Best male and female vocalist of all time?

Magandroid said:
For me it's a toss up between David Kramer, Ge Korsten and Steve Hofmeyer.
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thats like saying Riccoffee is the best coffee because its better than Friso but you have never had a fresh espresso or any freeze dried instand coffee.

your opinion is valid, but it shows a severe lack of exposure or a blatant bias for something that is clouding your judgement.

I feel sorry for you either way and i really hope you get exposed to some actually talented singers so you can understand why i said this.
my issue is not that you chose 3 afrikaans singers, its that you chose 3 actually bad ones, there are better options out there in every aspect even with that narrow selection criteria. Koos, Kombuis, Valiant Swart, Theuns Jordaan, Johannes Kerkorrel, Fransois Van Coke just off the top of my head. and still none of them hold a candle to most of the other male artists mentioned here
 
Baxteen said:
thats like saying Riccoffee is the best coffee because its better than Friso but you have never had a fresh espresso or any freeze dried instand coffee.

your opinion is valid, but it shows a severe lack of exposure or a blatant bias for something that is clouding your judgement.

I feel sorry for you either way and i really hope you get exposed to some actually talented singers so you can understand why i said this.
my issue is not that you chose 3 afrikaans singers, its that you chose 3 actually bad ones, there are better options out there in every aspect even with that narrow selection criteria. Koos, Kombuis, Valiant Swart, Theuns Jordaan, Johannes Kerkorrel, Fransois Van Coke just off the top of my head. and still none of them hold a candle to most of the other male artists mentioned here
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No need to feel sorry for me mate. I do get exposed to other artists as well. I just didn't want to name too many. I also like artists like Kurt Darren and a bit of alternative hip hop like Die Antwoord.
 
Magandroid said:
No need to feel sorry for me mate. I do get exposed to other artists as well. I just didn't want to name too many. I also like artists like Kurt Darren and a bit of alternative hip hop like Die Antwoord.
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my guy, the question was best male vocalist, not personal favorite.
so if you regard Steve, and Ge as some of the best then you have not heard much. again, personal favorite is a different matter, you can like Steve or die Antwoord all you like, but you cannot possibly regard them as the best even just locally, even the best locally for a time period because there are better vocalists in every measurable way all though the careers.

there have been some dogy suggestions before yours, but yours was the first one that is factually provably wrong (in terms of the question asked not in terms of personal taste)

Ge for example is a generic male vocal range. no deep lows like Jordaan for example, and no real high note range like say Kerkorrel who is also not even a tenor.
Steve and and Krammer are also in a similar range, but at least Kramer can go a little lower. now again, not knocking personal taste, you are entitled to your likes.
 
Baxteen said:
my guy, the question was best male vocalist, not personal favorite.
so if you regard Steve, and Ge as some of the best then you have not heard much. again, personal favorite is a different matter, you can like Steve or die Antwoord all you like, but you cannot possibly regard them as the best even just locally, even the best locally for a time period because there are better vocalists in every measurable way all though the careers.

there have been some dogy suggestions before yours, but yours was the first one that is factually provably wrong (in terms of the question asked not in terms of personal taste)

Ge for example is a generic male vocal range. no deep lows like Jordaan for example, and no real high note range like say Kerkorrel who is also not even a tenor.
Steve and and Krammer are also in a similar range, but at least Kramer can go a little lower. now again, not knocking personal taste, you are entitled to your likes.
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Vocal range plays a part of the calculation but it isn't everything.

I mean in terms of range, this woman blows away pretty much every other female singer, nailing a song that was literally written to be impossible to sing by a human.


Or the black guy with the glasses (and the voice from the pits of the bottom of the ocean):
And his singing range is phenomenal


These people are extremely talented at singing, but I think there is a bit more to it. There is the performance aspect to it as well. I am fairly decent at singing myself, but I do not have the showmanship.
 
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I fully agree there is more than just range.
that is why I have floor as my female vocalist and not Tarja.


I stand by my statements about Steve, Kramer and Ge however, there are better vocalists in every measurable metric.
the other people put forward options that can be debated, stage presence, vocal range, and all those other parts that make a vocalist be the "best" but those 3 do not belong in the same list.
even if you limit the options to be only Afrikaans and only between 1950 and 1990 they will not make the list of the best male vocalists.
 
Baxteen said:
my guy, the question was best male vocalist, not personal favorite.
so if you regard Steve, and Ge as some of the best then you have not heard much. again, personal favorite is a different matter, you can like Steve or die Antwoord all you like, but you cannot possibly regard them as the best even just locally, even the best locally for a time period because there are better vocalists in every measurable way all though the careers.

there have been some dogy suggestions before yours, but yours was the first one that is factually provably wrong (in terms of the question asked not in terms of personal taste)

Ge for example is a generic male vocal range. no deep lows like Jordaan for example, and no real high note range like say Kerkorrel who is also not even a tenor.
Steve and and Krammer are also in a similar range, but at least Kramer can go a little lower. now again, not knocking personal taste, you are entitled to your likes.
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What is the definition of best vocalist? All posters here are listing who they feel is the best. Is that not their personal favourites? How do you define best? Voice? Range? Albums sold? Are we only looking at mainstream western artists?
A quick Google check on several websites shows 1- Beatles, 2- Michael Jackson and 2-Elvis as the most successful artists. Remove the Beatles as they are a band then you are left with Michael Jackson as the most successful artist of all time.
Don't dis my selection. I have a right to offer my opinion as well. You just hurting my feelings now. :crying:
 
