She might be a walking talking real life train wreck, but Leann Rimes has one of the best voices I have ever heard.

She's also a smoke show so that helps!

Best female vocalist I've ever heard

Best pure female voice for me may be Alison Krauss but I haven't heard anything from her in awhile. I'm sure there other more recent examples but Kasey Musgraves reminds me of Sarah McLaughlin, Alanis and Tori Amos from the 90s. Decent singers that write really good songs to accentuate the best and uniqueness of their voice. I guess you can throw the likes of Swift, Perry and even Florence + the machine in there as more modern examples.

If you haven't heard Patsy Cline in a while, you should take a listen.

You have different ears than me, and that's okay.

Linda Ronstadt

that's actually not close to the perfect voice.

For the record before this thread implodes and everyone is fighting, I don't really agree with the premise that her voice is "perfect", but I do think she's extremely talented and her voice is unique, which I like.

There's a very big difference between "perfect" and "unique".

Alison Krauss (mentioned above) has a very unique voice but it's far from perfect. It's great but can get annoying at times.
Chrissie Hynde has an incredible, unmistakable voice. Perhaps the best female voice in rock history...yes it's arguable. I LOVE Chrissie Hynde but it's not the perfect voice.
Whitney Houston may be closest to most unique AND pure. I could listen to her sing the phone book.

For my money, the most pure female voices belong to Judith Durham of The Seekers, Karen Carpenter, and Cass Elliott

Durham has the voice of an angel. Hair raising, spine tingling, utter beauty in a voice that absolutely transports you.


Karen Carpenter. Her loss is still felt to this day. Voice as pure as the driven snow.


And of course Mama Cass. Not much to be said other than "wow". An absolute power house. Both her and Carpenter gone far too early.

Jamie Wilson is #1 for me

Adele
Aguilera
Whitney Houston
Diana Ross
Judy Garland
Aretha Franklin



From Country

Sara Evans
Faith Hill
Wynonna Judd

CenterHillAg said:

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Jamie Wilson is #1 for me

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Absolutely, since the first time I heard her sing on the back porch at Zapatos...

Norah Jones, I find her voice just completely mesmerizing, it can just stop me in my tracks, perfect.

We may as well call this our personal favorites thread, as "the best" is always going to be subjective. Ones I didn't see on this thread:

Ann Wilson from Heart has got to be near the top of the all-time list. Just about the perfect rock and roll voice.

Mavis Staples deserves some strong consideration, although "most unique" would probably be a better descriptor than "best".

Etta James has to be on it, as "At Last" is one of the best recorded performances ever.

Bonnie Raitt isn't for everybody, but for a mellower bluesy sound, I'm not sure there's anyone better.

Carole King, Dionne Warwick, and Karen Carpenter all merit your vote, if you're in more of an easy listening mood.

I could go on, but then I'd be competing with the FAST FRED style (RIP, my friend).

Anita Baker
KD Lang

Voice?

Karen Carpenter
Alison Krauss

Grace Potter can sing to me any day of the week.

Most unique female voice is one thing.

If we're talking about the PERFECT female voice, to me, there is nobody that can top Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation. And since it's modern symphonic rock and from a foreign country, it will likely get dismissed here, but thats ok.

She has a mezzo-soprano range but can hit on both sides beyond that. On one of Within Temptation's songs, she spans from C4 to A5 flawlessly. She also sings entire songs in her head voice and falsetto making it seem easy.

lisa gerrard