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Born June 7th, 1958
Key Tracks Little Red Corvette," "When Doves Cry," "Kiss"
Influenced OutKast, D'Angelo, Gwen Stefani, Kevin Barnes

"Prince is the boldest black singer in postmodern music, hands down," says Roots drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson. "His voice has multiple personalities, he's fearless, and when he screams, he truly sounds like he's crazy." Indeed, that throat-shredding climax to "The Beautiful Ones" sure feels like a man who has lost his mind — it's as convincing as the passion dripping from the lighter-than-air falsetto in "Adore," the pure-rock shouting of "Let's Go Crazy" or the robotic deadpan of "When Doves Cry." "His vocals are just limitless," says Lenny Kravitz. "There's the androgynous, very feminine Prince, there's the James Brown-style Prince, the gospel Prince, the rock & roll Prince. He has so many different textures and dimensions with his voice — and everything is funky."

?uestlove is always spot on about Prince. Lenny to. But Prince should have been rated higher to me..

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/prince-20101202#ixzz2FVunHrpj

[Edited 12/19/12 8:29am]

This list has been up for a while. It still shows Whitney as alive.

I have no problem with this list of "singers", but the rankings are a joke. Most of them deserve to be on the list in one place or another, but I nearly fell off my seat seeing who was ahead of who. Some of their choices make me

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

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Winter/Getty

prev 30/100 next

Born June 7th, 1958
Key Tracks Little Red Corvette," "When Doves Cry," "Kiss"
Influenced OutKast, D'Angelo, Gwen Stefani, Kevin Barnes

"Prince is the boldest black singer in postmodern music, hands down," says Roots drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson. "His voice has multiple personalities, he's fearless, and when he screams, he truly sounds like he's crazy." Indeed, that throat-shredding climax to "The Beautiful Ones" sure feels like a man who has lost his mind — it's as convincing as the passion dripping from the lighter-than-air falsetto in "Adore," the pure-rock shouting of "Let's Go Crazy" or the robotic deadpan of "When Doves Cry." "His vocals are just limitless," says Lenny Kravitz. "There's the androgynous, very feminine Prince, there's the James Brown-style Prince, the gospel Prince, the rock & roll Prince. He has so many different textures and dimensions with his voice — and everything is funky."

?uestlove is always spot on about Prince. Lenny to. But prince should have been rated higher to me..

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/prince-20101202#ixzz2FVunHrpj

well said

[Edited 12/19/12 8:42am]

vAN mORRISON AND bOB dYLAN, JUST TO NAME 2 (i COULD NAME mORE) wtf..THIS IS A JOKE?

SPOOKYGAS said:

vAN mORRISON AND bOB dYLAN, JUST TO NAME 2 (i COULD NAME mORE) wtf..THIS IS A JOKE?

I could be wrong, but I think the message RS is trying to convey with this list is the impact these singers had on our times and other artists. I agree some aren't in the correct position, but you can't deny the massive impact some have had on music and other artists.

SuperSoulFighter said:

^No, it isn't. Bob is an excellent singer. He may not have the most beautiful voice nor the widest range, but being a good singer is not only about that. It is about making people believe what you're singing and making you feel it. In that respect, Bob ranks with the best of them.

I totally agree with your statement and about Dylan. Many people don't get his voice, but he emotes such passion and feeling into his songs.

Empress said:

SuperSoulFighter said:

^No, it isn't. Bob is an excellent singer. He may not have the most beautiful voice nor the widest range, but being a good singer is not only about that. It is about making people believe what you're singing and making you feel it. In that respect, Bob ranks with the best of them.

I totally agree with your statement and about Dylan. Many people don't get his voice, but he emotes such passion and feeling into his songs.

Oh Please he sounds like a fucking cat getting its throat cut! He is fucking tone deaf, give me a fucking break, usual pish lists from writers so far up there own arses and full of self importance RS arsesholes.. Van fucking Morrison, FUCK OFF!

