Rolling Stone Picks the Top 200 Greatest Singers of All-Time – IOTW Report

Rolling Stone Picks the Top 200 Greatest Singers of All-Time

Wednesday, 4 January 2023, 0:13 BFH Uncategorized 43

The top ten are all non-white. Seems like when you’re rating something completely subjective and you exclude white people there might be an adenda at play. I could be wrong. In fact, there are no white Americans until #15, and that singer is Bob Dylan.

So, this list is worthless, because Bob Dylan is a great singer like Leroy Neiman is a great painter.

These lists are strange because they have crossover genres.

I will post the list here.

? = never heard of them

Why should you care what I think? You shouldn’t. I did this for me. But sometimes it’s fun to see what someone likes and dislikes. Feel free to do the same in the comments. (I fully realize that some singers are progressive douchebags. That doesn’t mean they are talentless. I try to remain objective about that.)

200. Rosalía ?
199. Glenn Danzig -kinda like
198. Billie Eilish -like
197. Burna Boy ?
196. Paul Westerberg -like
195. Poly Styrene ?
194. Kelly Clarkson -can sing, not my cup of tea
193. Brandy – naa
192. Anohni ?
191. Jung Kook ?

190. Frank Ocean -I’ve heard him. He’s okay
189. Joan Baez x
188. Fela Kuti ?
187. Bonnie Raitt – can sing, a couple of good ones
186. Ofra Haza?
185. Alicia Keys – good singer, some songs good
184. Karen O ?
183. Solomon Burke ?
182. Jazmine Sullivan ?
181. Bob Seger – very screamy and screechy

180. SZA ?
179. Martha Wash ?
178. Tabu Ley Rochereau ?
177. Patty Loveless – it’s ok
176. Iggy Pop – surprisingly good for what he does
175. Lana Del Rey ?
174. Buddy Holly – good singer songwriter
173. Marianne Faithfull – has a style all her own
172. Juan Gabriel ?
171. Odetta ?

170. Chris Stapleton – good ol boy can sing
169. Sylvester I barely heard of them
168. Debbie Harry – not a great singer, but maybe she is
167. Marc Anthony – not my thing
166. Morrissey √√ – yes, he’s emo. But one of the best, and great lyrics and music
165. Ronnie James Dio – not my thing
164. Sandy Denny ?
163. Bobby “Blue” Bland ?
162. Françoise Hardy ?
161. Brenda Lee – stuck in puberty

160. Mercedes Sosa ?
159. Mississippi John Hurt ?
158. Carrie Underwood – not my thing
157. Robert Smith √√ – see Morrissey
156. George Strait – can sing, not my thing
155. Corin Tucker ?
154. Dion – overrated (Dionne Warwick should be on here insted)
153. Mahlathini ?
152. Michael Stipe – not a great singer, but tunes are catchy
151. Martha Reeves – forgettable

150. Bryan Ferry – Stylish, but a bit boring
149. Wanda Jackson ?
148. Levon Helm – Stylish and cool
147. Barbra Streisand – she can sing, but I hate it. Like an air raid siren at times
146. Ruth Brown ?
145. PJ Harvey – Grungy
144. Darlene Love – I like her
143. Luciano – Pavarotti??? Why is he on this list?
142. Russell Thompkins Jr. ?
141. Christina Aguilera – she can sing. a couple of songs really good

140. Bono – Not my favorite voice, a bit too affected at times. But good songs.
139. Rocío Dúrcal ?
138. Merle Haggard – I appreciate him, I don’t listen much
137. El DeBarge – lightweight
136. Lauryn Hill – she can sing.
135. IU – ?
134. Axl Rose – perfect for his genre. Sounds a bit like Ethel Merman.
133. Neil Young – rotten singer that I kind of like.
132. Loretta Lynn – boilerplate
131. Jeff Buckley – good singer

130. Courtney Love – can’t sing, but I like it
129. Rob Halford – not a metal guy, so I don’t get him
128. Florence Welch ?
127. Tammy Wynette – Not my thing
126. Donny Hathaway – Good singer, not my thing
125. Joe Strummer – not a good singer, but stylish
124. Robert Johnson – he’s not a singer
123. Karen Carpenter – the biggest injustice on this list. Her singing is incredible. She should be in the top 10.
122. Donna Summer – I like her voice and even her music.
121. Jackie Wilson – meh

