Best Female Singers Of All Time: 30 Trailblazing Music Icons

29: Mica Paris

“I was 19 when I had my first hit single, My One Temptation, in 1988,” Mica Paris said in 2017. “One minute I was a normal girl from South London, the next, everyone was telling me I was great, and I started to believe it.” When the soul sensation that was Mica Paris hit the charts, her sound was perfect for the late 80s. Hers was a refined voice, drawing from R&B and jazz without being defined by it, and with real gospel depth (unsurprising, since she grew up singing in her grandparents’ church). Following her immensely successful debut album, 1988’s So Good, Paris found fame a tricky world to navigate, and she became, she later said, “the loneliest I’ve ever been”. Paris continued to release albums on her own terms, and it was with 2020’s Gospel, exploring the songs that she learned in church as a youngster, that she found the artistic renaissance she so richly deserved.

Must hear: Amazing Grace

28: Shirley Alston Reeves

As lead singer of The Shirelles, Shirley Alston Reeves (or Shirley Owens, as she was known back then) is the sweet sound of early-60s soul. The Shirelles were one of the very first girl groups, forming in 1957 in New Jersey; they co-wrote their debut single, I Met Him On A Sunday, together as a group when they were all young teens. Alston Reeves’ vocal genius is her ability to bridge an R&B street-corner sound with a real anguish; the cries and fractures in her voice gave her mini-symphonies of heartbreak a deep reality. As young as they were, The Shirelles were also active in the civil-rights movement, playing the first integrated music concert in Alabama, organised by Dr Martin Luther King (and finding out later that the Ku Klux Klan had marched just before their performance). “Once we went onstage, everyone was one,” Reeves said in 2015. “Music can do things like that. The audience would want to touch us, even though we probably couldn’t eat with them.”

Must hear: Will You Love Me Tomorrow

27: Dua Lipa

After the immense success of her seventh single, New Rules, from her self-titled debut album, Dua Lipa catapulted into stardom and became a household name in Britain. While her debut fluttered effortlessly with silky, rich and deep tones, making for a perfect fit on any party playlist, her second album, Future Nostalgia, took a cosmic-disco twist, tackling themes of female empowerment, inequality and intimacy, and earning critical acclaim in the process. Lipa’s credibility continues to grow: there’s been her third album, 2024’s Radical Optimism; a collaboration with Miley Cyrus; a reimagining of Future Nostalgia by US DJ The Blessed Madonna. She’s even duetted with Elton John. Trailing a ton of accolades and prestigious nominations in her wake, including BRIT and Grammy awards, Lipa has already earned her place among the best female singers of all time.

Must hear: Love Again

26: k.d. lang

“Not one record could ever completely encapsulate who I am or who I want to be or what my musical taste is,” k.d. lang said in 2023. “It’s very, very small increments or refractions of what I am.” Although lang began in country music, with a deep appreciation of Patsy Cline in particular, one single genre did not hold her: it was with the more pop-oriented Ingénue album (1992) that she crossed over into wider success. Her torch-like voice felt well-worn, as if coming from an old AM radio broadcast, yet also deliciously modern, ambiguous as to gender and playful with musical conventions. While lang is a multi-dimensional artist and is comfortable in different musical styles, the core of everything is her voice: direct, aching, intense. “It’s also an ongoing challenge, you know, to become more open, more vulnerable and more honest,” she has said. “And that’s just a process within yourself. You know, I don’t think that giving honesty and vulnerability is a scary thing.”

Must hear: Constant Craving

25: Lauryn Hill

The best female singers of the modern era owe a lot to Lauryn Hill. One of the greatest, most influential rappers of all time, Hill broke boundaries in the traditionally male-dominated hip-hop and R&B worlds. Her career began in The Fugees, where her bewitchingly soulful vocals blended with her rap expertise, paving the way for her to go solo and release one of the best-selling albums of all time, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Incorporating soul, hip-hop and a hint of reggae, the album explored love, faith and personal turmoil while flaunting Hill’s versatility. “I think the piece as a whole communicates my personality,” she said in 1999. “It is the culmination of my experiences, the sum total of what I had gone through at a certain point in my life. It might have been a little scary at first, because whether I sink or swim, it was all on me. But it was liberating because it was very personal, it allowed me to talk about things that were very Lauryn, that didn’t have anything to do with anyone else.” A considerable influence on future generations of MCs, among them Little Simz and Greentea Peng, it’s no surprise that Hill stands as the most awarded female rapper of all time.

