1. BILLIE HOLIDAY

The voice of jazz, Lady Day overcame numerous obstacles during her life. Born into extreme poverty and racial prejudice in Philadelphia in 1915, she survived rape as a child, prostitution, and imprisonment before headlining at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theatre. Her iiyubjmbeat vocal style wasn’t to everyone’s liking and her range was limited, but when matched with longtime lover and tenor sax player Lester Young, her tonal variations and instinctive phrasing could hit extraordinary heights — especially on songs like God Bless the Child and Good Morning Heartache. The fact that she died under humiliating circumstances in 1959, surrounded by a police guard in a hospital, is a sad testament to how society still treats its premier artists.

2. ARETHA FRANKLIN

There are certain notes that cannot be reached on any instrument — and most of them are in Aretha Franklin’s repertoire. Although the Queen of Soul’s reputation is based almost entirely on her Atlantic Records soul output between ’66 and ’72, Franklin did enough during those years to prove herself the greatest singer of the latter half of the 20th century. (Even now, her reading of Respect is synonymous with women’s rights.) She was tutored by her father, the Reverend C. L. Franklin, and by major gospel stars Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward, and raised in the church. Sadly, the real shame about Aretha is the substandard material she records. However, 1987’s return to her roots, One Lord One Faith One Baptism, proves she still has a commanding voice

.3. BESSIE SMITH

She drank heavily, had incredibly bad taste in men, and was fatally injured in a 1937 car crash. Her songs ranged from bawdy vaudeville to slow blues to upbeat swing. Louis Armstrong was among her many noted accompanists. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1894, Smith was one of the first blues artists to sell huge numbers of records. Her influence is impossible to gauge, as so many of her peers borrowed so heavily from her deep, raw-throated style. Bessie Smith was, without doubt, the Empress of the Blues.

4. MADONNA

Her record company (Maverick) may have been responsible for bringing the whiny harridan Morissette to public attention, but we’ll forgive Ms. Ciccone the odd lapse. More than anyone, Madonna has deconstructed the role of the female singer in popular music — through her songs, her deliberately iconographic videos, and her studiously outrageous live shows, along with her much-vaunted talent as a businesswoman. What’s amazing about Madonna is that on several different occasions, her fame has reached a point where it threatens to obscure all else — but her music always wins. This is the most consistently innovative pop star of the ’80s and ’90s.

5. NINA SIMONE

Simone would undoubtedly be more famous if she wasn’t so outspoken. Stories about this notoriously emotional singer depict her fiery rage — from one occasion where she chased a late-paying record label boss around his office with a knife, to another where she took a shotgun to a neighbor’s son for playing his grunge music too loud. But her temper (and her powerful, soulful voice) is her strongest asset. Fans admire Simone’s often brutal honesty, the way she won’t suffer fools. A classically trained pianist, Simone has recorded extensively in many different styles: soul, blues, pop, gospel, Broadway… all in her own compulsive, unique voice. Simone authored the second black national anthem, To Be Young, Gifted, and Black.

6. JOAN JETT

I love rock ‘n’ roll/Put another dime in the jukebox, baby. Ironic, really, that it finally took a woman to define rock ‘n’ roll, considering rock is such a patriarchal form. Jett’s Sex Pistols-produced debut solo album, Bad Reputation, was released on an independent label — corporate America ignored the singer after the breakup of her first band, the all-female Runaways. Jett is included here above other female rock icons such as Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry for her influence on the Riot Grrls of Olympia (rock music’s first

7. MAHALIA JACKSON

The first gospel superstar, Jackson crossed boundaries of race and creed with her emotive, expressive contralto and blues-influenced music (similar to Bessie Smith’s). Born in a New Orleans slum in 1911, Jackson joined her local Baptist church choir at the age of four, and by the time she’d reached her teens she’d developed her own definitive, rhythm-led style. Her 1948 reading of Move On Up a Little Higher is the best-selling gospel record of all time. In the ’60s, she became a force in the black civil rights movement, and even sang Precious Lord at Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral.

8. TAMMY WYNETTE

Feminists decry her because of Stand by Your Man. Indeed, many of her 20 (self-penned) number-one country hits are about either standing by your man or getting divorced. But listen to the lyrics: After all, he’s just a man…. Doesn’t that indicate pity rather than obedience? Wynette led a turbulent life: The country star picked cotton as a kid, and went through a couple of stormy marriages, an unexplained beating, several stomach operations, and drug dependency. She’s listed here not only because she had an incredibly soulful voice, but because she — alongside Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline — defined female county music in the ’70s and beyond.

9. YOKO ONO

She has borne herself with more integrity and dignity than all her critics combined. She has generated an incredible body of work — articulate, experimental, feminist, inspirational — as 1992’s massive Ono Box Set proves. She positively influenced John Lennon — possibly the most important popular music icon of late 20th century — encouraging him to lose his misogyny and become politically active. (She was also directly responsible for Lennon’s finest work, the primal scream therapy of Plastic Ono Band.) She has influenced generations of left-field musicians, from PiL to Sonic Youth to Huggy Bear. Ono is America’s most underrated artist.

10. LAURYN HILL

Not a great hiphop artist (The Miseducation Of… is a pop album; the Fugees’ work draws directly from ’70s soul), but terribly important nonetheless. Through both her sex and her unflagging determination to keep reinventing her music, Hill has proved that rap doesn’t need to be ugly or preachy or fall into whitey’s gangsta stereotypes. Here is a modern-day role model to end all role models.

