Best male and female vocalist of all time?

For male, Freddie is fine.

Female, I’d go with Maria Callas.

No special effects used back in 1962

Yeah easy, as far as Maria Callas is concerned.

She practically broke Ave Maria and O mio babbino caro


There's just little point in listening to any other renditions.

And will anybody ever get Casta Diva that right again?

 
This might be interesting reference material which shows that Axl Rose is the best vocalist of all time.

 
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."
being able to do 4 octaves is insane.
to explain it a bit better. here is the names and ranges that the voices can sing:
soprano:C4 to A5
mezzo-soprano:A3 to F#5
alto:G3 to E5 (and contralto as F3-D5)
tenor:roughly C3 to A4
baritone:A2 to F4
bass:F2 to E4

so 3 octaves is the average range.
this range has to do with the length of the vocal cords and a few other things. like a string on a piano, you have only so much wire to work with and create the vibration. no matter how you tune the piano, the string itself can only vibrate in a range determined by its length.
the artists that mange to go above their normal range and do more than 3 octaves are managing to go beyond the limits of their body in order to achieve that.


there is a link above to the girl singing the opera from the 5th element. that song is supposed to be impossible because the vocal run included notes that are too high to reach in succession. for the movie the actual singer sang the notes and they were digitally put together.
but as we have evolved and trained, those notes and vocal runs have become achievable.

***I do not have any degrees in music, I cannot play an instrument, I cannot hold a note myself or read music, but I have a big interest in music so I have learned a lot from many more talented people. music and music theory is something that brings me a lot of happiness.
 
This might be interesting reference material which shows that Axl Rose is the best vocalist of all time.

that is fascinating.
would love to see a few more artists on there. like Floor Jensen, Bruce Dickenson, Rob halford, Phil Anselmo (the range between walk and Cemetery gates is insane)
 
After reading this thread I've come to realize the best vocalists of all time are not necessarily the best singers (entertainment wise) As an example I enjoy listening to Billy Idol, he might not be the best vocalist but damn the guy can sing.
 
To be the best vocalist you need to be a performer and a record seller otherwise I could say the best vocalist was Heinz Winkler or Will Young since they beat all other vocalists.
Also you need to be able to do it live like this.

 
Seeing that Mariah Carey, who I think she sound like a screaming cat, is mentioned a few times. I would throw in some Steven Tyler and Aerosmith.
There's so many hits can't even decide what to post, and most are still great hits today.
 
After reading this thread I've come to realize the best vocalists of all time are not necessarily the best singers (entertainment wise) As an example I enjoy listening to Billy Idol, he might not be the best vocalist but damn the guy can sing.

Completely agree, hitting the notes isn't the only thing that counts.
 
This might be interesting reference material which shows that Axl Rose is the best vocalist of all time.

It's not just about vocal range though. Control is far more important. And even beyond that emotional tone.
 
To be the best vocalist you need to be a performer and a record seller otherwise I could say the best vocalist was Heinz Winkler or Will Young since they beat all other vocalists.
Also you need to be able to do it live like this.

That's just marketability. And, it's the song, the entire production, that sells. Take the song you posted. Imagine it without any music or visuals...
It depends what you mean by "vocalist" really. In the classical sense, it's all about technical excellence. People's who's voices ARE fine musical instruments in their own right.
 
Anyway my favourite female vocalists include:

  • Bjork
  • Elizabeth Fraser
  • Spellling
  • Kate Bush
  • Lisa Gerrard
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Lauryn Hill
  • Joanna Newsom
  • Siouxsie Sioux
  • Lingua Ignota
  • Janis Joplin
And my favourite male vocalists include:

  • Jeff Buckley
  • Thom Yorke
  • Prince
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Art Garfunkel
  • Lou Reed
  • The Weeknd
  • Jason Isbell
  • Jeff Mangum
  • Kendrick Lamar
 
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There is only one winner. Close the thread

I wanted to say that as a joke and wanted to link the video where Chuck berry looks at her like she just ate his cat in front of her, but I deleted the post berfore I posted it because I already scolded one person for being factually incorrect.

but congrats, you managed to be more wrong than the person who said Steve Hofmeier
 
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.
Totally agree the singers of today could be just as polished as some of the greats were even into the 19th century (Nellie Melba for example) but mostly it isn't possible to know except from written accounts of their artistry.
Many famous composers we're inspired by the facility of their talents to create roles for them too.

Your comment about Bach is interesting - possibly another angle on that is that in his day (in fact even until around 150 years later) there was no distinction made between sopranos voice types/categories as there is now.
 
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