To answer original question, comparing these two vocals is ridiculous to me.
It would have been great if the title is 'In their prime who is your prefered singer'
They are(were and will be) ones of the greatest singers in history.
Each has her/his own character of voice and superior ability of singing.
They are even in different gender. So choosing who's better is just meaningless thing. People may have their own preference but none can affirm that who's better because it's impossible originally.

I saw this type of "who's best or better" thing so many times, many places all around the world.
As you may notice my awkward english, I'm not from the counturies that use English as mother tongue. I'm from the small contury in Asia. people of my contury argue the same thing we did here. The argument always remained unfinished and caused an emotinal battle between people.

I think music isn't like the 100 meter running or swimming competitions.
Because nobody can't set the standard could meet and satisfy all the listeners.

Sam Cooke's great vocal. So are Luther Vandross, Marvin gaye, Donnie Hathaway and Al Green. But none of them can replace Stevie Wonder. None of them can replace each other. They're so unique on their own.
Likewise Aretha can't replace Patti or Chaka Khan. vice versa.
So instead of comparing 'who's better', just enjoy your favorite singer's music and don't dismiss other artists.

BklynBabe said:

what you mean?
Wasn't that twitter fake? That's very poor thing for the handicapped people.

sly67 said:

If Stevland can play the keys, I'm pretty sure he could type as well ...

Graycap23 said:

really!

sly67 said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

He actually has a machine that decodes what he says. That's what I've been told.

I do prefer Aretha as a singer, but it's not exactly fair to compare a male singer to a female singer. Totally different. Apples and oranges really.

musicjunky318 said:

I don't know if he's overrated as a vocalist, but I have to say that for me personally, I've never been a huge fan of Stevie's voice. I love his music and he is a genius like you said, but his voice has never done much for me to be honest. Of course Stevie can sing, that's not even debatable, but the tone of his voice is rather nasal (at least to me) and not just all that appealing for me. He's one of my fave artists, but i've never been a huge fan of him as a vocalist.

kellistarr120 said:

I have to agree (yeah suprise suprise lol). Michael has never been rated highly as a vocalist by the general public so how anyone can say he's overrated as a singer doesn't make sense to me. Only MJ's fans mainly talk about how good his voice is.

Everyone talks about his dancing and his music videos, but how often do people talk about Mike as a vocalist really? How often does his name come up when people speak of great singers of all time? I'm not saying he's the best ever, but he's damn good. Most people listen to "Billie Jean", "Beat It",etc. and think that's all there is to him. Michael is one of the most unique and diverse vocalists ever if you ask me. Only MJ could sing his songs for the most part, which is why 99% of the time when people attempt to cover his songs, they faily miserably. I sometimes feel that his music overpowers his voice at times and that's why he doesn't always get the credit he deserves as a vocalist. Listening to him in acapella though is really something and anyone who doubts his ability as a singer needs to listen to him without the music to really appreciate it. I remember listening to "Butterflies" in acapella and was blown away completely. I knew he could sing, but damn! One of the best vocals i've ever heard by any artist period. His voice is brilliant.

Michael Jackson is a FAR better vocalist than given credit for.
[Edited 1/18/10 10:41am]

daPrettyman said:

It shocks me that So Damn Happy wasn't a bigger success. I know she did some promotion on Oprah but I didn't much of any other promotion. I love every cut on the CD, especially Holdin On' and Everybody's Somebody's Fool. ESF should have been huge on radio. This is the kind of R&B song that would have been huge in the 90s I guess.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

LOOL

If I recall Stevie did all the vocals on this one.

Can't call that Nasal. Again Stevie is his prime to me is an amazing vocalist.

I'm going to pick Bobby Brown

Cinnamon234 said:

If Most people would listen to everything pre thriller and stop focusing on his dancing they would see that he could sing .

Cotontige said:

Real talk homie.

Well, a good enough excuse to post this one.

Sandino said:

I don't know but it's like Lady Gaga's time now.




LADY. GAGA.



group. hug.

not at you dan...but this topic...lol.

NMuzakNSoul said:

NMuzakNSoul said:

Who called his singing nasal? People must be hearing somebody else because Stevie is ANYTHING but a nasal vocalist.

Harlepolis said:

A couple of people in this thread, and I hear it more often. I agree with you Harle and that's why I linked the "Send One Your Love" because that performance is one of his best vocals.