28 replies on “Everett True’s List of The Ten Greatest Female Singers of the 20th Century”

  1. What about Connie Francis. Huge in 50s-60s Perfect pitch, powerful voice. Whether it was pop, country, swing. etc. Recorded in 9 languages. America’s greatest export!!

  2. You are perfect. I always think of Yoko Ono before I think of Barbra Streisand. I may not be a fan of Streisand’s song choices but her voice is the best I have heard – non opera.

  4. Are you sick? or just kidding….LOL!! Give me a break, laddie. Yoko Ono and Madonna on the same list as Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith. ok.

  5. The author has confused “great singer” with “influential personality” on a few counts, leaving no room for Janis Joplin, Mama Cass Elliot, Natalie Merchant, Annie Lennox, Gloria Estefan(WAY better singer than Madonna), Chrissy Hynde(better singer than JJ)and I could go on.

  6. Where’s Ma Rainey? Are you kidding dude. How can Bessie Smith be on the list and not the Queen of the Blues? Yoko Ono please! And as far as Nina Simone “being so outspoken” that’s just stupid, she was a performer during the anti apartheid movement in America.

  9. This list shows that Everett True knows bugger all about the art of singing. Most, if not all of the above cannot touch Whitney Huston, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and that blond whatever her name is from the Mickey Mouse Show. I mean, Madonna, c’mon.

  11. You must be a total nut job to even put Yoko Ono on this list. You must have some serious mental issues. I would rate a pack of wolves howling above Yoko Ono! I would rate the gruts of wild boars above Yoko Ono! This list has discredited you opinion on music!!!

  12. You’re fucking with us, right. Lauren Hill, Madonna and Yoko Ono and no MIA ZAPATA!! Mia’s singing sends chills and inspires and enlightens. I’d put her right at the very top of the list.

  13. First of all, how did I miss this article? Second of all.. I wish I had missed it; now I’m all fired up.
    1. Madonna!? MADONNA!? You discuss her fame and pop star status, but never her “voice”. Did you miss the title of your own piece? She never even sang live until Elton John called her out. She’s famous for her body, videos, and statements. Madonna’s voice? No.
    2. Umm… Lauryn Hill is a rapper. Did you forget? And oh yeah, her ONE great album came at the brink of this century. And she still qualifies as one of the ten best? Did you look back at all?
    3. I’m going to argue with Aretha Franklin, and on this one I know i might be in the minority. The reason no instrument can play those notes is because instruments play in TUNE. Aretha’s always been all over the place, and it doesn’t have genuine ground to me. She has no range (meaning able to bring it down and entice the listener with something other than blowing). Plus, she’s really only had a few good songs.
    4. What about Ronnie Spector, the inspiration for the Wall of Sound in the 60s? Joni Mitchell’s lovely soprano? Renee Fleming, of wonderful opera fame? (On that note, no opera singers?) And yes, even Whitney Houston, the golden voice, came out in the 80s. Her voice could do anything, and reach all people.

    I see now why the Stranger buried it quickly back in its archives. This article is embarrassing.

  14. Musical taste is wholly subjective, so I do find all the accusations of depravity a touch silly–but such are the perils of making a top 10 list.

    Thank you for putting Lady Day #1; I just finished her autobiography, and listening to her songs now I am yet further convinced that she is the greatest Jazz singer of all time.

    I personally would have replaced Madonna, Yoko Ono, and Lauryn Hill with Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, and Tracy Chapman, and tried to find a place for Grace Slick as well, but that’s just me.

  17. Just for the record, this piece was written about a decade ago (originally for an Australian mainstream newspaper) and I totally, vehemently, disagree with all my above choices. Aside from Holiday, Simone, Jett… and Ono, of course.

  19. No Mavis Staples?
    Where would pre-94 Kat Bjelland rate? Just curious…
    I agree about Yoko but no one else in my life does. But no one in my life has bothered to listen to her music.
    last question: how do you feel about Joni Mitchell?

  20. *pphhhhttt* No Yma Sumac? Christ, she had a 4 and 1/8 octave range! I understand that there’s always going to be some disagreement in top ten lists but you have to be fucking kidding me with Yoko Ono, Joan Jett, Madonna etc.

  22. I love Madonna, but this is a greatest singers list…she does not deserve to be in this list and neither does Yoko Ono or really Joan Jett…

  23. Madonna, by and large, has sung live throughout her career. Anyone who says otherwise obviously has not seen all of her tours. Sheh ad throat troubles during the Blond Ambition Tour, and relied on backing recorded vocals for some nights more than others, but seeing video and listening to audio clealry shows that she mnostly sang live, even on that tour. Madonna usually fares well on best-of/greatest lists, so why anyone would be surprised to see her place well here or anywhere else is beyond me.

    Anyhow, this list should have been called “artists” rather than “singers.” Having a great voice doesn’t necessarily translate to being a great artist, anyhow, as some of the big-voiced “divas” have shown us.

  24. To make a list of the ten greatest female singers and not have Celine Dion, Whitney Houston , Mariah Carey or Barbara Streisand But Yoko Ono and Madonna on the list. Did you at one time abuse drugs very badly and lose your brain cells?????

  25. Like I said above (for some reason, can’t log in as JR1), the writer probably meant “artists” rather than acts with the best vocal abilities. Great artistry, IMO, is more important than being an outstanding vocalist, as a number of artists have shown. Among females, Aretha Franklin is the top example of an act with a big, outstanding voice whose voice is/was so powerful, that it made her an outstanding artist.

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