Which artists do you believe have truely phenomenal voices, regardless of whether you are a fan or not.?

I have 3 artists whose voices are completely outstanding;

Aretha Franklin
Randy Crawford
Luther Vandross

Prince
Leroy 'Sugar' Bonner
Steve Arrington

I can listen to these cats all day

Oh and I also love Bootsy's voice

Phenominal is a big word ( imho ) but my faves are :

- Chaka Khan ( although it skipped sometimes during live-shows )
- Stevie Wonder
- Ella Fitzgertald ( great improvisation )
- Jeffrey Osborne
- Ann Nesby
- Johnny Gill
- Karen Clark-Sheard
- Christopher Williams
- Kim Burrell
- Seal
- Rachelle Ferrell
- Frank Sinatra ( great intonation )
- maybe unfave on the org , but i remember Live8 from the 80's when around the evening Whitney just arrived at the fest , went up stage and gave one of the best "live sung" performances of that day ... it sounded CRYSTAL clear .
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[Edited 9/8/06 5:49am]

Patti Labelle

Yolanda Adams

Mariah Carey

Christina Aguilara

Whitney Houston (un-cracked)

Prince

and on, and on, and on...

whatsgoingon said:

I`ll go with Franklin and Crawford too

and
Anita Baker
Dusty Springfield
Gladys Knight


and of course Whitney Houston

I know this is a Prince Forum, but I have never thought much of Prince's voice. He is a great Musician and all, but I believe has a singer Prince never really cut it for me. Sorry...

whatsgoingon said:

agreed...and i think he'd agree to cause he is always layering his damn vocals...


my pics

chaka
sade
seal
trio (dolly, emmylou, rondstad)
simply red

(im only praising vocals here...not other aspects of their music)

whatsgoingon said:

Prince is a remarkably talented musician,but I wouldn't put him in the same category with the soul greats (Marvin Gaye,Al Green,Otis Redding,etc).He can sing,but I don't think his voice is his greatest talent.

sosgemini said:[quote]

whatsgoingon said:

agreed...and i think he'd agree to cause he is always layering his damn vocals...


my pics

chaka
sade
seal
trio (dolly, emmylou, rondstad)
simply red

(im only praising vocals here...not other aspects of their music)[/quote]

That's fine, because it's just about artists vocals that you find mind-blowing. I mean I love Marvin Gaye's work more than Aretha stuff and he was a great vocalist, but I imo, Aretha's, Randy and Luther have better vocals.

Prince has a good voice; GREAT FALSETTO! It's only layered for certain parts.

Rob Plant has the best voice ever!

Michael Jackson voice is magical. Apart from Prince, he's the only other singer who has actually moved me with his voice.

Freddie Mercury
Sam Cooke
Judy Garland (yes I know she's been dead for years, but her voice was amazing)
Sade
Seal
Marvin
Chaka (although lately her voice has not been overly impressive)

DarlingDiana said:

The teenage/little Michael Jackson voice was awesome. I think the reason why they couldn't put him up there with Marvin and Co at the time was because he was too young. But the older Michael vocals don't sound so good. The fact that he rarely sings live anymore to me, means something ain't right with his vocals.

Some of the obvious ones have already been mentioned...


Nat "King" Cole
Johnny Mathis
Sarah Vaughn
Little Jimmy Scott
Minnie Ripperton
k.d. lang
Joe Williams

...I'd add these to the list.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

whatsgoingon said:

Young M.J was fantastic, so soulful, just listen to "A child`s heart"

"Love is as welcome
as a sunny sunny day"

Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle.



/End of thread. K. Thx. Bye

whatsgoingon said:

The voice I like best was his late 70s/early 80s voice. It was so rich, crisp, and beautiful.

Darren Hayes

Joeks said:

yes!

mikek1 said:

Woo hoo! I've loved him for nearly 10 years now! His voice is so angelic, and has a bit of Smokey Robinson in it. (too bad he's gay, I wanted to marry him when I was 14!)

I also enjoy the voices of Jay Kay (Jamiroquai), Lauryn Hill, Sarah, Ella, Chaka, Annie Lennox, Kurt Elling, Stevie Wonder, and Prince.

Prince may not have the same vocal qualities as some of the classic singers, but he has quite the instrument in there. He can sing nearly any note. Also, I think most people would feel differently about his voice if he used his baritone range more, rather than his falsetto and nasally tenor range.
[Edited 9/8/06 11:06am]

Billie Holiday

Johnny Hartman


Ella Fitzgerald


Sarah Vaughan


Curtis Mayfield


Eddie Kendricks

Patti Labelle- screams a lot and I luv it.

Stephanie Mills- Second to none

Aretha- Her double cd is all ya need to feel the passion of this Phenomenon

Whitney Houston- I can't Lie. Her voice WAS Flawless!

Anita Baker- class of her own

cece Winans- Voice is still flawless


Marvin Gaye- Second to none

Al Green- Soulful,country,bluesy wit a dash of church

Luther Vandross- Some boring ass songs, but Voice can not be denied.

Tererrence Trent Darby- Don't know why he fell off

Mario- That lil boy can really Sang!

Prince

To me Aretha, Randy Crawford and Luther are the best of the best.

The best of the rest in no particular order are;

Marvin Gaye
Al Green
Bobby Womack
Whitney
Anita Baker
Curtis Mayfield
Patti Austin
Barbara Streisand
Stevie Wonder
Sam Cooke
The Younger MJ
Patti Labelle
Chaka Khan
[Edited 9/8/06 11:55am]

My personal top 10 right now (a 'mixed' bag of young and old, black and white and male and female).

1. Van Morrison
2. Lyle Lovett
3. Prince
4. Lyle Lovett
5. Kate Rusby
6. Damien Rice
7. Bjork
8. Michael Stipe
9. Maynard James Keenan (Tool, Perfect Circle)
10. Neil Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House, Finn brothers, solo)

oops, to times Lyle, my number 4 is: Karl Wallinger (World Party)

Sananda/TTD