Top 10 Greatest Female Soul Singers
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200... read more She is a true legend. She is probably in heaven singing while all the people who died before her listen to the voice they all missed.
The greatest female vocalist of all time, a legend who paved the way for the likes of Celine, Mariah, Beyoncé, and Alicia. This beautiful lady could sing like no other.
Although she's gone, she is and will be a legend forever.
Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 - August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, C. L. Franklin, was minister... read more The feeling and depth with which she sings show that soul singing is all about letting it come from your innermost depths and making a connection with the audience and the universe. Her song Natural Woman is superb.
Whitney was amazing, but look at her - she's dead because she didn't make quite the same connection with her soul as Aretha did. I feel you need to look at the whole picture when you are choosing a soul singer. At the end of the day, who do you want to identify with: a dead drug addict with a grand voice or a woman who changed the music industry for the better and, despite her troubles, is still standing?
Wow, what a woman. Such a powerful voice, such deep music and lyrics.
Etta James was an American singer who spanned a variety of music genres including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazz and gospel. I think Etta James should be number 1. She has one of the most unique voices in history. It was bluesy, jazzy, and rock and roll all in one. It was also super gritty yet super powerful. No one sounded like her, and no one ever will.
I am nearly 50 years young and have just started listening to Etta James. What a talented woman with a fantastic voice, and such a sad, sad life.
I grew up on Aretha and adore Gladys Knight, but Miss Etta is in a class of her own. Class A+.
Patricia Louise Holt-Edwards better known under the stage name Patti LaBelle, is an American singer, author, actress, and entrepreneur. A supreme soul tour de force, soaring sweet tones, and fantastic range - an exciting voice that kicks you in the stomach, kisses you on the lips, and strokes your ears all at the same time. If you cannot hear it, you are senile... or dead.
Patti LaBelle makes lyrics come alive. She has a great, very flexible voice and perfectly masters emotions. It is something special to see her perform live because she is an exceptional entertainer.
A serious living legend who gave the world hits such as If Only You Knew and Lady Marmalade, just to name a few.
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born 5 May 1988) is an English singer and songwriter. Graduating from the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in 2006, Adele was given a recording contract by XL Recordings after a friend posted her demo on Myspace the same year. She is best known with her international... read more If you hear her sing, you will always know who she is. Most importantly, you will feel her songs connect with you in more ways than you can count, and that is Adele for you.
Adele puts so much emotion and soul into every song that it's enough to make people cry. Have you heard Hello by this queen? It made Katy Perry cry and Sam Smith scream like a little girl.
Just listen to Someone Like You or see the video. It will touch you deep inside and make you cry.
Chaka Khan is an American singer-songwriter whose career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. One of the greatest voices of all time. She created a new style of singing that many singers copied. You hear many singers doing runs in their songs. Chaka and Stevie perfected the riffs and runs.
This woman has had more impact on the singers that followed her than any from her generation. Chaka has sung with so many different artists, and most importantly, she still sounds fantastic... She is her own category.
How many singers can sing the following genres: Rock, Pop, Soul, Jazz, and Gospel? How many? Aretha and Chaka - that's it. But that's what great singers do - they can sing anything.
Gladys Maria Knight, known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian and author. If female soul is the category, then this list misses the mark. The top three have to be Aretha, Etta, and Gladys (and the order of these three wonderful lady artists could be in any order from 1-3). How they end up as 2, 4, and 10, I really don't understand.
Everyone else is pop art!
Yes, Gladys Knight is ethereally sublime and wonderful - a smooth, soulful, purring expression of heartfelt aching want, all wrapped up in a beautiful bunch of ladylove!
No one can touch the Empress! Her longevity of quality voice and music far outweighs all of her peers, and her integrity too!
Anita Denise Baker is a retired American singer-songwriter. Starting her career in the late 1970s with the funk band Chapter 8, Baker eventually released her first solo album, The Songstress, in 1983. In 1986, she rose to stardom following the release of her platinum-selling second album, Rapture, which... read more
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She started her career as a backing singer on Uptown Records in 1989. She has released 13 studio albums, eight of which have achieved multi-platinum worldwide sales.
Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American singer, actress and spokesperson. She rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season of American Idol, coming in seventh place. Yes, girl, yes. The power of that voice is amazing.
Florence Leontine Mary Welch is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. She is best known as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Florence + the Machine. Surely, if we are talking about now, Florence Welch works very well, and she proves it with each song. Those tunes and her voice just make one shiver. She definitely belongs here.
She's amazing. Best singer of the century, hands down.
Alicia Augello Cook, known by the pseudonym Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Talented, pretty, and amazing voice!
Brandy Rayana Norwood, known professionally by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, model, and actress.
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Ross rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes.
Marie Dionne Warrick is an American singer, actress and TV-show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health. Dionne is second only to Aretha in the number of charted singles. Her inimitable voice conveys all emotional facets without resorting to the shouting so prevalent today. She is one of the few singers who can handle the key changes, time signature shifts, modulations, etc., of the Bacharach/David songbook with apparent ease (e.g., check out "Promises, Promises").
She can also belt out terrific emotional anthems - check out "His House and Me" on YouTube or "All in Love Is Fair."
She was very good too and had many hits.
Teena Marie has something that Whitney, Celine, and Beyoncé do not have: PASSION. Listen to the way she vocally expresses a soul weeping on "Casanova Brown," without using any words.
I have seen contestants on The Voice and The X Factor sing Whitney, Celine, and Beyoncé, sometimes even owning the song. However, I have yet to hear ANYONE interpret a Teena Marie ballad without making my ears bleed.
Listen to Teena's cover of "Wishing on a Star" or her song "Naked to the World," and you will FEEL the passion and soul this little white girl emits from her heart.
She is one of the few artists to whom I can listen over and over without growing weary. It is always a thrill to hear the unique vocal techniques she has developed to express emotion.
Truly miss her.
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.
Joscelyn Eve Stoker, better known by her stage name Joss Stone, is a British singer, songwriter and actress. Joss Stone has the most powerful, and biggest voice, alive today. When it comes to soul she is the one you should listen to. She deserves to be number 1, there is no doubt about that! I love all of her work!
Amazing will touch your heart!
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter known for her deep expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues, and jazz. She is also a well-known member of the 27 Club, as she overdosed on alcohol at age 27. She's the best. There are no other singers that could both sing and write with her depth and maturity at such a young age.
She was the best and most beautiful soul singer of all time, and it is so sad how she died so young. R.I.P.