The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, Apparently
Rolling Stone magazine announced today their new list of The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. The magazine first published its list of the 100 Greatest Singers in 2008. In today’s list, Madonna is nowhere to be seen.
Other notable omissions include Cher and the one and only Celine Dion.
You may be trickled by the idea that the magazine staff and key contributors behind the list focused on exceptional vocal talents – and while many believe that Madonna‘s voice is magical, some may find it far from perfect.
But no, the magazine makes clear that the list is not about voices but originality, influence, the depth of an artist’s catalog, and the breadth of their musical legacy.
And still, they don’t believe Madonna has a reason to rank in a massive 200 artist list.
Oh well. Chacun à son goût. We beg to differ.
From Rolling Stone:
Before you start scrolling (and commenting), keep in mind that this is the Greatest Singers list, not the Greatest Voices List. Talent is impressive; genius is transcendent. Sure, many of the people here were born with massive pipes, perfect pitch, and boundless range. Others have rougher, stranger, or more delicate instruments. As our write-up for the man who ended up at Number 112 notes, “Ozzy Osbourne doesn’t have what most people would call a good voice, but boy does he have a great one.” That could apply to more than a few people here.
In all cases, what mattered most to us was originality, influence, the depth of an artist’s catalog, and the breadth of their musical legacy. A voice can be gorgeous like Mariah Carey’s, rugged like Toots Hibbert’s, understated like Willie Nelson’s, slippery and sumptuous like D’Angelo’s, or bracing like Bob Dylan’s. But in the end, the singers behind it are here for one reason: They can remake the world just by opening their mouths.
