Top 10 Best Female Singers of the '70s
The '70s decade was a golden era for music, especially when it comes to female vocalists. This was a time when women in music were carving out their own niche and making their voices heard, both literally and figuratively.
Mariya Takeuchi (竹内まりや) (born March 20, 1955) is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. She is best known internationally for her 1984 city pop hit "Plastic Love," which saw a resurgence in popularity in the 2010s due to internet sharing and YouTube algorithms... read more
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, she rose to fame as the lead singer of the Supremes, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Ross later launched a successful solo career and has been inducted into the Rock... read more Diana Ross is the greatest performer of all time! Her beautiful voice, elegance, acting skills, and beauty all come together to make her the most important female singer of the '60s and '70s.
Even 50 years later, she still has her beautiful voice!
The full package - style, beauty, a unique and totally commanding stage presence, and the most underrated voice ever.
She's still touring and selling out venues like the Hollywood Bowl after 50 years in the business and at the age of 72.
The best music ever! I defy anyone to listen to Baby Love without tapping their foot!
Brenda Mae Tarpley, known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer and the top-charting solo female vocalist of the 1960s. She is best known for her hits I'm Sorry and Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. Lee was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. One of the best ever, but she never got enough credit!
Loved everything she released!
Anni-Frid Synni, Princess Reuss of Plauen, is widely known as Frida Lyngstad or simply Frida. She is a Swedish pop and jazz singer who rose to international fame as a member of the pop group ABBA. After ABBA, Frida pursued a solo career and remains a respected figure in Scandinavian music. The best singer of ABBA! She is wonderful and the most beautiful woman in the pop music world. Her voice is deeper and richer than Agnetha's. Thanks to her chocolate-velvet voice, such songs as Knowing Me, Knowing You, Money, Money, Money, Fernando, One Man, One Woman, I Have a Dream, The King Has Lost His Crown, Lovers Live a Little Longer, Super Trouper, and Andante, Andante have taken on their proper sound.
A lot of people talk more about Agnetha, but in my opinion, Frida's voice, appearance, and acting skills are better than Agnetha's.
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard Carpenter, formed the 1970s duo Carpenters. Known for her contralto vocals, Karen Carpenter is regarded as one of the greatest female vocalists of all time. Karen can sing something out of Sesame Street and make it sound like a hit (and if memory serves, it was a hit!). When she goes into her lower register and brings out those deep, soothing, tender notes, she can make it sound like she's having dinner with you at a romantically lit restaurant table at a steakhouse, where the waiter is pouring you both a bottle of red wine.
The fireplace across the dining room adds to the warmth of the conversation that the two of you are having about absolutely anything Karen wants. There is an unmistakably unique charm and a very powerful sense of longing in her voice that just grabs you and makes you want to listen to her even more.
And here's the thing, even when she's just talking, her speaking voice, her tone, and her inflection make her seem like somebody you absolutely want as your closest friend!
Agnetha Åse Fältskog is a Swedish recording artist best known as a member of the internationally successful pop group ABBA. She gained global fame in the 1970s and later pursued a solo career that included both Swedish and English-language albums. In recent years, she participated in ABBA's 2021 comeback... read more The '70s was a golden decade for music. A time when real singers sang real songs, mostly self-written. Real vocals sung without the need for auto-tune and without resorting to wearing boob tubes and miniskirts halfway up their behinds to get noticed. How many of today's manufactured, talentless poseurs could cut it in the '70s? Not many!
There are so many '70s female singers to choose from, I find it hard to pick a favorite: Ann Wilson, Kiki Dee, Linda Ronstadt, Melanie Safka, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Cass Elliot, Stevie Nicks, and Karen Carpenter. I could go on, so I will: Helen Reddy, Kate Bush, Carole King, Carly Simon, Anne Murray, Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, Cher, Elkie Brooks, Phoebe Snow, Bette Midler, Siouxsie Sioux, Agnetha, and Anni-Frid of ABBA.
Linda Maria Ronstadt is a retired American popular music singer. She earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, and numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums... read more Again, I say it: Linda Ronstadt is the second-best female singer in a popular sense in the twentieth century. She should be number two. It has to be that way - it is that important.
She was the best-selling female artist in the 1970s. She sang the most popular non-English album in American history. She was great and versatile, excelling in country, other genres of music, and even classical music.
We miss something by not telling the truth, in society and in culture.
The truth is that, next to Karen Carpenter, Linda Ronstadt is the best female singer that has ever been.
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer and songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums. She joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, contributing to the success of their... read more Stevie is, by far, in my opinion, the most inspiring and influential '70s female musician. Her voice just sends chills. LOVE HER!
Whenever I'm feeling stressed, sad, or angry, I listen to her songs, and they take me away from those bad feelings.
I love Stevie Nicks because of her voice. When you hear it, it's just something that touches you.
Barbara Joan Streisand, known professionally as Barbra Streisand, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker. She has won numerous awards, including two Academy Awards, ten Grammy Awards, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Streisand is one of the best-selling recording artists of all... read more Only those without an ear for music do not realize Barbra was the greatest female voice of the 20th century (and to date). Unfortunately, many of her songs were under contract, and she had to perform the difficult show tunes in most cases.
