I respect him, but in most instances (save for a few performances), he doesn't do much for me. He wasn't that great live, but I only saw one concert. He opened for Sade (who was great).

No Doubt and Gwen (solo) made some fun pop/rock music. But, I wouldn't say she's a strong singer. Her voice fit the material and usually that's enough when the music is heavily produced/polished.

Yep. I wrote this elsewhere on this long thread - saw her during Floetry's reunion tour last year at a small venue (The Pageant in St. Louis), and she was hands down incredible live. I always liked her on CD, but this made me see her totally differently. Amazing singer.

She's great, and her catalog is so diverse. Peace Beyond Passion one of my all time favorite albums. But, she has a lot of good albums.

I think there's a ton of D'Angelo love for the whole musical package. But, just singing? - would he be in your top 5, or 10, or 20? Would be an interesting to see what people have to say about his singing abilities.

It's all good though. I love it when someone's opinion is outside of what is expected, especially when it comes to music icons.

Exactly. I remember her first solo album was sort of a dud for me (I haven't checked out any subsequent solo stuff). I reflexively purchased it because I really liked Floetry. But, the songs weren't that great.

Since I've only read through half the thread, maybe she's already been mentioned - Marsha Ambrosius. Attended a Floetry reunion concert last year and Marsha could really blow. Was very impressed. She comes across just fine on recorded tracks, but seeing her live made me view her differently. A very strong singer.

I just wrote this further upthread, so everyone excuse the repeat:

I saw Sade live during the Solider of Love tour and she was really great. She's not super dramatic and her "pocket" for the most part isn't huge - she doesn't sing over a big range. But it doesn't matter. Her voice is gorgeous and emotive and strong. She knows exactly what her strengths are and she sings…

Love Teena and know lots of other hardcore Teena fans. But, I can see why people like Uncle Remus might be put off. She had a very distinct, dramatic style (at times overly dramatic), often with some warbling, and many times a distinctive high pitch. I love it, but can understand why others wouldn't.

But, didn't he reach monster status? Since he's not at the top anymore, it's easy to forget what an enormous sustained run he had. Crazy that he's only 38.

That's an interesting discussion. His voice beautifully served the R&B and pop that he was making. But while I always thought he was a good singer, I never really thought he was a great singer. Then again, I didn't really ponder his singing ability.

Natalie Cole - early Natalie Cole, before she went 80s pop and adult contemporary. Simply incredible. The first four albums are all great, but if I have to recommend one Natalie album to drive home what a powerhouse she was it's "Natalie Live" where her singing is not filtered through studio production. There was…

I even like the album cuts off "II" like "U Know" and "Vibin" and I LOVE that beautiful "Khalil" interlude ("No one to guide me, I'm all alone …"). Great album.

Someone like Janet, I agree, she's not a powerhouse great singer (not that she's "bad"). But, she's also one of those artists where I think that was never the goal, and that's true of a lot of artists. The key is whether their arguably non-great singing abilities can aptly serve the music - often great music. …

I always thought Prince was an exceptional singer. Truly great. His voice is distinctive and he can do all sorts of things with it. He's always in key and on pitch and has excellent control. Seen him live multiple times and he's truly amazing. The black church standard is understandable, but also limiting. …

Yeah. Late to the thread, and I posted a similar sentiment earlier before reading this post. MC and TTT are sort of a different category - full scale R&B bands. Not that it's improper to compare them to other 90s R&B groups, but that difference should be recognized. Just makes me think of them differently.

"He's scary big…like Discovery Channel doc big."

I think he has a kid too.