Must hear: The Ex-Factor

24: Elizabeth Fraser

Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser is the heart of her band’s music. Although, in itself, her voice is beautiful and pure, Fraser never solely relies on her natural gifts; she adopts a deconstructed approach to vocals that perfectly fits with the Cocteaus’ gauzy music. With most Cocteau Twins songs, it’s hard to understand the words (and even harder to grasp their meaning). Yet Fraser’s obliqueness is not because she’s being obtuse, evasive, mannered or mysterious. Instead, she’s about emotions and situations so ambiguous that the only way, for her, to make sense of them is to deliver her words in a way reflective of that ambiguity. Her voice intoxicates, yet always escapes definition.

Must hear: Oomingmak

23: Taylor Swift

The adaptability of Taylor Swift – from country, to folk, to pure pop, to venom-spitting vengeance – would not be possible without her everywoman-yet-one-in-a-million voice. Swift’s vocals are the product of hard work, something she has been open about. “I was trying to create a follow-up to the most awarded country album in history while staring directly into the face of intense criticism,” she said in 2023, referring to her Speak Now album (2010) – which followed the phenomenally successful Fearless (2008). “I underwent extensive vocal training and made a decision that would completely define this album: I decided I would write it completely on my own.” The unity of voice and lyrics used by Swift means she explores emotional crevices with her singing, and this is just one of the reasons why she is so beloved by her audience.

Must hear: All Too Well

22: Kylie Minogue

Renowned the world over as an LGBTQ+ icon, Kylie Minogue has been a sparkly pop presence since the 80s. Another record-breaking icon among the best female singers of all time, the “Princess Of Pop” is the highest-selling Australian-born solo artist in history, and it’s as though this accolade propels her to continue making hit records decades after her debut. Early singles such as I Should Be So Lucky and The Loco-Motion remain touchstones among the best 80s songs, while Kylie’s 2000s reinvention, with songs such as Spinning Around and Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, proved that she had what it took to dominate the charts in the early 21st century, and remain wickedly nostalgic reminders of another golden era for pop music. A firm Glastonbury favourite, Kylie’s 2019 headlining slot stands as the festival’s most-watched performance to date.

Must hear: Spinning Around

21: Ellie Rowsell

Wolf Alice frontwoman Ellie Rowsell is a remarkable, sometimes overlooked, voice in alternative rock. With all three of her band’s albums being nominated for the Mercury Prize – and 2018’s Visions Of A Life winning the award – the group have become hailed as one of the best bands in the UK, but that status probably wouldn’t be so assured without Roswell’s impressive vocals. Exceptionally versatile, she can soar to spine-tingling soprano peaks (Lipstick On The Glass) but also skip to gravelly spoken-word deliveries and climatic roars (Formidable Cool), earning her guest spots on records by the likes of Mura Masa and alt-J. An influencer in her own right, Rowsell has, since the mid-2010s, been a driving force for women in rock, proving that women who sing and play guitar can rightfully claim their place among the best female singers of all time.

Must hear: Delicious Things

20: Roberta Flack

The best Roberta Flack songs are a cornucopia of musical pleasure. Her voice can tackle everything from sensual afternoon moods to sorrow at racial injustice. “Nobody poured me into a gown, they didn’t put me into a mould,” Flack said in 1975, speaking on Australian TV about her versatility. “They didn’t fashion my face. They didn’t fashion my figure. I’d made it purely on talent.” As a classically trained musician, who had also taught music before releasing her own recordings, Flack was an intelligent singer who knew precisely what to do with her voice in order to give it maximum power. Listening to her work is to believe in her; to trust every nuance of her carefully chosen words.

