The Shrine

If their top 500 albums didn't seem suspicious enough.... While I can somewhat accept Aretha as number 1 given her long history of excellence, I couldn't help but notice that Celine Dion wasn't present on this list at all; while I am not a fan, her high singing talent can't really be debated. Not to mention the Tenors are all missing, Lopez, Sarah Brightman as well; although none of these singers are true pop singers, and Rolling Stone is a pop culture magazine.

A little surprising is where Freddy mercury ranks, I would think that a magazine with rock biases like Rolling Stone would at least give him a top 10 spot. He had amazing singing talent.

Another major thing I noticed was that Mariah Carey ranked in at 79th.... With such a talented singer ranked so low, it is easy to see how this list would forget to mention Celine Dion. From an objective standpoint, she is the best singer on this list. There hasn't been a singer who has had the influence she has had on pop music vocal techniques... Not that commercial success matters at all, although I am sure it is something a magazine like Rolling Stone takes into consideration: Mariah is also one of the most commercially successful musicians in history. If they are going by singers who write and compose their own work (which Celine doesn't do), Mariah Carey does write, compose, and produce/co-produces all of her songs (with the exception of covers and some co-operative performances); in fact, she wrote most of her debut album while still in High School. What is kind of funny is that Christina Aguilara is on the list, who models her vocal style after Mariah - but is weaker in every single way.

So why do they have Mariah ranked so low? Why is Celine Dion not even on the list? For a magazine that is supposed to be one of the most informed and reputable sources for pop music information, this is an extremely sh**y list..... But I'll share it anyway =P

100 Mary J. Blige
99 Steven Tyler
98 Stevie Nicks
97 Joe Cocker
96 B.B. King
95 Patti LaBelle
94 Karen Carpenter
93 Annie Lennox
92 Morrissey
91 Levon Helm
90 The Everly Brothers
89 Solomon Burke
88 Willie Nelson
87 Don Henley
86 Art Garfunkel
85 Sam Moore
84 Darlene Love
83 Patti Smith
82 Tom Waits
81 John Lee Hooker
80 Frankie Valli
79 Mariah Carey
78 Sly Stone
77 Merle Haggard
76 Steve Perry
75 Iggy Pop
74 James Taylor
73 Dolly Parton
72 John Fogerty
71 Toots Hibbert
70 Gregg Allman
69 Ronnie Spector
68 Wilson Pickett
67 Jerry Lee Lewis
66 Thom Yorke
65 David Ruffin
64 Axl Rose
63 Dion
62 Lou Reed
61 Roger Daltrey
60 Björk
59 Rod Stewart
58 Christina Aguilera
57 Eric Bourdon
56 Mavis Staples
55 Paul Rodgers
54 Luther Vandross
53 Muddy Waters
52 Brian Wilson
51 Gladys Knight
50 Bonnie Raitt
49 Donny Hathaway
48 Buddy Holly
47 Jim Morrison
46 Patsy Cline
45 Kurt Cobain
44 Bobby “Blue” Bland
43 George Jones
42 Joni Mitchell
41 Chuck Berry
40 Curtis Mayfield
39 Jeff Buckley
38 Elton John
37 Neil Young
36 Bruce Springsteen
35 Dusty Sprinfield
34 Whitney Houston
33 Steve Winwood
32 Bono
31 Howlin’ Wolf
30 Prince
29 Nina Simone
28 Janis Joplin
27 Hank Williams
26 Jackie Wilson
25 Michael Jackson
24 Van Morrison
23 David Bowie
22 Etta James
21 Johnny Cash
20 Smokey Robinson
19 Bob Marley
18 Freddie Mercury
17 Tina Turner
16 Mick Jagger
15 Robert Plant
14 Al Green
13 Roy Orbison
12 Little Richard
11 Paul McCartney
10 James Brown
09 Stevie Wonder
08 Otis Redding
07 Bob Dylan
06 Marvin Gaye
05 John Lennon
04 Sam Cooke
03 Elvis Presley
02 Ray Charles
01 Aretha Franklin

Last time I looked at Rolling Stone, it was their album list, which was also mostly crap.

I love me some Tom Waits, but really?

I'm surprised Bjork made the list. Not that she doesn't have an amazing voice, I didn't think she would be well known enough.

Bjork is famous for being the obscure Icelandic chick. Few people listen to her, but everyone knows who she is.

Not a fan of top 100 lists. :p

I never understood how someone can tell the difference between his top 95th whatever of all time versus top 96th whatever of all time. I guess the idea is if you average enough randomly formed opinion it must mean something at the end, but you might just get a randomly formed opinion too.

They already did a list of top 100 artists... which i think they are confusing into this list. Some of these people are great songwriters and entertainers but shitty singers, which would fall more into the artists category. I dont see any opera singers.

Bob Dylan is the epitome of someone who I see as a great artist, but not necessarily a top singer.... I think about every cover I have ever heard of a Bob Dylan song has exceeded the original.


Ranked 79th on their list, but I don't think there are any voices that ever really exceeded pre-1997 Mariah Carey (after 1997, her voice was often out of commission, and it began to decline; she changed her style to become more dance oriented tunes); at least in pop music, while it is a hard comparison, I also don't find many Opera singers in the history of recorded music to be on her level (Sarah Brightman, Luciano Pavarotti, Domingo, and the other Tenor). In fact, only two other singers (Georgia Brown and Minnie Riperton - who is most famous for the 1975 song 'Lovin You') in the past 100 years that have been able to match or exceed Mariah Carey's vocal range, and neither of them could sing as well. Essentially Mariah was gifted as being a nearly flawless singer (she has a pedigree: her mother, Patricia Carey was an Opera singer) as well as having a vocal range exceeding 5 octaves, a talent for song writing and composition, and an enormous impact on vocal styles, at least the largest in the past two decades; and probably in the history of recorded music.

I like this performance, especially around the climax: