THIS LIST WAS NO EASY THING TO MAKE; THERE HAVE BEEN COUNTLESS TALENTED WOMEN IN MUSIC WHO HAVE CHANGED THE GAME AS VOCALISTS.

Over the weekend, I asked my followers on Twitter to list their top 20 woman-identified vocalists, across genres, of all time. That tweet received well over 200 replies with names like Phyllis Hyman and Ella Fitzgerald, to Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston, to… Ariana Grande and Adele (please do read those two names with the judgment with which I typed them)

I am a trained musician and singer who also grew up in the Black Church, which really just means that I have been surrounded by very talented vocalists and musicians my entire life. For this reason, music has remained a passion of mine and a topic that I am almost always willing to engage with. It is also for this reason that I can say many of the names people listed truly did not belong on the list.

So here is the criteria for my list, followed by my actual list. This list was no easy thing to make; there have been countless talented women in music who have changed the game with their vocals. For me, what qualifies one to be on a ‘greatest of all time’ list of vocalists is:

  • Technique – control, timbre, phrasing and stamina, balance, support, posture, diction, etc.
  • Vocal prowess – power, tone, style, technique.
  • Conviction – emote, connect, sustain, perform.
  • Longevity – the ability to make outstanding music with great vocals for a long period of time, which leads me to,
  • Care – treating the voice as the instrument that it is that must be cared for.

All these considered, everyone on my list meets all or most of these requirements. And what they may lack in one area, they make up for ten times over in every other area.

THE GREATEST WOMEN VOCALISTS OF ALL TIME:

Ella Fitzgerald

Mahalia Jackson

Sarah Vaughan

Audra McDonald

Aretha Franklin

Whitney Houston

Mariah Carey

Yolanda Adams

Rachelle Ferrell

Barbara Streisand

Lalah Hathaway

Nina Simone

Beyoncé Knowles

Anita Baker

Brandy Norwood

Fantasia Barrino

Jazmine Sullivan

Jill Scott

Toni Braxton

Donna Summer

Honorable (and necessary!) mentions:

Phyllis Hyman

Jennifer Hudson