1 Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson (Michael Joseph Jackson; August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, dancer, and songwriter. He passed away from cardiac arrest caused by a propofol and benzodiazepine overdose on June 25, 2009. He donated (at least) a remarkable 500,000,000 dollars to charity. Michael is also known as The King of Pop (a title given to him by Elizabeth Taylor) or under the initials MJ. Dubbed the King of Pop, he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. ...read more. I was blown away when I first listened tobMichael Jackson Butterflies acappella. His range, pitch, delivery as a singer is perfect. Not only that Michael can sing all kinds of styles such as Broadway, Rock, Soul and classical. Did you know Michael Jackson was also an incredible beatboxer?
Putting a woman beater above the King of Pop is a crime.
The greatest of all time
The best singer ever
2 Amir Tataloo
Amirhossein Maghsoudloo, born September 21, 1987 (age 33)
better known by his stage name Amir Tataloo, is an Iranian singer and songwriter. He was born in Tehran, Majidiyeh region.
An underground musician unauthorized by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Tataloo is "a rapper with so many fans" in words of Time and has a "strong fan base" among the youth in Iran according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. His style has been described as "popular flashy blend of pop, rap and R&B".
As of March 2017, he has up to 4 million followers on Instagram and 1.3 million followers on Facebook, making him one of the most popular Iranians on social media. Amir Tataloo is the best R&B singer in the world.
Iranian best r&b singers
He is Best Iranian rapper and Firs R&B singer in Iran, his father of R&B In Iran.
The best in the world.
Yeah men
3 Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, is an American singer and actress, who started out in the popular pop/r&b girl group Destiny's Child. They had multiple top 5 hits such as "No, No, No", "Say My Name", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Survivor", "Independent Women", "Bootylicious", and "Jumpin', Jumpin" from 1999 to 2004. After they broke up in 2006, Beyonce pursued her solo career, creating smash hits such as "Crazy In Love", "Single Ladies", "Halo", "Partition", "Irreplaceable", "Drunk In Love", "Baby Boy", "Beautiful Liar", "7/11", and "Run The World (Girls)", and has since become one of the most influential performers and biggest celebrities of the 21st century.
4 Usher
Usher Terry Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. Born in Dallas, but raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee was where he lived until moving to Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 12 where his mother put him in local singing competitions all over the city. I think he's good, Confessions is one of my favorite r&b albums of all time and Here I Stand is great too, but he's definitely not better than Joe, Brian McKnight, Johnny Gill, Luther, Teddy, Marvin etc.
5 Brian McKnight
Brian McKnight, born June 5, 1969, is an American R&B singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays eight instruments including piano, guitar, bass guitar, percussion, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet. He is one of the very few leggiero tenors in the pop genre. McKnight is perhaps most recognized for his strong falsetto and belting range. McKnight's work has earned him 16 Grammy Award nominations, though he has never won. He is third only to Morten Lindberg and Snoop Dogg for the record of most Grammy nominations without a win. His most well-known songs include "Back At One", "One Last Cry", and "Anytime." I'm kinda okay with Luther Vandross or Michael Jackson (who let's be honest, inspired Brian himself in some way) being above him but I wouldn't put Usher, Akon or Nicole Scherzinger (who are good but not as legendary as Brian) above him, and I definitely would not put Chris Brown or Beyonce (who are very overrated) even near him!
Love McKnight! His voice takes me to another dimension.
Half of the people above him shouldn't even be here.
No r&b without him
6 Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in-demand background vocalist for several different artists. Beyonce above Luther is an insult to music. Beyonce not even r&b, pop is not r&b!
Beyoncé and chris brown above Luther? Wow. They shouldn't even be in the top 50, there are so many better singers than overrated beyonce and chris brown!
Luther should be number one. He's the master of vocal notes.
This is truly comical! Chris Brown above Luther?
7 Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger, born Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente on June 29, 1978, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, and television personality. She first rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop/r&b group The Pussycat Dolls. She has an amazing voice, enough said. Her songs don't always show it but just listen to her live and just know she has an amazing voice that rivals and even trumps that of Beyoncé's. I do wish that she'd stick more to the r&b genre though, since that that is where she excels the most. Leave the pop to katy perry, Britney spears, lady gaga and rihanna.