Baxteen said:
Koos, Kombuis, Valiant Swart, Theuns Jordaan, Johannes Kerkorrel, Fransois Van Coke just off the top of my head. and still none of them hold a candle to most of the other male artists mentioned here
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as purely vocalists I'd tend to agree, but a timeless ballad like Lisa se Klavier that was created by Koos ... it can hold a candle to some of the very best

Magandroid said:
Kurt Darren and a bit of alternative hip hop like Die Antwoord
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jissis, ou Koert Kaptein Spannie Seile even?!? o_O
 
Ok so the gist of the thread being 'of all time' is kind of misleading seeing we don't have recordings of what was arguably an era of some of the most magnificent singers: namely the 'bel canto' (beautiful singing) age from around 1730 to 1850.
However some of today's Opera singers who sing in that style and who sing music from that time are still pretty phenomenal: Lisette Oropesa, Joyce di Donato, Juan-Diego Florez etc.
Some of my personal top-flight choices for sheer artistry and uniqueness of vocal timbre would be Maria Callas (soprano), Jessye Norman (soprano), Luciano Pavarotti (tenor), Grace Bumbry (mezzo soprano), Marian Andersen (contralto) and Kurt Moll (bass).
In 'popular' music or jazz genres Cleo Laine (a genuine 3.5 octave range), Sinatra, Karen Carpenter, Ella Fitzgerald, Alison Moyet all stand out for me.

So many have mentioned Freddy Mercury, and while I completely agree he was a phenomenal performer, what he achieved vocally was something he paid a price for: he didn't really have much of a proper technique and would force his voice which led to nodules (vocal cord damage). This is part of what gave his voice its raspy quality in the upper range later in his career (I've seen singers try to emulate his style and damage their own voices too). So for me, range isn't everything - I go rather for a unique unmistakeable sound.
 
Magandroid said:
What is the definition of best vocalist? All posters here are listing who they feel is the best. Is that not their personal favourites? How do you define best? Voice? Range? Albums sold? Are we only looking at mainstream western artists?
A quick Google check on several websites shows 1- Beatles, 2- Michael Jackson and 2-Elvis as the most successful artists. Remove the Beatles as they are a band then you are left with Michael Jackson as the most successful artist of all time.
Don't dis my selection. I have a right to offer my opinion as well. You just hurting my feelings now. :crying:
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again, personal choice is valid. and personal favorite is different to best vocalist. many people have posted artists they don't even listen to often. because of what the artist can do.
those artists being your favorite is fine, that's your opinion and it is valid. but it is factually disprovable even by the metric you included yourself when it comes to best.
sorry it hurt your feelings, but your entries for best vocalist do not belong on the list
 
donal said:
Ok so the gist of the thread being 'of all time' is kind of misleading seeing we don't have recordings of what was arguably an era of some of the most magnificent singers: namely the 'bel canto' (beautiful singing) age from around 1730 to 1850.
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interesting fact about the 1730 to 1850 range.
over time as Farming and medicine improved, not only did we manage to live longer, but we also grew taller on average. even just in the last 100 years we have gotten much taller.
and the vocal range is a product of the length of the vocal cords.
if you look at music written by Bach for example, the parts he wrote for Sopranos can now easily fall in the range of the Alto's of today.
the instruments of today are tuned differently to the instruments of the Baruch era, so even something like a Violin needs to be tuned differently in order to play pieces written by a modern composer.
so while the artist of the time mentioned might have been something amazing to witness at the time, the artists of today will be able to perfectly replicate them, and possibly be able to sing even more beautifully.
 
donal said:
Ok so the gist of the thread being 'of all time' is kind of misleading seeing we don't have recordings of what was arguably an era of some of the most magnificent singers: namely the 'bel canto' (beautiful singing) age from around 1730 to 1850.
However some of today's Opera singers who sing in that style and who sing music from that time are still pretty phenomenal: Lisette Oropesa, Joyce di Donato, Juan-Diego Florez etc.
Some of my personal top-flight choices for sheer artistry and uniqueness of vocal timbre would be Maria Callas (soprano), Jessye Norman (soprano), Luciano Pavarotti (tenor), Grace Bumbry (mezzo soprano), Marian Andersen (contralto) and Kurt Moll (bass).
In 'popular' music or jazz genres Cleo Laine (a genuine 3.5 octave range), Sinatra, Karen Carpenter, Ella Fitzgerald, Alison Moyet all stand out for me.

So many have mentioned Freddy Mercury, and while I completely agree he was a phenomenal performer, what he achieved vocally was something he paid a price for: he didn't really have much of a proper technique and would force his voice which led to nodules (vocal cord damage). This is part of what gave his voice its raspy quality in the upper range later in his career (I've seen singers try to emulate his style and damage their own voices too). So for me, range isn't everything - I go rather for a unique unmistakeable sound.
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Never been a fan of Queen because Freddie Mercury's voice leaves me cold. I don't hear any connection between the notes and the heart. A not-so-perfect pitch who sings from the b@lls - now that's something to listen to.

Just dropping this here for interest's sake:

If we're going back in time Yma Sumak has to be up there. She won a Guinness World Record for the Greatest Range of Musical Value in 1956.

For those who understand music (I don't) :
"She had five octaves according to some reports, but other reports (and recordings) document four-and-a-half at the peak of her singing career. Shortly after her death, the BBC noted that a typical trained singer has a range of about three octaves."
 
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