Best female voice

[Jack Hammer]

Karen Carpenter voice is (was) amazing. It's kind of sad though, because even though I am truly impressed at how talented she was and appreciate how incredible she sounded, I really can't her music. Sadly it just rubs me the wrong way.

I always liked the raspiness of Janis Joplins voice. That and Christina Aguilera, again I am not a fan of her music, but her vocal range and abilities I find very incredible.

 

[myriad1973]

Sarah MacLachlan, Kate Bush, and Anita Baker

 

[astrodon]

It's no contest ...

It's no contest, as many others have posted,

Karen Carpenter

had the best voice ever by far. She could sing the phone book and it would sound fantastic. In a runner-up class, I would place

Diana Krall
Ella Fitzgerald
Julie Andrews
Jane Moneheit
Annie Lennox

Finally, I would give an honorable mention to

Olivia Newton John
Helen Reddy
Toni Tennille

 

[myriad1973]

Annie Lennox... man, how could I forget her?

 

[JVC]

I like Dianna Krall a lot too.
Just saw on tv that she's married to Elvis Costello, and is pregnant.
Ummmm.........

 

[bcycle]

best female vocalist

Y'all ought to give a serious listen to Neko Case
also
Aretha
Patsy

 

[Geno]

k.d. Lang. Rather not look at her, but gawd what a voice.

 

[stratman]

Maria Muldaur, still around. Better known for: "Midnight at the Oasis"

 

[rmongiovi]

We ought not leave out Annie Haslam, of Renaissance.

 

[Jacksmyname]

I don't know if they have the "best" voices, but two of my favorites are
Dionne Warwick
Gladys Knight

Jack

 

[Davidt1]

I like Patsy Cline and Peggy Lee.

 

[skizzerflake]

It would be pretty hard to pick just one but a new one to check out, an excellent songwriter and singer, Grace Potter. Sometimes sounding like Bonnie Raitt and sometimes like Norah Jones, with backup similar to The Band, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals is off to a good start. They can jam too.

I would put in my votes for Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Mindy Smith, Diana Krall and Allison Krause.

 

[ChrisJam]

Linda Rondstadt and Alison Krauss have the "purest" voices, to me.

Please don't misunderstand: I like Linda Ronstadt a lot. But there have been times when she's chosen to record music that's beyond her voice's capability, and she's sounded strained. When she sticks to pop, ballads, and much of her Hispanic repetoire, she's heavenly to listen to!

Chris

 

[ChrisJam]

Wow, this is a long thread, and I admit I've only read about a third of it.

I have a strong background in classical music. For me, the best two female voices today are Marilyn Horne and Anna Netrebko.

But I'm no stick-in-the-mud about classical music. I love pop, rock, jazz, and international.

Other female singers I admire are Linda Ronstadt, Milla Jovovich (yes, the actress/model/musician), Joni Mitchell (brings back memories), Badi Assad, Kate Bush, Grace Slick, the two Fleetwood Mac singers, and many, many, many more... We have a 650+ collection of CDs, and if I tried to list all my fave female singers from all the genres, I'd forget some and do them an injustice.

Chris

 

[mnnc]

Ella
Piaf
C. Wilson

 

[JungleJim]

check out Canadian, Amanda Marshall. Find a version of Pink doing Me and Bobby McGee.......WOW

 

[avliner]

well, talking about canuck pretty nice voices, we might as well consider:

Anne Murray;
Shania Twain &
Celiene Dion.

Still, some of the most beautiful voices for me are:

Rosemary Clooney;
Norah Jones;
Diana Krall;
Anne Lenox;
Pat Benatar;
Rita Coolidge;
Karen Carpenter;
Barbra Streisand;
Janis Joplin (and by consequence Joss Stone);
Anastacia;
Tina Truner;
Katie Kissoon (singing Mother, on Roger Waters - In the Flesh Tour).

Well, I better stop right here, otherwise there's gonna be an enormous female's names roll though.


Avliner.

 

[Nomo]

Milla Jovovich (yes, the actress/model/musician)

Chris

She sings?

 

[ChrisJam]

She sings?

Yes, and she does it well, too. See this post for details.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=220972&postcount=115

Chris

 

[mint]

well, talking about canuck pretty nice voices, we might as well consider:

Anne Murray;
Shania Twain &
Celiene Dion.

I would add Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah Slean to your list!