120. Charlie Rich – meh
119. Barrington Levy -?
118. John Fogerty – something about his voice is irritating, some great songs
117. Patti Smith – can’t sing, but works with what she had well
116. Chet Baker – kind of all sound the same to me (ducks)
115. Erykah Badu – not a fan
114. Chrissie Hynde – good rock singer
113. La India -?
112. Ozzy Osbourne – can’t sing, but can. He has that certain something.
111. Fiona Apple – I like her

110. The Weeknd – He has some songs I like.
109. Roger Daltrey – Sneaky good singer.
108. Caetano Veloso – ?
107. Lou Reed – Basically talked his way through songs, but it was good.
106. Bill Withers – Yes. Great voice, great tunes. She be higher on list.
105. Eddie Vedder – Blends with his music well. Not a huge fan.
104. Aaron Neville – Hate him like poison. I know he can sing, but I hate it.
103. Leonard Cohen. – I don’t get it
102. Taylor Swift – pablum
101. Gladys Knight – not a big fan

100. Elton John – can’t sing, but he can. What can you say? He has so many memorable tunes.
99. Clyde McPhatter – don’t care
98. Bob Marley – I’m not a stoner.
97. Usher – not my thing. a couple of songs I like
96. Chuck Berry – can’t sing, but he wrote songs to fit his capabilities, and they were good.
95. Vincente Fernández ?
94. Toots Hibbert ?
93. Stevie Nicks – She has some great hits. Voice is unique.
92. Anita Baker – meh
91. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ?

90. Gal Costa ?
89. Selena – I’m told she is good
88. Jimmie Rodgers – good singer
87. Diana Ross – good singer
86. Michael Jackson – he could be very pitchy, but it worked. Jackson 5 is great.
85. Johnny Cash – Style over substance, and it was great.
84. Lata Mangeshkar ?
83. Amy Winehouse -great singer
82. Steve Perry. -not my thing, but a great singer
81. João Gilbert ?

80. Chris Cornell -Good for his genre
79. Emmylou Harris -good singer
78. Janis Joplin. passion over technical singing.
77. Bruce Springsteen – very chameleony. sometimes I like, sometimes I hate
76. Wilson Pickett – meh
75. D’Angelo ? vaguely familiar
74. Patti LaBelle -Loud, energetic, good entertainer
73. Héctor Lavoe ?
72. Muddy Waters – Blues singing is a feeling, not meant to be “great”
71. Roy Orbison – great range. Peculiar voice.

70. Ronnie Spector – Great singer
69. Youssou N’Dour ?
68. Rihanna – cookie cutter, autotune
67. Dennis Brown ?
66. David Ruffin – very good
65. Minnie Riperton – they are kidding, no?
64. Björk – the Greta Thunberg of music..
63. Robert Plant – rock God
62. George Michael – can sing
61. Umm Kulthum ?

60. Kate Bush – love her or hate her. I love her
59. Howlin’ Wolf – not a blues guy
58. Lady Gaga – she can sing. great singer
57. Brian Wilson – he could write great songs for his limited ability.
56. Barry White – ha. I like him
55. Tina Turner – kinda all over the map for me. She can sing. But affected with some weird British accent.
54. Willie Nelson – horrible singer that I love.
53. Miriam Makeba ?
52. Mick Jagger – not a great singer, but he’s a god
51. Sade – forgettable

50. Joni Mitchell – can write. Her singing was decent
49. Rod Stewart – great singer
48. Toni Braxton – pffft
47. Linda Ronstadt – don’t like her. don’t like her cadence. boring
46. Mavis Staples – I guess. I dunno
45. Ella Fitzgerald – overrated.
44. James Brown – style over ability. Very passionate
43. Ariana Grande – don’t really know her music
42. Teddy Pendergrass – love his voice
41. Etta James – good singer

40. Aaliyah – heard of her
39. Louis Armstrong – cmon. really?
38. Curtis Mayfield – not a great singer, but a style all his own.
37. Van Morrison – yes
36. Kurt Cobain – defined an era.
35. Dusty Springfield – can sing
34. Thom Yorke – one of my favorites
33. Bessie Smith – I guess
32. David Bowie – another one of my favorites
31. Luther Vandross – good singer, not my music