Shes good and deserves to be on the list but she definitely shouldn't be higher than Brian McKnight, Teddy Pendergrass, Johnny Gill, etc.
She has a great voice and I wish she had more true r&b songs to show it off. Plus, don't forget she fine!
Nicole Scherzinger! No doubt about this chick!
8 Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill started out as a solo artist in the 1980s, releasing two albums that didn't garner much attention. It was not until later, when Gill became a member of the r&b/pop group New Edition, that people started to take notice of his music and his talent. He went on to release his most successful album, 'Johnny Gill', in 1990, giving him his biggest hits with songs like "My, My, My", "Rub You the Right Way", "Fairweather Friend", and "Rap My Body Tight." He went on to release two more albums in the 90's, but then took a long break from his solo career, not releasing another solo album until 2011's "Still Winning." Throughout the late 90's and early 2000's, he was part of the r&b group LSG, along with Keith Sweat and the late Gerald Levert, who released two albums. He was also a part of the 7th New Edition album, "One Love", released in 2004 to mixed reviews. In 2014, Gill released his 7th solo studio album, "Game Changer", one of his best works yet. The reason Gill faded out of the ...read more. He has one of the best voices I've ever heard! It's upsetting that people with so little talent are more famous than him.
He needs to be higher! He should be above Beyoncé the pretentious mainstream artist and Chris Brown who is no where as good as Johnny is and uses auto-tune on every song!
9 Akon
Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, better known as Akon, is an American-Senegalese singer, rapper, songwriter, businessman, record producer and actor. I miss the days of Akon! He was everywhere and it was great. Now we have wack singers like ty dolla $ign, Bryson tiller, tory lanez, chris brown and august alsina who mostly sing about stupid crap and can't sing that well. THey will never replace Akon and T-Pain! The only one who comes close is the Weeknd but still his voice is very weak and girly!
He's good but definitely shouldn't be higher than Brian McKnight, Teddy Pendergrass etc.
He has one of the most best lyrical and flowing songs. Konvict, and Koncrete are the two of his albums that reached platinum.
We love you so much akon
10 The Weeknd
Abęl Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally by his stage name The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was born on 16 February 1990 in Toronto, Ontario.
He used to upload songs on YouTube in 2010, now he has 3 studio albums Kiss Land, Beauty Behind The Madness and Starboy. He has won 3 Grammy awards and 9 Juno Awards He has amazing vocals. Listen to "Wicked Games." "Starboy" is awesome and sincere. Just like Beyonce's "Hold Up", his "The Hills" and "Party Monster" reveals his darker persona. He should be at least 10 on the list
This man set the bar for modern R&B. His trilogy is still one of the best albums ever.
Listen to his old stuff (trilogy, kissland) and you understand that he should be higher on this list.
He should be somewhere near MJ he is too good!
The Contenders
11 Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese Pendergrass was an American singer–songwriter and composer. He first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade. Love me some Teddy P! Even if the production of the song is not that good, anything Teddy sings is magical! Luther too! He can make any song good, even if the production is meh. Wish we still had him today. If it wasn't for him we might not have Johnny Gill. Wish it was chris brown or b. smith who died and not Teddy or Luther.
This list is just sad. How is the man who inspired all of these people not even in the top five, let alone the top 10! And to make it worse, he is under beyonce, chris brown, rihanna, drake, Eminem and the weekend as well as some singers who are good but are not as legendary as than Teddy.
Best singer of all time
12 Drake
Aubrey Drake Graham, known professionally as Drake, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor, born on October 24, 1986 in Toronto, Canada. He started his career on Canadian reality show "Degrassi: The Next Generation". He has some r&b songs here and there, but he's more of a rapper to be honest. But I do think he's a better r&b singer than he is as a rapper. As an r&b singer he's kind of like a better version of The-Dream.
He isn't R&B at all.
13 Zayn Malik
Zain Javadd Malik, born on 12 January 1993, who records mononymously as ZAYN, is a British singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Bradford, ZAYN aspired to pursue a career in music from a young age leading him to audition as a solo artist for the British reality television music competition The X Factor in 2010. After he split from the boyband One Direction in 2015, ZAYN release his chart bursting album MIND OF MINE with leading single and hit PILLOWTALK officially reaching NO. 1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. PILLOWTALK also debuted NO. 1 in over 70+countries world wide. He's much better than the weeknd and frank ocean, him and BJ the Chicago Kid are the best doing it right now!
