Graycap23 said:

Uh, yeah, Kinaldo's trippin'. Especially on Stevie's range.

MuthaFunka said:

At best, MJ, Marvin and Stevie can all sing above THREE octaves. Maybe Jackie has a higher range than all of them...I think. Maybe all of them except Sam have three octaves, I don't have a clue! LOL

Timmy84 said:

Stevie's falsetto is always "short-lived" when he does "go there".

I'd love 2 see any of those guys try 2 record Prince's song "Solo".

4. Jackie Wilson
1. Stevie Wonder
2. Marvin Gaye
6. Michael Jackson
3. Sam Cooke
5. Prince
And I don't really care if someone can hit high notes.

Graycap23 said:

Yeah, I don't think cats give P his just as a vocalist.

MuthaFunka said:

Agreed.

Stevie Wonder--combination of range, chops, power, emotive quality, voice, and influence (practically everyone nowadays is mimicking his runs)

Sam Cooke--incredible voice, pitch, control, and ability to tell the story of the song

Marvin Gaye--perfect voice, great range, perhaps the most emotional weight carried in his voice of the bunch

Jackie Wilson--powerhouse, not my favorite voice, great early prototype for modern soul singers

Prince--mostly for his harmonies & range, not my favorite lead vocalist.

Michael Jackson--great as a child, very good as a man.

NDRU said:

We have almost the same list.

The interesting thing about all of these guys is: I'd bet money that if u had a contest where each one of these guys did a cover tune of the others, Prince would win every song.

Graycap23 said:

I agree. And it's simply because of his range and stylings capabilities.

Graycap23 said:

That I can actually agree with.

Graycap23 said:

I did say Prince was diverse so I wouldn't be shocked. I bet he could sing a Marvin Gaye tune like...THAT!

NDRU said:

to all descriptions, but I do LOVE Prince's voice though.

And Graycap, you got a good point about Stevie's falsetto, he can't get as high as his label mate Marvin.

Timmy84 said:

for sure. But Prince really shines on the extremes of his voice, it's the middle range that doesn't work as well for me. Even he said that he sang in falsetto because the normal voice hurt when he was young. He's learned to sing his whole range, but I think he still favors the falsetto.

But really, we're talking about some of the best vocalists of all time. Of course Prince is a great singer. The Ladder is an amazing performance in his middle range. I just don't rank him quite as high as the others.

Sam Cooke
Marvin Gaye
Prince
Stevie Wonder
Michael Jackson

Don't know alot of Jackie Wilson other than "Lonely Teardrops" to really judge.

MuthaFunka said:

I completely agree.

Prince is the most underrated as a singer out of the group, by far! No offense either, but of the ones that are still alive, his voice has aged much better over the years than both Stevie & Michael's have too. I was just listening to "Call My Name" a few mins ago, Prince sounds so rich & soulful when he sings in his full voice. All those nose jobs took a number on Michael's singing because he sounds so nasal & weak now. Little Michael kicked ass, not so much adult Michael but he mostly sung like an angry rock star anyway. Stevie isn't doing it live like he used too either, he stay singing off-key more and it's so whiny.

Scorpion said:

i don't know all of these singers, but I think Marvin has the most beautiful voice. Stevie Wonder has of all of these artists the widest range and I like his high notes and deep ass voice both!

so my list... well SW and Marvi have to share

01 - SW/MG
02 - MJ
03 - Prince

MJ is good, but his singing became too artificial with all those hees and sobbings...

Prince has learned to sing. his range is okay, but is there a prove he could hold a note really long like a pseudo-opera singer?

If i could add George Michael to that list he would be my Number one!!!

but again, with the most feelings could sing Marvin Gaye!

MuthaFucka you're right with Mj. his nose jobs were bad for his singing. Also, as a child he was fantastic. I think, when his vpice got "lower" he had problems because he speaks in a range where almost nobody is so he can't sing like a woman but neither like a real man too!
so he's somewhere in between and so I think his voice was more powerful as a child than as an adult.
I don't know if SW sings off key nowadays, but one thing is SURE: prince's voice aged PERFECT.
i think he can still sing all his old numbers. we all know he appears younger than his actual age and i respect that!

graecophilos said:

Good point. His nose jobs HAD to have had an effect on his singning.

(And I'm still laughing because grae called me "MuthaFucka" )

MuthaFunka said:

.....a slip of the tongue?

Graycap23 said:

I HOPE not. I just think Grae may have read my name wrong. No biggie.

MuthaFunka said:

lol.....

This list is missing some major vocalists:
Luther Vandross
Al Green
Donny Hathaway
Maxwell
Smokey Robinson
Just to name a few amazing *male* vocalists left off this list (there are female vocalists that are better than all five of these mentioned IMO, but )

Gosh, there's soo many vocalists that I think are better than the five originally mentioned, but this isn't my list so:

Marvin Gaye
Prince
Stevie Wonder
Micheal Jackson
Jackie Wilson
Sam Cooke

haha, im sorry MotherFunka!!! ideed I read your name wrong. sorry
you made me laugh!

graecophilos said:

It's all good! I was just messin' wit' ya!

I think this is a great performance.Michael´s voice is so beautiful and sexy here. Pity it´s so short. BTW does anyone know what song is he singing. It´s sooooo beautiful.



This is live, isn´t it. I don´t think it´s that bad as some of you describe him. Well next to Britney, he sounds great.

[Edited 3/20/08 13:33pm]

MuthaFunka said:

Anyway my list goes like this:

Marvin Gaye - His voice was haunting and was like honey.

Stevie - His voice is probably one of the most distinguish in the business

Michael - Mainly because as a child up until his early 20s, he had one of the most emotional voice's ever, before one too many nose jobs and desperation destroyed the tone and emotions of his voice.

Sam Cooke - His voice was as clear as crystal.

Jackie Wilson - sounded good but I haven't heard enough of his material

Prince - I know that Prince is diverse but I have never really been a fan of his voice.

NDRU said:

I'm more or less with you on these 'rankings', if we must rank these people.

I'm no great authority to judge on Sam Cooke and Jackie as I'm not hugely familiar with their work, so to be fair and eliminating them from my list -

1. Stevie Wonder - In the '70s in particular, a great voice. Just listen to 'Lately'; now that is singing from the heart.

2.Marvin Gaye - Obviously one of the great soul singers, able to put across a wide range of emotions from longing and loneliness to paranoia, bitterness and irony. I don't listen to him that much, but when I do I'm always very impressed.

The next two are a long way below these -

Prince - An effective and distinctive singer rather than a great one imo. He is extremely versatile (of course), but in the company of the likes of the above and other great singers P has imitated over the years, from the falsetto singers of the Stylistics and Delfonics to deeper voiced singers like Larry Graham and Sly, he shows his influences but imo rarely exceeds them. These days I kind of prefer his lower register, especially on his recent stuff, partly as he always seems to sing very similar songs with the falsetto (ie the million variations of 'Do Me, Baby' he's been including at least one of on each album since 1980 ).

MJ - Yeah, he good but as I'm not an MJ adorer (just dig some stuff), and risking the flames of MJ fan wrath, I don't quite get this 'greatest singer of all time' type thang - such a small, strange, childlike voice for a man to have ... For me, at least in the last 20 years,, he can only convincingly sing anger (not a fan of those incredibly saccharine ballads of his). Probably his best feature is the incredible percussive sounds he makes with his mouth and voice, but they're all derived in some way or other from James Brown ... Having said that, a lot of his 'Off the Wall' and 'Thriller' vocals are peerless examples of how to sing joyous funky pop.

I'm kinda missing Curtis Mayfield and James Brown on that list there ...