Adele - I think she has a real pureness to her voice, really soulful! One of the most talented vocalists to emerge in the last few years imo.
Alexandra Burke - She has an amazing voice, and is versatile as she showed on X-Factor as well as her career after the show. She can sing beautiful slow ballads like The Silence and Hallelujah as well as uptempo R&B bangers like All Night Long and Bad Boys.
Alicia Keys - I love her voice soooo much! She always brings a great passion to her music, and her voice is instantly recognisable. TEOF is one of the best albums of 2009 imo.
Amber Riley (Mercedes in Glee) - She is so underrated on Glee, she doesn't get anywhere near as many solos as she should tbf. When they do feature her though, she always gets the huge note at the end. She's a typical American diva, with a voice to rival Beyonce or Xtina's!
Beyonce - She is arguably one of the best singers of the past decade, especially where vocal ability is concerned. Her huge belting voice is amazing on Listen, At Last and If I Were A Boy among many others.
Britney Spears - She may not have as strong a voice as Beyonce or Mariah, but she has a lovely tone to her voice. It's a great simplisitic voice, which adds so much more to her ballads as much as her upbeat stuff!
Carrie Underwood - Absolutely incredible voice. Definitely the best singer ever found by American Idol! The pure vocal talent and raw power is evident on So Small, Inside Your Heaven, Jesus Take The Wheel and Temporary Home, her beautiful ballads, and also on her country-rock stompers like Cowboy Cassanova, Last Name and Flat On The Floor (the end note on that is exceptional!)
Charice - For a girl so young, she has an absoultely phemonenal voice! I'm sad Pyramid didn't get higher in the charts. She has another song called Note To God, in which she hits a huge note which she belts for about 9 or seconds! :eek:
Christina Aguilera - She's always had an amazing raw talent and power plus emotion in her voice. Even in songs like Can't Hold Us Down (meant to be about attitude not voice as such) there's no masking her huge voice. The beautiful You Lost Me is one of the best ballads of 2010 imo.
Duffy - A lot of you may think her voice is annoying or whatever, but I think she's a fantastic retro/modern recording artist. I do admit her voice is irratating on Well Well Well (one of the worst songs of the year) but in all her other tracks she shows brilliant vocal abitliy in both up and down tempo songs.
Ellie Goulding - Again, not the most powerful voice, but she has a beautiful fluttery tone. Her music is so easy to listen to, and her cover of Your Song is beautiful. Even on electro pop songs like Starry Eyed, the beauty of her voice shines through.
Florence & The Machine - Her debut Lungs was aptly titled - she really has a good set! In all her songs, she belts perfectly like a modern Kate Bush. The indie-rock thing (Kiss With A Fist) didn't work, but now she sings haunting 'nightmare-pop', I'm in love!
Jessie J - She is very new to the scene, but she has an absoultely incredible powerful voice. Unfortunately, she doesn't get to show it on Do It Like A Dude (he debut single, which is most probably the only song of hers most of you have heard), but on her US single Who You Are she shows off an amazing voice, easily as huge as the American divas.
Kelly Clarkson - She has such an amazing voice with such power and a great rocky edge, which she capatilises on in Since U Been Gone, I Do Not Hook Up, Never Again etc. She is really versatile too, her albums always have a great balanced mix of pop/rock and ballads.
Lady Gaga - A bit biased, I know (see my username )! But she is an incredible vocal talent. Unlike some stars, she sings live all the time, and her unique voice ensures her stamp is firmly on anything she touches, from catchy electro-pop like Bad Romance and Pokerface to beautiful balladry like Speechless and Brown Eyes. By far the best artist to emerge in the past few years.
Leona Lewis - Truly one of the best singers ever to come from a reality show. I didn't watch her series, but I've watched all her performances on YouTube, and her version of Summertime was among the best vocal performances I've ever heard, even better than Fantasia Barrino's (which is seen by many as the best American Idol performance of all time).
Mariah Carey - How you can not mention her? Her whistle register is awe inspiring, I can't believe the notes she can sing! She is just as good in her lower register as well, and imo she's responsible for the best vocal performances of the past 25 years.
Nadine Coyle - She is the voice of Girls Aloud. I was dissapointed with her solo work (Cheryl's music is FAR better, but I do love Chezza!!!) but there's no denying Nadine has the best voice of the two. Just listen back to old Girls Aloud stuff to see how great she is!