Must hear: Business Goes On As Usual

19: Hayley Williams

Best known as the red-haired frontwoman of the rock band Paramore, Hayley Williams has evolved monumentally since the formation of her group, way back in 2004. Shifting from punk rock (2007’s Riot! album) to alternative rock (2013’s Paramore) and holographic indie-pop (2017’s After Laughter), Paramore’s sound has changed over the years, but Williams’ breathtaking voice has always remained first class. After an intense breakup resulted in a dip in her mental health, Williams launched a solo career as a form of therapy for herself – and only herself. Stripping ger music bare while placing her vocals at the forefront, she released the poignant, candid Petals For Armor in 2020 and followed it up less than a year later with the sultry, heavily acoustic FLOWERS for VASES / descansos. Boasting one of the best album covers of 2021, the latter revealed that her unfettered creativity was still running riot for all to hear. There’s not much that can stand in the way of Hayley Williams and her ability to make beautifully authentic music.

Must hear: Dead Horse

18: Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin’s vulnerability was shrouded in hard living, but it was always there in her voice. Relentlessly teased and mocked at school, she went on to run with rock’n’roll in an era when it was heavily dominated by men. Coming out on top, she became not only one of the best female singers of the 60s, but one of the most iconic voices on the planet. Drawn to the countercultural epicentre that was San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, the Texas-born Joplin joined the psychedelic blues-rock outfit Big Brother And The Holding Company in 1966 before going solo. Her look, too, was unusual at the time and seemed like a conscious mockery of what a female performer should look like: feather boa, but with a tattered dress and uncombed hair. Joplin lost herself in drugs (becoming an entrant in music’s notorious “27 Club”) but first lost herself in her voice. “When I’m there, I’m not here,” she once said. “I can’t talk about my singing. I’m inside it. How can you describe something you’re inside of?”

Must hear: Piece Of My Heart

17: Lady Gaga

One of the most leftfield-thinking artists in modern pop music, Lady Gaga has made a name for herself beyond her music thanks to her unforgettable avant-garde live performances and eye-catching outfits (we all remember the meat dress). Some of her decisions are more bafflingly off-the-wall than others, but her music is indisputably versatile and is bolstered by a sumptuous voice that can be put to almost any genre she chooses. The reigning champion of electro-pop, Gaga revealed a stripped-back version of herself on 2016’s Joanne, delving into folk and soft-rock territory, and has even flirted with jazz and swing music, releasing two collaborative albums with legendary crooner Tony Bennett. The first woman ever to win an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA and Golden Globe – all in 2018, for her all-encompassing performance in A Star Is Born – Gaga is truly one of the best female singers of her generation.

Must hear: Born This Way

16: Shirley Collins

Shirley Collins began singing traditional folk songs in the late 50s as a young woman. Right from her youth, Collins’ unadorned voice – as clear and earthy as the Sussex soil she came from – was timeless. She was also a scholar of folk music, seeking to deeply understand these elusive songs and capture their essence in her voice. ““I’ve always felt that the working classes – especially the working classes – are left out of history, with nothing written about them at all,” she said in 2023. “And these songs that were their songs, just sort of give you some clues as to what was really happening in their lives. I still think it’s quite important to be able to put their messages in front of people as well, along with the beauty of the songs themselves.” Collins was also one of the first folk artists to embrace bold directions in the 60s, working with the mercurial Davey Graham on 1964’s Folk Roots, New Routes. She spent many years away from singing, but happily returned in 2016 with Lodestar, her first new album in 38 years. Her voice, changed of course, still channels centuries-old stories like no other.

Must hear: Hares On The Mountain

16: Shirley Collins

Shirley Collins began singing traditional folk songs in the late 50s as a young woman. Right from her youth, Collins’ unadorned voice – as clear and earthy as the Sussex soil she came from – was timeless. She was also a scholar of folk music, seeking to deeply understand these elusive songs and capture their essence in her voice. ““I’ve always felt that the working classes – especially the working classes – are left out of history, with nothing written about them at all,” she said in 2023. “And these songs that were their songs, just sort of give you some clues as to what was really happening in their lives. I still think it’s quite important to be able to put their messages in front of people as well, along with the beauty of the songs themselves.” Collins was also one of the first folk artists to embrace bold directions in the 60s, working with the mercurial Davey Graham on 1964’s Folk Roots, New Routes. She spent many years away from singing, but happily returned in 2016 with Lodestar, her first new album in 38 years. Her voice, changed of course, still channels centuries-old stories like no other.

