumping energy out to the crowd from every bone in his body.
He was a strength, a machine — and an explosive entertainer who gave the likes of Michael Jackson and Prince the blueprints for becoming legends.
Primal Tracks: “It’south a Human’due south, Human’s, Man’s World,” “Get Up Offa That Thing,” “Say It Loud – I’thou Black and I’m Proud”
3. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra was a song chameleon. A song was ever just a starting point for him. Instead of singing a song one style, he became that song, and his baritone expressed whatever mood consumed him the most at the moment.
As an entertainer, mobsters and housewives alike saw something in Sinatra that spoke to them. He removed all pretense, all ego, and gave even the most schmaltzy songs authentic grit.
Cardinal Tracks: “Fly Me to the Moon,” “It Was a Very Good Yr” “I’ve Got Yous Nether My Skin”
2. Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin may be the most confident singer to e’er tape a song. It makes sense when you’re that naturally gifted. She had a knack for bringing out the physical force of every word she sang. It’s similar you could meet her shout for respect from your radio.
No one has ever expressed themselves quite like Aretha. She has the power, the emotional depth and the technique that only belongs to a true legend.
Fundamental Tracks: “Respect,” “(You lot Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Own’t No Way”
ane. Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury is the king of showmanship. His iv-octave song range was impressive enough, but the Queen frontman also had the theatrical stage presence and genre-blending expertise to create flatulent musical experiences no ane could ever forget. Who else could seamlessly weave opera into heavy metallic with such assurance?
If you sentry him sing in front of tens of thousands of people at Live Assist in 1985, he sounds merely as good, if not better, than his recordings. That’southward considering Mercury brought poise, energy, whimsy and drama to every song. He was simply the greatest.
Cardinal Tracks: “Nosotros Are the Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Somebody to Beloved”
Source: https://www.reference.com/world-view/the-greatest-singers-all-time?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740005%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex&ueid=7f22da98-e239-4c76-b21a-6bc658451b61