Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All-Time

Now that the election's all settled and there's some dead time between now and your dysfunctional family's Thanksgiving dinner, I bet you're sitting there thinking, "What am I going to argue and fight about for the next 10 days!" Well, leave it to Rolling Stone to answer your prayers. They've got a new list out, enumerating the 100 Greatest Singers of All-Time, and it's sure to cause some Lincoln vs. Douglas-/Coke vs. Pepsi-level debate.

The list (tallied and accounted for by Ernst & Young, so you know it's O-F-F-I-S-H-A-L) leans heavy on the modern age (so no shout for 16th century pin-up/Henry VIII fave, Thomas Tallis).

Number one on the list is Aretha Franklin. In a nice touch, RS got current vocal heavyweights to weigh in on the attributes of the list's top ranked singers. According to Mary J. Blige, Franklin is, "a gift from God." So, at least she's got that going for her! Ray Charles took the silver, leading Billy Joel to proclaim, "He took the yelp, the whoop, the grunt, the groan and made them music."

It's generally a good list. If I had to add one to the pile, I'd throw in the name Robin Zander, Cheap Trick's lead singer. Just because he sang "I Want You to Want Me." But that's just me. We can fight about it if you want. The top 10 is filled out with Elvis, Sam Cooke, Lennon, Gaye, Dylan, Otis, Stevie and the Godfather. You can check out the write up's, one by one, here, or view the whole list here.

Further Reading:
Rolling Stone's Top 100 Singers of All-Time

Comments

[Ryan]

Hah, well, I've always said Aretha has my favorite female singing voice and Ray my favorite male singing voice, so I can't argue with the 1-2 punch at the top...

[Ryan]

Hah, well, I've always said Aretha has my favorite female singing voice and Ray my favorite male singing voice, so I can't argue with the 1-2 punch at the top...