The greatest vocalist of all time. She can outperform any singer on this list with one vocal phrase.
The best singer of every single decade she's ever lived in!
The Newcomers
A superb, classy singer who, as a member of The New Seekers, sold 35 million records in the 1970s.
She was a star in the United Kingdom, the USA, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Asia - in fact, a star all over the world. Check her out on YouTube singing Stand by Your Man, Saving All My Love for You, Independent Woman, and Talk Amongst Yourselves from the Boy George musical Taboo.
Check her performances in Blood Brothers as the definitive Mrs. Johnstone. She sang the theme tune to the Gregory Peck production The Dove (Sail the Summer Winds), and her brilliant It Oughta Sell a Million should be included on '70s compilations. Lyn's last album, Late Night, is brilliant, especially the songs Late Night Grand Hotel, Hurt, and Dance with My Father.
No one sings like Lyn Paul. She has also starred in Blood Brothers, Taboo, Footloose, Cabaret, and Rhinestone Mondays. CLASS, CLASS, CLASS!
Laura Nyro was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She earned critical acclaim for her original albums, especially Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry. Her work also achieved commercial success through hit versions of her songs recorded by artists such as Barbra Streisand... read more There are few on this list who wrote bigger hits. Even though others had bigger hits with her material, her originals were always superior.
Dame Olivia Newton-John was a British-Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner who amassed five number-one and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles, along with two number-one Billboard 200 solo albums. She died of breast cancer on August 8, 2022, in... read more Olivia could sing almost every genre: true country, folk, pop, rock, and jazz. Her voice just gets better with age. A great actress and always a positive force on this planet, there is no other voice out there that can sound like Olivia. She has a huge range, perfect pitch, and impeccable intonation. I agree with all the other comments. Olivia is a goddess. SHE JUST SANG, the finest singer. I love me some Olivia.
Olivia "The Goddess" Newton-John was the total package! Beauty, class, and the voice of an angel. She will always be #1 in my book. I wish we had female singers today with such a great voice. They all sound whiny or on helium today. Sad!
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer, songwriter, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with hit singles such as You're So Vain and Anticipation. Simon has won several major awards, including a Grammy, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe. I have always felt that Carly's songs are so real and lack pretension. If you have listened to her in interviews, she is very humble and sometimes self-deprecating, and often very funny. She doesn't take herself too seriously, but I wish others would!
Come on... she should be much higher on this list. She did the first album of standards, Torch (and followed up with more over the decades), but Linda Ronstadt got all the media blitz with What's New. Listen to Torch, then What's New, and you'll know who the real queen is.
Helen Maxine Lamond Reddy (October 25, 1941 - September 29, 2020) was an Australian singer, actress, and activist. She achieved major international success in the 1970s, especially in the United States. Reddy placed 15 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40, with six of them reaching the Top 10, including... read more Truly one of the biggest vocalists of the '70s and one of the most unappreciated hit-makers of all time. The powerful range of her vocals, at times subtle and very tender, showcased her exceptional talent. Within a short span of 5 years, she produced some of the best pop songs ever! "I Don't Know How to Love Him," "Angie Baby," "You're My World," "You and Me Against the World," "Peaceful," "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady," "Emotion," "Candle on the Water," and of course, "I Am Woman" showcased what a true vocalist is.
And then there were some of her best songs that unfortunately did not get the attention they should have. So please listen to "Poor Little Fool," "Somewhere in the Night," "One More Night," and "Let Me Be Your Woman."
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey is a Welsh singer whose career began in the mid-1950s. She is best known for her powerful voice and for recording the theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. Bassey was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire... read more I was mesmerized by her vocals at 13 in the movie score Goldfinger! I saw her on TV variety shows after and was spellbound by her vocal strength and power. Years later, Barbra Streisand, Vikki Carr, Phyllis Hyman, Celine Dion, oh gosh, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and Whitney Houston reigned as all the greats!
Always a pleasure to listen to Shirley. Masterful expressive phrasing. That's what you come to expect every time you hear Shirley sing. Until you hear her, you never knew such unmatched ferocious power could be at once so tender, so refined, so magical.
No singer has ever touched my heart and soul the way Vikki Carr has! She can deliver a song with such passion and emotion that you literally feel what she is feeling. Sinatra has said, "She possesses my kind of voice!" and Dean Martin said, "She's the best girl singer in the business!"
I was thrilled to see Ms. Carr perform in Sept. 2012, and indeed, she continues to reign as the BEST girl singer ever!
She is just so great. You should see her performing live and listen to her different recordings. She has a WONDERFUL voice going from country music to Latino pop, mariachis, blues, etc. As Sinatra and others said, she is definitely one of the best female singers in the US. Besides, she is such a very warm-hearted person.
Christophe (Belgium)
Carole King is an American composer and singer-songwriter. She is regarded as the most successful female songwriter in the United States during the second half of the 20th century. Between 1955 and 1999, she wrote or co-wrote 118 pop hits that charted on the Billboard Hot 100... read more Certainly one of the most influential with her verse. Tapestry spoke to my soul.
