Favorite female singers

[Eben Stone]

It looks like I'm in a minority here but I like female fronted hard rock/ alternative/ symphonic metal bands.

Christina Scabia
Tarja Turunen
Floor Jansen
Simone Simmons
Sharon den Adel

 

[sneefy]

Linda Eder. Particularly sultry in the concept album of Jekyll & Hyde. (Also with the magnificent Anthony Warlow)

Saw her on Broadway in the first staged production with Robert Cuccioli in 1997 or so.

 

[Owen Bawn]

So many great singers already listed. Has no one mentioned Maddy Prior?

In another genre, Sara Bareilles has a remarkable voice.

 

[sneefy]

Elina Garanca and Denyce Graves. Couple of my favorite Mezzo-Sopranos. I'll take the warmth of tone of a Mezzo any day over a Soprano.

 

[Alacrity59]

I'll add a couple I like.

• Margot Timmins from Cowboy Junkies
• Susan Vega
• Pat Benatar
• Edie Brickell

 

[Vespasian]

Lots of the "girl singers" from the '30s, 40s, and 50s. My all-time favorite:
Lee Wiley

 

[shavefan]

Many mentioned already but I have a few that may not have been mentioned yet...

-Patti Smith; back in the day I considered hers the best female voice in rock & roll.
-Annie Lennox; Oh my does she have a voice!
-Belinda Carlyle

 

[esswun]

I really love female singers. Some are because they are genuinely gifted voices, some because they just sound great and have hits, some because personality and external factors make them attractive to me. In any event, a few i can think of quickly are (in no order of preference or level) Annie Lennox, Alanis Morissette, Carrie Underwood. I really love this girl Chiaki from the obscure Japanese/Canadian band Dakota Star:

 

[esswun]

 

[troy]

Lots of greats mentioned already, I'll add Ann and Nancy Wilson (Heart).

 

[garyg]

My favourite is Judith Durham from The Seekers.

Mine as well, if not the most, one of the purest sopranos ever.

 

[troy]

Another that just came to mind.

 

[Hydguy]

I'll add a couple I like.

• Margot Timmins from Cowboy Junkies
• Susan Vega
• Pat Benatar
• Edie Brickell

Edie Brickell was great when she first came on the scene with the New Bohemians. But she quickly went down the path of crazy. And I have no clue why she got involved with Paul Simon.
But she did win a Grammy with Steve Martin...

 

[Hydguy]

Oh, so many good ones! Leading the charge will always be Tina Turner and Joan Jett. Although I do very much like Delores o'Reardon when she's not doing her banshee shrieking.

Their first album was in heavy rotation in my CD player back in the day. It took a while before I got into their change in sound with their second album, and I never did pick it up, but would listen to the releases on the radio.
It was a real shock when the news about her passing came out.

 

[troy]

Don't think I've seen Bonnie Raitt mentioned yet.

 

[Avi]

Hope Sandoval / Mazzy Star was haunting .. Along the same vein I think Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins, Lisa Gerrard of Dead can Dance .. and the woman in her own world lyrically and musically Kate Bush deserves a mention.

Also Grace Jones will haunt you in your sleep

 

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Natalie Merchant, formerly of 10,000 Maniacs, now solo.

Certainly, one of a kind. Here is one of my favorites:

Then there is Susan of Tedeschi Trucks Band. Trivia: Her husband on lead guitar is Derek Trucks. He comes in at the 5:13 mark below. His uncle was Butch Trucks who played drums for The Allman Brothers. Saw Tedeschi Trucks just this past January and they lit the place up. They did a perfect rendition of the AB classic, "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." So cool to have them acknowledge the roots and how it now lives on.

 

[Tanuki]

Lots of the "girl singers" from the '30s, 40s, and 50s. My all-time favorite:
Lee Wiley

My 'Gal singers' playlist features Ella Fitzgerald, Ivie Anderson, Sarah Vaughn, Anita O'Day, Billie Holiday and has appearances by a host of others. Amy Winehouse is in there, too.

Rebecca Kilgore is a Portland local with a national jazz/American songbook reputation. My personal favorite for many years. There is nothing like a live performance in a small club.

 

[Billski]

Ella Fitzgerald is very good.

 

[Vespasian]

My 'Gal singers' playlist features Ella Fitzgerald, Ivie Anderson, Sarah Vaughn, Anita O'Day, Billie Holiday and has appearances by a host of others. Amy Winehouse is in there, too.

Rebecca Kilgore is a Portland local with a national jazz/American songbook reputation. My personal favorite for many years. There is nothing like a live performance in a small club.

Nice list, Tanuki. I love Ellington, but I never thought that Ivie Anderson was quite good enough for his music. (I'll duck here.) Big yes on Anita O'Day. I saw her at the end of her career here in LA, and she was marvelous. Same with Mabel Mercer, in SF, who by the time I saw her had passed beyond mere signing and just whispered the lyrics.