Top-5 Most Powerful Female Singers - your list!

G

Grall

Invisible Member
Legend
Most singers today are little more than a pretty face (and often, big tits) backed up by autotune processing.

Maybe I am biased, I dunno, not really caring much (or really following) contemporary music, but it sure feels like quality has dipped in the past two-ish decades. So my list is kinda old-fashioned I guess, but hey... I'm a geezer. I'm allowed to! :p In any case, I am interested in the voice more than the actual music - although good voices also tend to sing good music...well, sometimes anyway.

Anyway, my choices:

5: Kate Bush
4: Jennifer Rush.
3: Lisa Gerrard.
2: Annie Lennox.

...Aaannndd:
1: Britney Spea- *ahem!* ...Tina Turner!


If I had followed my own advice of caring more about the voice and less about the musical style I could very well have mentioned Cher as one of my five picks, or, hell, even someone like Mariah Carey or even Dolly Parton... Oh well.

(And to be fair, I consider ol Mrs. Spears a fair singer in her own right actually. She's got quite a sultry voice actually, although her usual pop fare has roughly the shelf life of a bunch of bananas of course...)
 
Most powerful???

I think Grace Jones would have kicked just about any other singer's arse in a bar room brawl. :D Although Tina Turner might have giver her a bit of a fight. Of course, if Courtney Love was hopped up on drugs she probably could have done well since she'd feel no pain. :p

Hmmm, what other female singers would be good in a fight? I wonder if any of the wrestling girls made an album? :D

I'm sure this isn't what you meant, but the title you chose sure made me think of "powerful"/strong women. :D

Regards,
SB
 
tied for 6th:Alicia Keys
Feist
Regina Spektor

5.Tori Amos
4.Norah Jones
3.Christina Aguilera
2.Bjork
1.Fiona Apple

Also honorable mentions:
Cat Powers
Joanna Newsom(:love: my personal fave but most people hate her voice lol)

I know there are some more I'm glossing over but I'm not at home and don't have access to my music collection to browse through it right now.

My listening setup at home I tailor fit to female vocals; Beyer DT-880s run through a millett hybrid tube amp, crispness and clarity with the buttery warmth of tubes.

I'll addend/edit this list when I get home.
 
Hmm, maybe you haven't heard much of Annie Lennox in her Eurythmics years? I know that Alanis sings f u very convincingly ;) but Annie in her Sweet Dreams years is nothing to mess with. I'd say you have a pretty good list there Grall, though there are so many I personally wouldn't know where to start. Just drawing from Soul, R&B, Jazz and Blues alone I think it'd be easy to make a top 20 that competes with this list rather well. ;)

Then of course there are singers like Sinead O'Conner (the Troy album) or even Nina Hagen (again, going for sheer power here). At her best, she blew all of them away I think. If she had had a better band, she'd be better remembered for sure ;) :

 
I don't think an honest list would be anywhere close to my personal musical tastes. And the best singers are probably not that well known.

So alright then uhh Aretha Franklin, Stevie Nicks, Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, and yeah Alanis Morissette are quite amazing singers.

And Kate Bush, Bjork and Beyonce are definitely special but one way or the other they just don't rub me right.
 
I like Shirley Bassey too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Wg6k9cWhM

I think by the way that Beyoncé wants to be like her more than anything else - she's mirroring her almost as much in looks and style as Michael Jackson tried to mimick Diana Ross. ;) And of course it doesn't matter at all that they're not quite the same in the end, they're still great. ;)

Ella too:

 
When you say powerful I think about voices, dunno what you mean tho. I'm not a big fan of their music but Mariah Carey and Celine Dion have the best voices in the business.
 
Joan Jett
Lizzy Hale
Ann Wilson
Christina Aguerilla
KD Lang*







*Seriously. I saw her perform a song called "Hallelujah" and it knocked me on my ass. Incredible performance I'll never forget.
 
Grall said:
2: Annie Lennox.
Click to expand...

I hate to say this, she is an exceptional artist but judging by the few live performances I've seen from her, she would occasionally benefit from autotune. Maybe it was just a case of bad on-stage monitoring, with her singing style it's easy to slip from tune.

Nobody mentioned Chrissie Hynde yet. Or Bonnie Tyler. 80's FTW!
 
Citrous said:
Regina Spektor
2.Bjork
Click to expand...

You just named two of the most "breathy" and least powerful sounding womans in current music. If you'd named Mariah Carey, you would have had the trifecta.

Oh I see Florin already chose her. Well, we have a group of people that don't know what "powerful" means :p.

BTW, Skin = Powerful.
 
Sorry, you're still all wrong. I've seen Alanis Morissette live a couple of times and her voice is fucking weapon grade. She can sing unmiked to an outdoor amphitheater.

EDITED BITS: Not to mention she was God. :yep2:
 
Grall said:
Most singers today are little more than a pretty face (and often, big tits) backed up by autotune processing.
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me! ;)

P.S. Florence Welch has quite a powerful voice. Her music may not be everyone's cup of tea, however.
 
digitalwanderer said:
Sorry, you're still all wrong. I've seen Alanis Morissette live a couple of times and her voice is fucking weapon grade. She can sing unmiked to an outdoor amphitheater.
Click to expand...

My favourite thing about Alanis Morissette is that she didn't let her complete lack of understanding of irony stop her writing a song about it!

Well done that girl! :smile:
 
Dooby said:
You just named two of the most "breathy" and least powerful sounding womans in current music. If you'd named Mariah Carey, you would have had the trifecta.
Click to expand...

You think Mariah Carey has a weak breathy voice? What color is the sky in your world? She may not always use it, but she can belt it out in 5 octaves.
 
digitalwanderer said:
Alanis Morissette live a couple of times and her voice is fucking weapon grade.
Click to expand...
I agree she's great. I kind of prefer women with 'throaty' voices who have a vocal range reaching quite low, though... Mariah Carey for example has a most excellent voice, but her range reaches far in the opposite direction, which isn't quite my cup of tea. :)
 
Well, I just meant what means 'powerful' to YOU... :) It's a topic open to interpretation, heh.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top