Nov 19 2008
Aretha tops 100 Greatest Singers of All Time
According to a poll by Rolling Stone, Aretha Franklin is the greatest singer of all time. No argument from me there. The problem is the next female voice on the list is way down at 17 (Tina Turner). And there are only 10 women singers in the top 50. But don’t panic - this is not a feminist rave!
As you may expect, there is a bias towards American singers due to the RS readership and any poll trying to compare the 50s with the 80s is like comparing apples and pears. Culture and audience change with every generation, although we could say the rate of change is increasing.
Every decade could be given its own list, and then perhaps some of the comparisons and rankings would make better sense. The poll is supposed to be for greatest singer and not most influential or best example or some other criteria. So I would say Christina Aguilera (58) is a much better singer than Bob Marley (19) for example.
Let me explain. Christina has range (wow, what range!) and tone (she can purr and bellow) that blows Bob away, plus emotional colour that is second to none. Is she a better singer? Yes, without doubt. This is not to diminish Marley’s influence or ability, but just to add some balance.
Paul McCartney (11) is another example of someone who is a great songwriter (like Bob Dylan at 7 and David Bowie at 23) and a very influential artist. Their voices are laden with meaning and relevance, rather than tonal quality or technical skill. They certainly deserve to be near the top of a list, but maybe that list is the best of a decade, or best of a style, rather than greatest of all time.
Let’s have your comments …