SPOOKYGAS said:

Empress said:

I totally agree with your statement and about Dylan. Many people don't get his voice, but he emotes such passion and feeling into his songs.

Oh Please he sounds like a fucking cat getting its throat cut! He is fucking tone deaf, give me a fucking break, usual pish lists from writers so far up there own arses and full of self importance RS arsesholes.. Van fucking Morrison, FUCK OFF!

Somebody sounds quite bitter that Bob gets the props he does. Too bad for you. Like I said, some people just don't get him or his music. It's your loss.

I'm a fan of Bob Dylan as a singer, but his lyrics are garbage.

novabrkr said:

I'm a fan of Bob Dylan as a singer, but his lyrics are garbage.

I think you're on your own with that statement.

IT WAS A JOKE.

geesh.

I don't like a lot of the rankings and I wish some other singers were on this list but it's a pretty good list. I always hear people saying that Bob Dylan's voice suck so I was reluctant to listen to his music but as soon as I heard "Like A Rolling Stone" and other songs, I like his voice. I also like Van Morrison's voice, they both have very expressive voices.

MiniJamesW said:

I don't like a lot of the rankings and I wish some other singers were on this list but it's a pretty good list. I always hear people saying that Bob Dylan's voice suck so I was reluctant to listen to his music but as soon as I heard "Like A Rolling Stone" and other songs, I like his voice. I also like Van Morrison's voice, they both have very expressive voices.

A cat that is getting its throat cut has an expressive voice, its expressing sheer fucking pain, BD and VM are not by any stretch of the imagination world great singers, infact as I have stated earlier they are SHITE singers, Pub singers at best.

novabrkr said:

I'm a fan of Bob Dylan as a singer, but his lyrics are garbage.

novabrkr said:

IT WAS A JOKE.

geesh.

I guess I didn't get your humour. Probably because I'm a fan of both his singing and lyrics.

novabrkr said:

SPOOKYGAS said:

A cat that is getting its throat cut has an expressive voice, its expressing sheer fucking pain, BD and VM are not by any stretch of the imagination world great singers, infact as I have stated earlier they are SHITE singers, Pub singers at best.

Alright i just respectfully disagree then

his list is old ... 2007 or 2008
I do not think that in drawing up this list, the vocals were really the main factor

Bob Dylan and John Lennon - brilliant as composers and have a great legacy and influence, but as a vocalist, they clearly are not among the greatest.

and Freddie Mercury is not even in the top 15 - ridiculous

SuperSoulFighter said:

^That's the fun part of lists like this. You never agree with them. Let me do some bitching of my own: Michael Jackson does not belong in ANY best of lists except when it's about dancers or making money. But contrary to some folks here, I won't go dissing other people's favorite artists just because I don't like 'em.

I think MJ had a lovely voice (when he actually sang and wasn't lip-syncing).

SuperSoulFighter said:

^That's the fun part of lists like this. You never agree with them. Let me do some bitching of my own: Michael Jackson does not belong in ANY best of lists except when it's about dancers or making money. But contrary to some folks here, I won't go dissing other people's favorite artists just because I don't like 'em.

I think MJ had a lovely voice (when he actually sang and wasn't lip-syncing).

^I don`t like Bob or John?
Wrong.
Just based on the technical characteristics - their voices are not good enough to be in the top 10. If this were a list of the greatest songwriters they might be in the top 2.

This magazine always ignores Queen and Freddie. Freddie - amazing vocalist ... range, intonation, transitions ... his voice deserves to be at least in the top 10.

MJ's voice as a child forever booked a place for him in the list of the greatest singers, no matter how someone refers to his grown-up vocals.

My own (unbiased) opinions about the voice of Prince: his place between 20 and 30 .... so it could be higher, but his current position in the list is not bad.

Empress said:

novabrkr said:

IT WAS A JOKE.

geesh.

I guess I didn't get your humour. Probably because I'm a fan of both his singing and lyrics.

Yeah, sorry. It wasn't an "obvious" joke.

You just see Bob Dylan brought up as an example in that context all the time.