Favorite Vocalists

[Rgirl]

Judy Garland
Tom Jones
(Both #1 pop singers in my book)
After them, in no order or category:
Roy Orbison
David Byrne
Aretha (in her best decades)
Tina Turner
Kurt Cobain (yes, his voice)
Janis Joplin
Dietrich Fischer Dieskau
Billie Holiday
Bjork
Bessie Smith
Robert Plant
Streisand (mostly her voice; haven't liked her song choices much since "Happy Days Are Here Again.")
Joey Ramone
Patsy Cline
Patti Smith
Leonard Cohen--and I do mean his voice
Tom Waits (His cover of "There's a Place for Us"--when my time is up, I plan to play it and kill myself as it fades out)
Jose Carreras
Beverly Sills
Jessye Norman
Ray Charles
Elvis Presley
Marni Nixon
Betty Buckley
Grace Slick--in her "Jefferson Airplane" years
David Bowie
Elton John
Art Garfunkle
Jim Morrison
Sid Vicious--more style than substance, but what style
Patti LuPone
Cyndi Lauper
Ella Fitzgerald
Kiri Te Kanawa
Freddie Mercury
Gladys Knight
Karen Carpenter
Debbie Harry
James Brown
Beck
Nat King Cole
Aaron Neville (the voice, not the songs, except "Ave Maria")
Kiri Te Kanawa
Cecilia Bartoli
Placido Domingo
Maria Callas
Florence Foster Jenkins
Anne Sophie Von Otter
Dusty Springfield
And a diva you and I both like, Twinnie, and whose name has gone straight out of my head. She's known as "difficult" and was on "60 Minutes." Or maybe Piel will rescue me again. Did you know there's a Julie Budd message board?
Rgirl

 

[RealtorGal]

And a diva you and I both like, Twinnie, and whose name has gone straight out of my head. She's known as "difficult" and was on "60 Minutes." Or maybe Piel will rescue me again. Did you know there's a Julie Budd message board?
Rgirl

Do you mean Kathleen Battle?

 

[Rachael]

Stevie Nicks
Melissa Manchester
Clay Aiken
Cher
Whitney Houston
Mariah Carey
Frank Sintira

 

[Rgirl]

Do you mean Kathleen Battle?

Maybe. I know Kathleen Battle--forgot to put her on my list. I thought it her name started with an R or had Rs in it. I'll see it someday and remember.
Rgirl--no, it's not me. An eight octave range, when I was in my 20s, and totally tone deaf.

 

[rusalka]

KATE BUSH!!

 

[Grgranny]

Has any of you ever heard of William Harness? He is so great. He now travels and sings and speaks at different churches. He had sung in operas in New York, has 4 octave voice and sings any style, opera, country, old pop, whatever. After going down the wrong path when he was in opera, he cleaned up his life and now travels for the Lord. I don't know how his wife stayed with him. He travels all over the world. I see he will be in Kansas City in Sept. but doubt there's any way I could ever go. He usually performs in Quartzsite, AZ when all the rock shows are going on.

 

[~tibia venifica~]

KATE BUSH!!

YES!!!

 

[~tibia venifica~]

LOL
I didn't want to make my reply so short I pushed some button in exitment
I just adore her! Her voice is so sweet and her songs so touching. I also love her dancing, the way she looks and the way she is - very feminine, strong and unpretencious and original. And I say it as a heterosexual woman!
I also :
Maria Callas - I feel like a rotten tomato, scrabled egg when I listen to her!
Sade - again, very femine and stylish
Janis Joplin - sometimes I think she died because of singing like that
Robert Plant - the voice (and hair) of the world's best band!
Freddie Mercury - I took me a long time to wholly appreciate his talent
George Lake - just listen to his voice on "In the Court of the Crimson King". It's mysterious, delicate and powerful at once.
Ronnie James Dio - I haven't heard much of him, but he was really impressive. Very complex singing of light and shade as for a heavy metalist.
Maynard James Keenan - the description would be quite the same as above, but the voice is really different
That would be it - as for international stars. There are also zillions of opera/jazz vocalists whose names I don't recall.

 

[~tibia venifica~]

Ahh! And Tori Amos (there's so mush pain in her voice), Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday and Elizabeth Frazer! I used to be crazy about PJ Harvey too. And Barbra Streisand - her voice is divine. Ladies rock. So does Leonard Cohen

 

[Rgirl]

I Forgot...

Liz Phair
Laurie Anderson
Mick Jagger--HOW COULD I FORGET THOSE LIPS!
Little Richard
Jerry Lee Lewis--Okay, a lot of it was the piano playing
Brenda Lee--Proof positive that 16-year-olds can do it all
The Righteous Brothers
Willie Nelson
JOHNNY CASH!
Louis Armstrong
Bobby Darrin

Rgirl

 

[Rgirl]

Twinnie! Renee Fleming! That's the singer I was trying to think of. But I don't think she's difficult; I had her confused with Kathleen Battle. I think "60 Minutes" did their piece on her because she's such a regular gal. Hey, an R Gal!
Rgirl

 

[Labogh]

My favorite vocalists are mainly soul, funk and r&b singers, and I begin with the marvellous funk master James Brown. I love his raw, deep, soul/funk voice, to me he is the ultimate voice of that genre.