For a 2010's artist, he's one of the few good ones.
14 Charlie Wilson
Charles Kent "Charlie" Wilson, also known as Uncle Charlie, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, producer and the former lead vocalist for The Gap Band.
15 Chris Brown
Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows from a young age. He is most well known for his physical assault towards the singer Rihanna in 2009. He is also known for many hit singles, such as "Kiss Kiss", "Run It!", "Forever", "Deuces", "Look At Me Now", "Loyal", "Ayo", and "Back to Sleep". Given a lot of his new music isn't really R&B anymore. His older works are definitely worthy of some recognition. From 'With You' to 'No Air' with Jordan Sparks. Chris definitely has it in him if he ever chooses to go back to it.
To say this guy is talented is an understatement. He isn't even my favourite rnb artist. People will hate on him because of his previous problems, and he's not quite the role model but this list isn't about that! He is definitely one of the best voices in rnb now.
To me r&b is about uplifting music that speaks to lovers, not objectifying women. Therefore, this guy doesn't deserve to be on the list.
The best no matter what.
16 Whitney Houston
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 million records sold worldwide. She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. This is just insulting. How is she not at least in the top 3? And she is under beyonce and rihanna? Those girls are nowhere near Whitney and never could dream of being half as great as she was. "Saving All My Love" is better than beyonce's entire career.
It's an insult to have her listed so low. Easily one of the greatest inspiration for a lot of R&B artists (especially women)
No one can sing better than Whitney!
How is she not at least in the top 5?
17 R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), known professionally as R. Kelly, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and convicted sex offender. He has been credited with helping to redefine R&B and hip hop, earning nicknames such as "the King of R&B", "the King of Pop-Soul", and the "Pied Piper of R&B." ...read more. One of the greatest r&b singers of all time is not number 1 and is below chris brown the mainstream pop artist, Akon who is good but not as legendary as R. Kelly is, and beyonce the pretentious mainstream artist?
He sucks and is a sex offender.
18 Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey, born March 27, 1970, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is one of the biggest best-selling women in the music industry, with 18 number 1 records to her name. She is regarded as a sex symbol through her songs and music videos, and she is "well known" for her over-the-top sexy poses and for having breast implants. She is also known to be a diva, and she is well known for her high-demands. She won 5 Grammys and starred in her documentary movie "Glitter." Mariah Carey started her fame by releasing her song, Vision of Love and also released her first album "Mariah Carey" but before that, in 1988, she accompanied Brenda K Starr, a rising pop singer in the 80s to Columbia to send her demo tape. A staff also known as Tommy Mottola got interested to her after he heard the demo tape. Then Mottola and the staffs at Columbia signed her as their main female singer competing to female singers such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Cher, Cyndi Lauper and Celine ...read more. She's the queen, nobody can top her. Beyonce; take notes.
She is the breast singer!
19 Rick James
Rick James was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his teen years in various bands and groups before entering the U.S. Navy to avoid being drafted in the early 1960s.
20 Jason Derulo
Jason Joel Desrouleaux, better known by his stage name Jason Derulo (an alternate spelling of his surname), is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. He is best known for his singles such as "Whatcha Say", "Ridin' Solo", "In My Head", "What If", "Wiggle", "Talk Dirty", "Trumpets" and "Want To Want Me", all of which have gone platinum. With his incorporation of K-pop elements he's somewhat strayed from his R&B roots. However, every now and then he releases a song that'll remind you he is an R&B artist.
21 Aretha Franklin
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.
Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With global sales of over 75 million records, Franklin is one of the best-selling music artists from the second half of the 20th century to the present.
22 Frank Ocean
Christopher Edwin Breaux, known professionally as Frank Ocean, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and photographer. The only guy in the whole list with creative writing and a perfect album.
Frank has no bad songs and all great albums, easily the best on this list
23 Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris, known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist.
24 Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene, often known as The Reverend Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s. Maybe people have heard an Al Green song, they just didn't know the song was his. Another trailblazer for R&B artists.
25 Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook, known by the pseudonym Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She's not as good as she once was but he set a high standard for female R&B artists.
This girl's on fire!