30. Hank Williams – it’s alright, why is he ranked so high?
29. Chaka Khan – overly produced music hides her voice
28. Mahalia Jackson – should I like her?
27. Dolly Parton – not a big fan of her voice, but appreciate her talent
26. Paul McCartney – great singer
25. Mary J. Blige – meh
24. George Jones – good singer, but 24??
23. Smokey Robinson – one of a kind
22. Adele – great singer
21. Nina Simone – strong voice, very modern, timeless

20. Marvin Gaye – one of the best
19. Frank Sinatra – one of the best
18. Celia Cruz ?
17. Elvis Presley – technically not great, but distinctive with great passion
16. Prince – better guitar player than singer
15. Bob Dylan – GTF outta here
14. Freddie Mercury – he could flat out sing
13. Patsy Cline – I like her, but is she that dynamic
12. John Lennon – some of the greatest recordings ever. Not really a great singer.
11. Little Richard – shouty

10. Al Green – Love him.
9. Otis Redding – he’s ok
8. Beyoncé – modern music is very cookie cutter
7. Stevie Wonder – one of the greatest
6. Ray Charles – see above
5. Mariah Carey – not my thing. she could sing.
4. Billie Holiday – stylish, unique, trend setter
3. Sam Cooke – naaa .. shouldn’t be #3 at all.
2. Whitney Houston – she could sing

1. Aretha Franklin – not a bad #1 pick, but I don’t love love love her music.

Plenty of gals are on the list, but there are some GLARING omissions on the guy side-

Harry Nilsson

B.J. Thomas

Ray LaMontagne

Jon Anderson

Sly Stone

Elvis Costello

David Lee Roth

Bobby Hatfield

Matt Bellamy (Muse)

Don & Phil Everly

Art Garfunkel

Tom Jones

Andy Williams

Okay, here are some women left out –

Sarah Vaughan

Shirley Bassey

Celine Dion

Weirdly, Cher was left off. I was told she was real good.

43 Comments on Rolling Stone Picks the Top 200 Greatest Singers of All-Time

  5. I was wondering, “Where’s David Lee Roth?!?!”

    And then I see he made Fur’s list.

    I knew I liked you for some reason BFH. 😁

    Check out “Sunburn” off of “Your Filthy Little Mouth” people. Nothing more sultry than Dave’s vox on that tune.

    1

  9. On behalf of Celine, because she would be far too classy to say this, I will…
    Eat shit and choke on it Erik.
    Ignorant sack of shit punk-assed faggot douche-bag!

    2

  10. If I want music, I prefer instruments.

    If I want lyrics, I prefer poetry.

    If I want the human voice, I prefer a choir.

    (I’m so small a minority, I don’t even register in the polls of human opinion.)

    2

  14. It ain’t a real list unless Yoko Ohno is on it.
    Her voice could turn Water into PISS.

    But otherwise, Rolling Stone has now made My life complete with another list.
    (shit rag)

    2

  15. For ‘experts’ their list sucks. We’re talking SINGERS:
    Lowell George
    Robert Palmer
    Phillip Lynnott (Thin Lizzy)
    Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds)
    Leon Russell
    Donald Fagen
    Raul Malo
    Paul Young
    Jon Anderson
    Martina McBride (pipes!) also Chaka Khan
    PeeWee Atchison— the BEST soul singer you never heard of (WasNotWas and the Boneshakers)

    Rolling Stone ‘knows’ as much about music as politics. Shitheads.

    5

  17. Bobby Darin
    Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer
    Jimmy Buffet
    Jimmy Cliff
    Jim Morrison
    Cat Stevens
    James Taylor
    Sting-not my thing, but hey
    I am sure Madonna is having a moment

    This list seems like it’s a “hey we need a list of something to publish by Friday’s deadline. Grab an espresso or chai and met us in the meeting room for groupthink,” kind of vibe.

    2

  20. Diogenes,
    In her early years Ms Holiday was VERY sultry. WOOF!
    In her later years (drugs & hard life) she became raspy, but still listenable.