The great vocalists and musicians of Queen, who were exceptional not only because of the music they played but also the vocal harmonies they had. I'm a huge fan of their music and, in my opinion, this foursome is one of the best rock bands ever.

Elvis Presley does it for me everytime. His voice was spectacular.

I am a very big fan of Prince, who is IMO one of the best cross-genre singers and musicians out there, ever. He's as varieted and energetic singer as he is a musician and a songwriter.

Stevie Wonder, who is a skilled songwriter and musician, is also a wonderful soul/r&b singer. I add also Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson to this cathegory (Motown).

Barry White represented the very masculine and deep aspect of singing, I love it.

John Lennon was, in my opinion, the heart and soul of The Beatles. McCartney & Lennon were both very talented songwriters who created some of the best classics in the history of pop music, but I personally enjoy more Lennon's interpretation as well as his solo work.

Female voices:

Macy Gray, Mary J. Blidge and Lauryn Hill all have beautiful soul voices. Like I've said it, I like it raw, and people like Alicia Keys I respect for her songwriting and musician talent, but her voice is nothing special for me.

My other favorite female singers are Chaka Khan, Mary Wells, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Tarja Turunen and Björk.

 

[iluvtodd]

James Taylor
Gordon Lightfoot
Billy Joel
Bryan Adams (doesn't have a great voice, but I like his music - very high energy in concert)
Bruce Hornsby
Carly Simon

I'm really getting to like Josh Groban & Michael Buble, too.

 

[rusalka]

Ahh! And Tori Amos (there's so mush pain in her voice), Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday and Elizabeth Frazer! I used to be crazy about PJ Harvey too. And Barbra Streisand - her voice is divine. Ladies rock. So does Leonard Cohen

great choices, tibia venefica!Kate Bush and Tori Amos are my absolute favorite vocalists... I like Barbra Streisand too, but I think she's a little less expressive. have you heard the song she did some years ago with Celine Dion?

 

[anya_angie]

My picks are:

Josh Groban
Andrea Boccelli (so much better than Pavarotti, IMHO)
Michael Ball (for someone who's never had singing lessons, he sure has a lot of talent)
Luther Vandross
Peabo Bryson
Anthony Warlow
Phillip Quast
Nat King Cole
David Bowie
Bing Crosby

I could listen to these extraordinary men all day and all night. For the ladies, hmm...

The girl from Evanessence or however it's spelled, the slow song she sings, her voice is INCREDIBLE.
Charlotte Church
Enya
Coco Lee (think that's her name, the girl who sang A Love Before Time)
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald, absolutely beautiful voice

I love Celine Dion's voice, but I'm not sure if it would count in the Knocks my Socks off category.

that's about it for me, at least that I can think of for now.

 

[BB]

Amy Lee
Avril Lavigne
Liz Phair
Beyonce Knowles
Britney Spears
John Mayer
Usher
Eminem
Josh Groban
Billy Boyd
Jennifer Lopez
Dido
the lead singer of Simple Plan?

 

[MinnMan]

Singers

I see that Josh Groban was mentioned aeveral times. And I see Charlotte Chutch at least one time. I think when the sing "The Prayer" togather it is beautiful. I heard a few months ago that she turned 18 and now can spend on of her eighteen million dollar trust fund.

But I could say a great singer from Canada, Hank Snow. (the singing Ranger)

old, old John.

 

[Spinner]

My all time favorites are:

Female: Karen Carpenter

YAY!!!!!! I knew I liked you for a good reason. Karen and Eva Cassidy's voices are unrivaled IMO. I'm also partial to Sarah Vaughan, Sade, Jane Monheit, Corinne Drewery (lead singer of Swing Out Sister), Chris Isaak, Edwin McCain and a host of others I can't remember right now.

Dee, you and I must gang up on Laura and bombard her with a day-long flurry of Carpenters songs! WHEEE!!! (this board needs an EVILLE icon )

 

[Dee4707]

Dee, you and I must gang up on Laura and bombard her with a day-long flurry of Carpenters songs! WHEEE!!! (this board needs an EVILLE icon )

Hi Nathan, yes we should do something evil to Ms. Laura and the reason would be ---- just because!! How about getting a mullet-do -- no, that would make her long for someone.

Dee

 

[Spinner]

How about getting a mullet-do -- no, that would make her long for someone.

LOL!! While it would do well to torture her, I would NEVER butcher my hair to look like certain floppy-maned Russian skaters...