Prettiest singing voices

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Female
Olivia Newton-John
Agnetha and Frida from ABBA
Annie Lennox
Kate Bush
kd lang
Janis Ian
Carly Simon
Karen Carpenter
Christine McVie

Male
Freddie Mercury
Gerry Rafferty
Billy Joel
John Lennon / Paul McCartney
Don Henley / Glenn Frey
Art Garfunkel
Don McLean

I was slightly joking, of course, but if you listen to some of his ballads like "Time", you'd understand he is quite a good singer actually.

I forgot to add a couple:
Female: Jewel
Madonna
Karen Carpenter of The Carpenters (sad the way she died)
Natalie Cole, especially on "Unforgettable"

Male:
Kenny Rogers
Rod Stewart (raspy yet passionate)
Nat King Cole (always a classic!)
Marvin Gaye

An acquaintance of mine mentioned these guys a while ago, talking about one of their, er, less reputable songs. By accident I found this on YouTube, and I keep listening to it, falsetto notwithstanding!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-fLZOJ-huE&feature=related[/youtube]

i do not like voices in pure music because they are limited in their accuracy, and they are restricted in their dynamic range, and so in my opinion, they are a poor instrument to convey anything else than some sort of "human" approximation of the symphonic structure (which i guess ropes people with lots of human understanding in). whatever.


i actually do like some singing because it is a principle element in many songs that i enjoy listening to. those songs are not pure music, but assembly's of polyphonic structures, and i very much like them, and vocals are integral to the richness of them, but i do not think voices are accurate enough to iterate an exquisitely delicate musical thought.

i can not say i have any favorites as far as voices go, but i have people i am impressed by that i admire like ..let me go and check...johnny farnham (an australian singer)has an excellent voice. it is better than billy joel's, but billy joel is a musical genius, and the notes he sings are scripted in such an excellent way that they integrate perfectly with the structure of the song they are pertinent to which are extensively dynamic..

but i will embed a youtube object which is the farnham fellow iterating vocally an otherwise brilliant (but questionably mixed(i like the mix because it emphasises the piano, but others may not for the same reasson)) piece of music that i find to be at the top of my admiration of vocal ability. please avoid looking at the video because it is distracting, and just listen to the song while looking elsewhere or with the eyes closed.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPXd124UWv0[/youtube] it is simple but also complex and thoroughly well done (do not look at the video because it is not relative)

i think the most captivating vocal i have ever heard must be this which is in the opening ceremony of the sydney olympic games in 2000, and again you must look away from the screen to give your wits a suitable stage to listen to this girls voice on (she is only 17 here)
there is much music that i favor to listen to more than these 2 songs, but this song is the one i find to be the best . please just shut your eyes and listen because the video is not about her looks or anything, it is about how she sings. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPpgM3AFhi0[/youtube]

Last edited by b9 on 05 Jul 2011, 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Tom Waits actually has a beautiful voice, he just chooses to sing like that.

Sorry. That was my sad attempt at humor. I'm a fan of his, too.

I was just sayin'

No worries, man.

I love these voices:
Female - Imelda May, Annie Lennox, Karen Carpenter, Irene Cara, Laura Brannigan
Male - Brian Kennedy, Gordon Lightfoot, Gerry Rafferty, Justin Hayward, Freddy Mercury
I could probably add a few more, but got brain block at the moment.

I agree with some of the names listed earlier, especially Ella Fitzgerald. Her perfect pitch makes almost everyone else sound off key. Also +1 re James Taylor.

Some of the names not mentioned so far include:

Roy Orbison
The Beach Boys (vs only Brian Wilson)
Everly Brothers
Paul Simon
Bobby McFerrin (ie Don't Worry, Be Happy)
Andrea Bocelli (spell?)
Pavarotti (spell?)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo (spell?)
Tony Bennett
Smokey Robinson
Joni Mitchell

Not "pretty", but I love to hear:
Louis Armstrong
Louis Prima
Fats Waller
Cab Calloway
Donald Fegan
Bob Dylan
Captain Beefheart
Tom Waits (already mentioned)

(edited to add some originally left off.)

Last edited by Rocky on 16 Jul 2011, 12:27 am, edited 2 times in total.

Loreena McKennit
Christy Moore
Jackie Chan (I didn't know that he could sing either)
The Temptations singers
Freddy Mercury
Edith Piaf (it's an acquired taste)
Calogero
Art Garfunkel
Marni Nixon
Steve Perry
Jeff Leyton
Ruthie Henshall
Lea Salonga

And I'm not quite sure what I like about his voice, but I love Michael Jackson's music.

I was just thinking how much I love Margot Timmins' voice. She's the lead singer of the Cowboy Junkies. I don't recall her being mentioned in this thread. Am I the only one who likes her voice?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zufpr8BwY9U[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHRFZFmEq9o&feature=related[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-2aNnij82U&feature=related[/youtube]

prettiest voice Female: Lara Fabian

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk-fmvxmh1E[/youtube]

Fiona Apple has one of my favorite female voices. Janis Joplin is probably my number one favorite, but I can see how other people wouldn't consider her voice to be "pretty". Male I would have to say Ian Curtis of Joy Division...he just makes me want to melt.

Here's another one I like, soul singer Johnny Adams. This is one of my favorites of his, "The Real Me."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL0DEu7fqcw[/youtube]

Jennifer Knapp, Amy Grant, Taylor Swift, Jackie Velasquez, Rebbecca St. James, Stacy Hanson, Kelly Clarkson, and most singing voices of women.