A very distinct voice makes any band the key to success. She sings well with others like James Taylor.
"Will you still love me tomorrow?"
Roberta Joan Mitchell, professionally known as Joni Mitchell, is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Drawing from folk, pop, rock, and jazz, Mitchell's songs often reflect social and environmental ideals as well as her feelings about romance, confusion, disillusionment, and joy. Her 1971 album Blue is frequently... read more She had a unique voice and wrote all her own songs. There has never been anyone like her. An excellent guitarist too!
A superb musician. One of the greatest female singer-songwriters, and how wonderfully has her voice aged?!
Top ten for sure. Hope she does a farewell tour but not quite yet.
LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 - May 17, 2012), known by her stage name Donna Summer, was an American singer, songwriter, and painter. She gained fame during the disco era of the late 1970s with hits like Hot Stuff, Last Dance, and Bad Girls. Summer was often referred to as the Queen of Disco... read more Pop music's first megastar, selling millions of records worldwide and pushing the boundaries by crossing into multiple genres. She was the first female to dominate the Billboard charts, the first to have 3 #1 singles in the same year, and the first to have 5 top 5 singles in the same year.
She was also the first to have the #1 single and #1 album at the same time in the modern era (and the first to repeat that feat), the first to have 2 songs in the top 3 (and the first to repeat that feat). She brought 3 multi-platinum double albums to the top of the charts in 14 months.
In one 13-month period, she scored 6 top 4 singles (4 #1s, 1 #2, and 1 #4). The only artist to be nominated for a Grammy in 5 different genres and the only artist to win in 4 different genres. She knocked the door down for female artists to build careers on dance music (Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, and Rihanna). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named her "Diva De Tutte Dive," the first true diva of the modern pop era.
Catherine "Kate" Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She gained prominence in 1978 with her debut single "Wuthering Heights," which topped the UK Singles Chart. Bush is known for her eclectic musical style and has received critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout... read more I admire her for being only interested in the music and never being a diva. Her writings are genius!
A vocal range in pure opposition to that of Arthur Brown's. Excellent!
Everything about her is original. She is a pure talent.
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known as the lead singer of the new wave and punk rock band Blondie. She achieved international success in the late 1970s and early 1980s with hits like "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me." In addition to her music career, Harry... read more Her approach is like a jazz singer's. I don't know what her range is, but what she does within that range is astounding. Debbie in the late '70s and early '80s used her voice like a trumpet and is endlessly inventive. Mature Debbie, aged 55 and older, is even more impressive, especially on the new material, showcasing pure artistry on every track.
In concert, she can slip off-key, and like Nina Simone, still overwhelm us with her artistry and feeling. She's also a total actress. English Boys, Little Girl Lies, and Rip Her to Shreds sound like the work of one voice inhabited by different people.
Her/Blondie's lyrics are also worth more attention than they get - they frequently delve into madness, which is what Blondie's all about, letting go of reality. My favorite line is "one week hung up superb said maybe not."
Morna Anne Murray, known professionally as Anne Murray, was born on June 20, 1945. She is a retired Canadian singer who found success in pop, country, and adult contemporary music. Murray sold over 55 million albums worldwide and won four Grammy Awards, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in... read more Anne was Elvis Presley's favorite voice. An alto who sang with such ease, she slid to her notes at times, and no one has ever been able to do it like Anne. Her interpretation of a song is unique. A strong range for an alto and a quality rare and beautiful.
I listened to Anne's music every day growing up. I still put on a song or two, and it brings me right back to the feeling or moment when I first heard her voice. Her music and voice comforted me, and in the subtleties of her style, I found myself in awe of such a talent. Thank you, Anne, for the voice, the music, and the memories.
Marie Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress, and television show host. She became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization and served as a United States Ambassador of Health. Warwick is also known for her string of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, many written... read more "You'll Never Get to Heaven If You Break My Heart" was the first time I came to know the voice of Dionne Warwick. I was 12 and, as I came out of the operating room, drowsy, I heard this song playing. Everything was right. On the gurney, I was singing and moving. Music has that effect on me, and this song did, so did "Walk On By" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?"
Variety shows were big on TV in the '60s. It was an introduction to genres kids aren't as privy to now. We had "Auditorium" in school where we learned all the great masters, music, poetry, and art. I'm a Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach fan. Love Dionne!
Ellen Naomi Cohen, known professionally as Mama Cass and later as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas and the Papas. After the group disbanded, Elliot released five solo albums and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall... read more She was such a wonderful and humble singer. I would have loved to hear what she could have accomplished had she not been taken so soon.
Loved Cass Elliot. She was definitely taken from us too soon.
Tina Turner, née Anna Mae Bullock, was a singer, dancer, actress, and author, whose career spanned more than half a century, earning her widespread recognition and numerous awards. She was known as the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll. Turner sold over 100 million records worldwide and won eight Grammy Awards... read more What can I say? Fantastic voice. Loved her music. Her concerts were fantastic - such energy. An all-around beautiful and talented lady. She will be sorely missed in the world of music.
A musical icon! Tina made history with her performances and wonderful voice. One of music history's greatest vocalists and performers.
The greatest female voice in pop music. Ever!