Best Singer

Bob Marley was a Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, and musician who became an international icon of reggae music and Rastafari culture. Rising to fame with his band the Wailers, he released acclaimed albums including 'Catch a Fire' (1973) and 'Exodus' (1977). His music often addressed themes of po...

Joni Mitchell is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and painter widely recognized for her expansive vocal range, complex guitar tunings, and poetic lyrics. Emerging from the 1960s folk scene, her 1971 album 'Blue' is often cited as a landmark recording in confessional songwriting. Over her career...

Marvin Gaye was an American soul and R&B singer who became a defining artist for Motown Records in the 1960s and 1970s. Early in his career, he scored hits with duets like 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' alongside Tammi Terrell. In 1971, he shifted his focus to socially conscious themes with the con...

James Brown was an American singer, musician and bandleader whose career extended over five decades. A central developer of funk, he shifted attention toward tightly coordinated, syncopated rhythms, with bass and drums providing much of the music's drive. Live at the Apollo (1963) captured his dynam...

Paul McCartney gained worldwide fame as the Beatles' bassist and co-lead vocalist, with his songwriting partnership with John Lennon producing numerous chart-topping songs in the 1960s. The English singer, songwriter and musician helped give the band's catalog a wide melodic range, while his bass pa...

Ray Charles was an American singer, pianist and composer who became blind in childhood and helped establish soul music. During the 1950s, recordings such as I Got a Woman joined gospel-derived musical expression to secular lyrics and rhythm and blues. The combination made religious musical language...

Emerging from New York City's folk scene in the early 1960s, Bob Dylan developed songwriting that drew on political and social concerns alongside literary and philosophical influences. Songs such as Blowin' in the Wind became associated with the civil rights and anti-war movements. His controversial...

Stevie Wonder is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer who signed with Motown at eleven. Blind since shortly after birth, he developed skills on piano, harmonica and drums. His 1970s recordings, including Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life, combined soul wi...

Born Prince Rogers Nelson, Prince was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. His music brought funk and dance rhythms into contact with rock guitar and pop songwriting. In 1984, he released the commercially and critically successful Pur...

Aretha Franklin was an American singer, songwriter and pianist widely known as the Queen of Soul. Her early singing developed in the gospel setting of her father's church in Detroit. After signing with Atlantic Records in the late 1960s, she recorded songs including Respect and Chain of Fools, bring...

As Queen's frontman, British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury combined theatrical performance with a voice capable of moving between forceful rock singing and lighter passages. He wrote songs including Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are the Champions, helping shape the band's identity as a successful...

Frank Sinatra was an American singer and actor whose influence on twentieth-century popular singing rests especially on phrasing and interpretation. He rose to prominence during the swing era, including work with bandleader Tommy Dorsey, before establishing a successful solo career. In the Wee Small...

Elvis Presley was an American singer and actor widely known as the King of Rock and Roll. His recording career began at Sun Records in Memphis in 1954, where his combination of country music and rhythm and blues helped establish his rockabilly sound. Energetic performances and widely seen television...

Known as the 'Empress of the Blues,' Bessie Smith brought a powerful voice and expressive phrasing to the classic blues tradition. Her early career developed through touring tent shows and theaters before she began recording for Columbia in 1923. 'Down Hearted Blues' helped establish her recording r...

John Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, and peace activist who gained global fame as a founder, co-lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist for the Beatles. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney produced many of the band's most successful songs during the 1960s. Following the group's dis...

Whitney Houston was an American singer and actress cited as one of the most awarded female artists of all time. Her self-titled debut album became the best-selling debut album by a female act in 1985. She achieved massive crossover success with her soundtrack for the 1992 film 'The Bodyguard,' which...

Bert Williams was a Black comedian, singer and actor whose work helped define popular entertainment in the early twentieth century. Born in the Bahamas, he built a career in the United States through vaudeville and musical theater, including a notable partnership with George Walker. His restrained c...

Personal storytelling runs through Taylor Swift's work as an American singer-songwriter whose catalog moves from country into pop and more intimate folk-influenced writing. Her songs often use concrete scenes and emotional shifts to give relationships a narrative shape. Changes in production and pre...

Sam Cooke was an American soul and gospel singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur who became a foundational figure in the development of soul music. He began his career as the lead singer of the gospel group the Soul Stirrers before crossing over into secular pop music in the late 1950s. Cooke wrote an...

Otis Redding was an American soul and R&B singer born in Dawson, Georgia, who became a defining figure of Southern soul music. Recording for Stax Records in the 1960s, he released influential recordings including '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay,' 'Try a Little Tenderness,' and 'Respect,' the latte...

Neil Young is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter born in Toronto in 1945, a prolific rock and folk artist often called the 'Godfather of Grunge' whose career spans over five decades and includes landmark albums Harvest (1972) and Rust Never Sleeps (1979).

Johnny Cash was an American singer-songwriter born in Kingsland, Arkansas, in 1932, known for his deep bass-baritone voice and the 'Man in Black' persona. He recorded over 1,500 songs spanning country, rock and roll, folk, and gospel, including 'I Walk the Line,' 'Ring of Fire,' and 'Folsom Prison B...

Paul Simon is an American singer-songwriter born in Newark in 1941, who first rose to fame as half of Simon & Garfunkel before a celebrated solo career that included the globally influential Graceland album (1986).

The Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace in Brooklyn, New York, was an American rapper who became one of the most influential figures in East Coast hip-hop. His debut album 'Ready to Die' (1994) is widely regarded as a landmark of the genre, featuring singles like 'Juicy' and 'Big Poppa.' He w...

Madonna is an American singer, songwriter, and actress born in Bay City, Michigan, in 1958, who became one of the most commercially successful and culturally influential recording artists in popular music. She rose to fame in the 1980s with albums like 'Like a Virgin' (1984) and 'True Blue' (1986),...

Leonard Cohen was a Canadian poet, novelist, and singer-songwriter born in Montreal in 1934, internationally acclaimed for his literary songwriting on albums including Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967) and the widely covered song 'Hallelujah' (1984).

Robert Plant is an English singer born in West Bromwich in 1948, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from 1968 to 1980. His soaring, blues-influenced vocal style on songs like 'Stairway to Heaven,' 'Whole Lotta Love,' and 'Kashmir' helped define the sound of hard rock and h...

Björk is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, and composer born in Reykjavík in 1965, known for her distinctive voice and genre-spanning approach to music. She first gained international attention as the vocalist of the alternative rock group The Sugarcubes before launching a solo career with the album...

Thom Yorke is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist born in 1968, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Radiohead, which formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. His work with Radiohead, particularly on albums like 'OK Computer' (1997) and 'Kid A...