The 25 Greatest Voices of All Time
by tjg9696 | created - 22 Sep 2013 | updated - 23 Dec 2014 | PublicBefore you check this list out....expand your definition of what a "great" voice means. It's not only talent but soul, passion, experience, grit, depth, etc. I guarantee you won't agree with this list....but, I'm the one putting it out there.
1. Eric Clapton
Soundtrack | Lethal Weapon 3
Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, on March 30, 1945. His real father was a Canadian pilot but he didn't find that out until he was 53. When he was 2 his mother felt she was unable to look after him, so Eric then went to live with his grandparents. When he was 14 he took up the ...
2. Billie Holiday
Soundtrack | Minority Report
Billie Holiday was a true artist of her day and rose as a social phenomenon in the 1950s. Her soulful, unique singing voice and her ability to boldly turn any material that she confronted into her own music made her a superstar of her time. Today, Holiday is remembered for her masterpieces, ...
3. Judy Garland
Actress | The Wizard of Oz
One of the brightest, most tragic movie stars of Hollywood's Golden Era, Judy Garland was a much-loved character whose warmth and spirit, along with her rich and exuberant voice, kept theatre-goers entertained with an array of delightful musicals.
She was born Frances Ethel Gumm on 10 June 1922 in ...
4. Thom Yorke
Soundtrack | Suspiria
Thom Yorke was born on October 7, 1968 in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England, UK. He is a composer and actor, known for Suspiria (2018), Children of Men (2006) and Motherless Brooklyn (2019). He was previously married to Rachel Owen.
5. Ray LaMontagne
Soundtrack | I Love You, Beth Cooper
Raymond Charles Jack LaMontagne is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released eight studio albums: Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, Supernova, Ouroboros, Part of the Light, and Monovision. He was born in New ...
6. Bonnie Raitt
Soundtrack | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Bonnie Raitt was born on November 8, 1949 in Burbank, California, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), Nick of Time (1995) and Ladder 49 (2004). She was previously married to Michael O'Keefe.
7. Elvis Presley
Soundtrack | Girls! Girls! Girls!
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Presley (née Gladys Love Smith) and Vernon Presley (Vernon Elvis Presley). He had a twin brother who was stillborn. In 1948, Elvis and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he attended Humes High School. ...
8. Freddie Mercury
Soundtrack | Flash Gordon
Freddie Mercury was born on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, sent him off to a private school in India, from 1955 til 1963. In 1964, he and his family flew to England. In 1966 he started his education at the Ealing College of Art, where he graduated in 1969. He ...
9. Robert Plant
Soundtrack | The Song Remains the Same
Prior to Hobbstweedle (a pickup blues band formed to honour a gig at West Midlands College Of Education) Robert was the frontman for The Band of Joy - featuring Percy, John Bonham, Paul Lockey (bass), Chris Brown (keyboards) and Kevyn Gammond (guitar). The BOJ were on verge of making a record deal ...
10. Muddy Waters
Soundtrack | Adventures in Babysitting
Muddy Waters (born McKinley Morganfield) was one of the major forces in contemporary blues. He was instrumental in bringing the sound of the Mississippi Delta to Chicago in the 1940s, where his recordings for the Chess label exerted an enormous influence on both blues and rock musicians from the ...
11. Amy Winehouse
Soundtrack | Amy
Amy Jade Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983 in Enfield, London, England and raised in Southgate, London, England to Janis Holly Collins (née Seaton), a pharmacist & Mitchell "Mitch" Winehouse, a window panel installer and taxi driver. Her family shared her love of theater and music. Amy was ...
12. Peter Gabriel
Soundtrack | WALL·E
Peter Gabriel was educated at Charterhouse School, Surrey, England. He was the lead singer of leading progressive rock band Genesis from its inception until he left in 1975 for a successful solo career as a singer-songwriter, soundtrack composer and innovator in visual presentation of music, music ...
13. Patsy Cline
Soundtrack | Assassin's Creed
Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia. Her brush with show business came at age four when she won a prize in an amateur tap dancing contest. By the time she entered grade school, her family was fully aware of her musical talent. On her eighth ...
14. Otis Redding
Soundtrack | Top Gun
Otis Redding was born on September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia, USA. He was a music artist and composer, known for Top Gun (1986), Hamburger Hill (1987) and Road House (1989). He was married to Zelma Redding. He died on December 10, 1967 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
15. Annie Lennox
Soundtrack | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Annie Lennox was born on December 25, 1954 in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK. She is a music artist and actress, known for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Scrooged (1988) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). She has been married to Mitch Besser since September 15, 2012. ...
16. Joe Cocker
Soundtrack | Across the Universe
Joe Cocker was born on May 20, 1944 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Across the Universe (2007), The Bodyguard (1992) and Layer Cake (2004). He was married to Pam Baker. He died on December 22, 2014 in Crawford, Colorado, USA.
17. Linda Ronstadt
Soundtrack | The Pirates of Penzance
Linda Ronstadt was born on July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for The Pirates of Penzance (1983), An American Tail (1986) and The Abyss (1989).
18. Johnny Cash
Soundtrack | The Johnny Cash Show
Johnny Cash was born February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to Carrie Cash (Rivers) and Raymond Cash. He made his first single, "Hey Porter", for Sun Records in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Columbia Records. He had long periods of drug abuse during the 1960s, but later that decade he successfully ...
19. David Byrne
Soundtrack | True Stories
David Byrne is an Oscar winning composer, songwriter and singer, best known for being frontman of the New Wave/punk band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Born in Scotland but raised in the United States in Maryland, Byrne began performing musically in high school.
Byrne ...
20. Bessie Smith
Soundtrack | Angel Heart
Bessie Smith was born on April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. She was an actress, known for Angel Heart (1987), Water for Elephants (2011) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004). She was married to Jack Gee. She died on September 26, 1937 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA.
21. Sade
Soundtrack | A Wrinkle in Time
Sade was born on January 16, 1959 in Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a music artist and composer, known for A Wrinkle in Time (2018), True Lies (1994) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). She was previously married to Carlos Scola.
22. Van Morrison
Soundtrack | Belfast
Sir George Ivan Morrison OBE known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans six decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in the late 1950s, he played a variety of instruments such as guitar, harmonica, ...
23. Etta James
Soundtrack | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Etta James is an American singer who performed in various genres, including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazz, gospel. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind". She faced a ...
24. Whitney Houston
Soundtrack | The Bodyguard
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born into a musical family on 9 August 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of gospel star Cissy Houston (née Emily Lee Drinkard) and John Russell Houston, Jr., and cousin of singing star Dionne Warwick.
She began singing in the choir at her church, The New Hope ...
25. Mariah Carey
Soundtrack | Glitter
Mariah Carey was born in Long Island, New York on March 27, 1969. Her parents are Patricia Hickey (Irish-American) and Alfred Roy Carey (African-American/Venezuelan). Mariah attended Greenlawn's Harborfields High School. In June 1990, Mariah made her debut with her self-titled album, Mariah Carey ...
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