Rihanna - In her ballads like Unfaithful, she shows great vocal talent, and it also shines on her upbeat songs. Jay-Z was right to chase her for ages, because now she's a superstar and a great singer technically.
Vanessa White (The Saturdays) - I'm actually so shocked at how amazing she is. She's always been the stand-out for me, but it's good because she doesn't hog all The Sat's vocals like Nadine with GA, yet her voice still stands out. She always has the belt notes, and she did fantastic on Popstar To Operastar (by far the best imo, she should've won!)
Janis Joplin
Lissie
Joni Mitchell
Alanis Morissette
Beth Orton
Grace Slick
Bic Runga
Kate Bush
Patti Smith
Karen Carpenter
Cat Power
PJ Harvey
Imogen Heap
Bjork
Kathleen Edwards
Cyndi Lauper
Dido
Joan as Police Woman
Emiliana Torrini
Fiona Apple
Eva Cassidy
Lou Rhodes
Anja Oyen Vister
Laura Nyro
Florence Welch
Ann Wilson
Natalie Imbruglia
Carole King
Lisa Hannigan
Skin
Cass Elliot
Bette Midler
Neko Case
Alison Goldfrapp
Roisin Murphy
Shawn Colvin
Natalie Merchant
Tracy Chapman
Sandy Denny
Sia
Klara Söderberg
Nina Persson
Tina Dico
Tracey Thorn
Martina Topley-Bird
Agnes Obel
Heather Nova
Carrie Underwood - the notes that lass can hit are just amazing but people don't recognise her as a top vocalist because she is a country star. I bet she could outsing a lot of of her contemporaries and I'd love to see that battle. Her voice is just so pure and she is just phenomenal live - the power she put into How Great Thou Art is astonishing.
Beyonce - what I love about her is that she can do an eclectic mix of songs, dance, pop and rnb etc and yet still have thee most amazing voice. Not many people can sing Ave Maria like Beyonce. Again, she is another like Carrie that almost always sounds perfect live. The control she has over her voice is just wow. Singing Listen on the XFactor highlighted this.
Dusty Springfield - her voice is just sublime. I would argue she is the greatest singer of all time.
Aretha Franklin - not a lot needs to be said - just amazing.
Beverley Knight - her voice is AMAZINGLY powerful - Black Butta' from MusicCitySoul is a hell of a record. It's a shame she doesn't have the recognition.
I'd agree about Dusty. She was very versatile and could sing across the genres as well as her more favoured Motown stuff.
I'd also include white British singer, Elkie Brooks who could belt out soul as well as the ballads like Dusty did.
Comments
Dinah Washington - as rich and warm a voice as you'll ever hear. Sounds like hot chocolate by the fire.
Natalie Merchant - perfect melancholy. Makes you want to kill yourself and fall in love at the same time.
Karen Carpenter - best happy-sad voice ever.
Gladys Knight - for those times when only raw, yearning, belty heartbreak will do.
A trio of Beths: Gibbons, Hirsch and Nielsen-Chapman - for making things tingle (see also Liz Fraser).
Shelby Lynne - pure raunch.
Alexandra Burke - She has an amazing voice, and is versatile as she showed on X-Factor as well as her career after the show. She can sing beautiful slow ballads like The Silence and Hallelujah as well as uptempo R&B bangers like All Night Long and Bad Boys.
Alicia Keys - I love her voice soooo much! She always brings a great passion to her music, and her voice is instantly recognisable. TEOF is one of the best albums of 2009 imo.
Amber Riley (Mercedes in Glee) - She is so underrated on Glee, she doesn't get anywhere near as many solos as she should tbf. When they do feature her though, she always gets the huge note at the end. She's a typical American diva, with a voice to rival Beyonce or Xtina's!
Beyonce - She is arguably one of the best singers of the past decade, especially where vocal ability is concerned. Her huge belting voice is amazing on Listen, At Last and If I Were A Boy among many others.
Britney Spears - She may not have as strong a voice as Beyonce or Mariah, but she has a lovely tone to her voice. It's a great simplisitic voice, which adds so much more to her ballads as much as her upbeat stuff!
Carrie Underwood - Absolutely incredible voice. Definitely the best singer ever found by American Idol! The pure vocal talent and raw power is evident on So Small, Inside Your Heaven, Jesus Take The Wheel and Temporary Home, her beautiful ballads, and also on her country-rock stompers like Cowboy Cassanova, Last Name and Flat On The Floor (the end note on that is exceptional!)
Charice - For a girl so young, she has an absoultely phemonenal voice! I'm sad Pyramid didn't get higher in the charts. She has another song called Note To God, in which she hits a huge note which she belts for about 9 or seconds! :eek:
Christina Aguilera - She's always had an amazing raw talent and power plus emotion in her voice. Even in songs like Can't Hold Us Down (meant to be about attitude not voice as such) there's no masking her huge voice. The beautiful You Lost Me is one of the best ballads of 2010 imo.
Duffy - A lot of you may think her voice is annoying or whatever, but I think she's a fantastic retro/modern recording artist. I do admit her voice is irratating on Well Well Well (one of the worst songs of the year) but in all her other tracks she shows brilliant vocal abitliy in both up and down tempo songs.
Ellie Goulding - Again, not the most powerful voice, but she has a beautiful fluttery tone. Her music is so easy to listen to, and her cover of Your Song is beautiful. Even on electro pop songs like Starry Eyed, the beauty of her voice shines through.
Florence & The Machine - Her debut Lungs was aptly titled - she really has a good set! In all her songs, she belts perfectly like a modern Kate Bush. The indie-rock thing (Kiss With A Fist) didn't work, but now she sings haunting 'nightmare-pop', I'm in love!
Jessie J - She is very new to the scene, but she has an absoultely incredible powerful voice. Unfortunately, she doesn't get to show it on Do It Like A Dude (he debut single, which is most probably the only song of hers most of you have heard), but on her US single Who You Are she shows off an amazing voice, easily as huge as the American divas.
Kelly Clarkson - She has such an amazing voice with such power and a great rocky edge, which she capatilises on in Since U Been Gone, I Do Not Hook Up, Never Again etc. She is really versatile too, her albums always have a great balanced mix of pop/rock and ballads.
Lady Gaga - A bit biased, I know (see my username
Leona Lewis - Truly one of the best singers ever to come from a reality show. I didn't watch her series, but I've watched all her performances on YouTube, and her version of Summertime was among the best vocal performances I've ever heard, even better than Fantasia Barrino's (which is seen by many as the best American Idol performance of all time).
Mariah Carey - How you can not mention her? Her whistle register is awe inspiring, I can't believe the notes she can sing! She is just as good in her lower register as well, and imo she's responsible for the best vocal performances of the past 25 years.
Nadine Coyle - She is the voice of Girls Aloud. I was dissapointed with her solo work (Cheryl's music is FAR better, but I do love Chezza!!!) but there's no denying Nadine has the best voice of the two. Just listen back to old Girls Aloud stuff to see how great she is!
Rihanna - In her ballads like Unfaithful, she shows great vocal talent, and it also shines on her upbeat songs. Jay-Z was right to chase her for ages, because now she's a superstar and a great singer technically.
Vanessa White (The Saturdays) - I'm actually so shocked at how amazing she is. She's always been the stand-out for me, but it's good because she doesn't hog all The Sat's vocals like Nadine with GA, yet her voice still stands out. She always has the belt notes, and she did fantastic on Popstar To Operastar (by far the best imo, she should've won!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8slyQBbZFgc
Awesome
Lissie
Joni Mitchell
Alanis Morissette
Beth Orton
Grace Slick
Bic Runga
Kate Bush
Patti Smith
Karen Carpenter
Cat Power
PJ Harvey
Imogen Heap
Bjork
Kathleen Edwards
Cyndi Lauper
Dido
Joan as Police Woman
Emiliana Torrini
Fiona Apple
Eva Cassidy
Lou Rhodes
Anja Oyen Vister
Laura Nyro
Florence Welch
Ann Wilson
Natalie Imbruglia
Carole King
Lisa Hannigan
Skin
Cass Elliot
Bette Midler
Neko Case
Alison Goldfrapp
Roisin Murphy
Shawn Colvin
Natalie Merchant
Tracy Chapman
Sandy Denny
Sia
Klara Söderberg
Nina Persson
Tina Dico
Tracey Thorn
Martina Topley-Bird
Agnes Obel
Heather Nova
I'd also include white British singer, Elkie Brooks who could belt out soul as well as the ballads like Dusty did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkmje83iCA0