    1

  21. Cmn¢¢guy
    JANUARY 4, 2023 AT 12:31 AM
    “Pointless list, as it is subjective.”

    Agreed. Musical taste is arbitrary and personal. Any list is just drawn from the polled people’s individual preferences, and will be weighted as such depening on who is polled and who answers the poll, and will necessarily be tilted towards more modern stars.

    2

  22. Joey Biden
    JANUARY 4, 2023 AT 5:33 AM
    “Why ain’t Barney the dinosaur on that lisss?

    Gonna haf to haf Garland and Wray look inot this …………”

    “I love you,
    You love me,

    You’re not going to tell mom-my,

    That I touched you there
    In your special little place,

    You drank Joey’s milk and didn’t like the taste.”

    1

  26. “[Chorus: Kanye West]
    Gossip, gossip, nigga, just stop it
    Everybody know I’m a motherfuckin’ monster
    I’ma need to see your fuckin’ hands at the concert
    I’ma need to see your fuckin’ hands at the concert
    Profit, profit, nigga, I got it
    Everybody know I’m a motherfuckin’ monster
    I’ma need to see your fuckin’ hands at the concert
    I’ma need to see your fuckin’ hands

    [Verse 2: Kanye West]
    Uh, the best living or dead hands down, huh
    Less talk, more head right now, huh
    And my eyes more red than the devil is
    And I’m ’bout to take it to another level, bitch
    Matter who you go and get, ain’t nobody cold as this
    Do the rap and the track, triple-double, no assists
    And my only focus is stayin’ on some bogus shit
    Arguin’ with my older bitch, actin’ like I owe her shit
    I heard the beat, the same raps that gave the track pain
    Bought the chain that always give me back pain
    Fucking up my money so, yeah, I had to act sane
    Chi nigga, but these hoes love my accent
    Chick came up to me and said, “This the number to dial
    If you wanna make your number one your number two now”
    Mix that Goose and Malibu, I call it “Malibooyah”
    Goddamn, Yeezy always hit ’em with a new style
    Know that motherfucker, well, what you gon’ do now?
    Whatever I wanna do, gosh, it’s cool now
    Know I’m gonna do, ah, it’s the new now
    Think you motherfuckers really really need to cool out
    ‘Cause you’ll never get on top of this
    So, mami, best advice is just to get on top of this
    Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh?
    Ah, put the pussy in a sarcophagus
    Now she claiming that I bruised her esophagus
    Head of the class and she just won a swallowship
    I’m livin’ in the future so the present is my past
    My presence is a present, kiss my ass”
    “Monster”, Nikki Menaj

  27. I would move Ella Fitzgerald up to the Top Ten. Do a search on her performances on the Ed Sullivan Show. Especially, “Can’t Buy Me Love” the Beatles song. I could listen to Ella all day.

    1

  28. Marty Balin?
    Rebekah Del Rio?
    The girl from Lake Street Dive?
    Paul Rodgers?

    Yeah – completely subjective – but Rolling Stone’s full of shit.

    mortem tyrannis
    izlamo delenda est …

    3

  29. Marcella Detroit should definitely be on the list, close to the top. Search for “I Believe” and if the high notes don’t give you goosebumps…I don’t know what to tell you.

  32. Where is Danny Joe Brown? Ronnie Van Zant? Gregg Allman? Don Barnes? Huey Lewis? Elvis Costello? Phil Lynott? Steven Tyler? John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr?

    Rolling Stone missed the target by a long shot.

    2

  35. I have my list, I don’t care about what someone else came up with. The list is meaningless to me. I haven’t heard of over 50% of those people. BTW, rap isn’t real music, the same as Beyond Meat isn’t real flesh meat, but they call it meat.

    5

  37. Ha. I can remember when Michael Bolton was regarded as one of the greatest singers EVER… and he didn’t make the list. (I don’t like him.). That’s the thing about these lists, you have to weigh the appreciation versus what you actually like. Jimi Hendrix is not technically a great singer, but I prefer his voice 100-fold, to Michael Bolton.

    2

  41. I have my own list and most of those people aren’t on it (never even heard of a lot of them). All I know is my favorites are whatever appeals to me. I appreciate artists on some songs, and on others I don’t. My dirty little secret– I adore the old J.G. Wentworth opera commercial. : )

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