Must hear: Hares On The Mountain

15: Chaka Khan

In 2024, Chaka Khan was asked what she considered to be her greatest achievement. “Staying alive, being here at this age,” she said. “So many songs. It’s crazy.” Khan’s career, spanning more than 50 years, has truly earned her the title “Queen Of Funk”. Rejecting a sweeter vocal tone, Khan rasped and stung with her vocals, more than matching the deep beats of the music. Following the heavy funk of her early days in Chicago group Rufus, Khan then moved on to a forward-thinking solo career that encapsulated disco, jazz, electro and hip-hop. “I would hope that some of my shit has longevity,” she said in 2023 (her frank, very un-media trained interviews are always a joy). “If it doesn’t, that’ll be because hopefully somebody better has come along.”

Must hear: Some Love

14: Diana Ross

A paragon of class, Diana Ross is one of the world’s truly great superstars, and it is easy to forget just how important her chameleonic vocals are to her success. In the earliest days of The Supremes, when her voice was at its lightest, she fitted the mood of Motown pop perfectly. Yet, as the 60s became more conscious and psychedelic, Ross’ vocals also shifted, in order to accommodate grittier songs such as Love Child and I’m Livin’ In Shame. Ross has tackled blues, jazz, soul and disco – and cleverly adapted her vocal style to each one. By the 80s, she had enormous discipline over her voice, and with the huge success of the Eaten Alive album – particularly the single Chain Reaction – a younger audience found her, too. Call her Ms Ross, and call her one of the best female singers of all time.

Must hear: Chain Reaction

13: Enya

The serene Enya holds a listener through a mood with her warm yet elusive voice. There are three particular habitats she excels at evoking. The first is the natural world: storms in Africa, blue Caribbean seas, days without rain. The second is quasi-historical moments in time, often drawing from the Celtic tradition. And, finally, Enya can blast up to a supernatural neverland, using the fictional language of Loxian in journeys to Aldebaran, a star outside of the Taurus constellation. Enya’s textured vocals transport a listener to journeys in space and time, willing the suspension of reality. She says it’s patience that gives her this unique ability. “If I was standing looking at this beautiful view and I thought, I’ll write a song right away, I feel, No, no, no, if it’s strong enough it’s going to stay with you, it doesn’t matter,” Enya said in 2017. “You know, when there’s a moment, it will stay with you.”

Must hear: Aldebaran

12: Debbie Harry

Naming her groundbreaking New York City punk outfit after a catcall that truck drivers yelled as she walked down the street, Debbie Harry is without a doubt one of the best female singers of all time. Helping to crystallise the new wave scene that formed around New York’s CBGB club in the late 70s, Blondie went on to incorporate punk, electronica, funk and reggae into a musical style that allied sensationally with Harry’s rich and raspy vocals. Their third album, Parallel Lines, shot to success, with the disco hit Heart Of Glass and quintessential pop-rock track One Way Or Another making two different but significant marks on music history. Harry’s rebellious fashion sense – all red lips, glittered eyelids and that iconic shock of platinum-blonde hair – was unlike that of any other star in the 70s, and continues to influence each new generation of female musicians.

Must hear: Heart Of Glass

11: Stevie Nicks

Name another woman who can rock a top hat better than Stevie Nicks, we dare you. One of the defining singers and songwriters in Fleetwood Mac, and a mega-selling solo artist in her own right, Nicks is most notable for her work on Fleetwood Mac’s seminal 1977 breakup album, Rumours, in which she laid bare the dissolution of her relationship with her fellow-bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. It wasn’t until 1981 that Nicks embarked on her solo career, with the Bella Donna album kickstarting an era of greater creative fluidity while proving that her powerhouse vocals could be just as effective without the Fleetwood Mac engine room behind her. To date, Nicks remains the only woman to have two Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductions: one for her role in the band that brought her fame, and the other for the solo career that saw her cement her position among the best female singers of all time.

Must hear: Edge Of Seventeen

10: Joni Mitchell

A trailblazer in the purest sense, Joni Mitchell incorporated folk, rock, classical and jazz music into her songwriting, creating a body of work that can’t be pigeonholed. The 70s saw the Canadian singer-songwriter reflect on social and philosophical themes while also dwelling on womanhood and personal romances, and the best Joni Mitchell songs traversed boundaries in order to find universal appeal. Bearing the hallmarks of an empath, Mitchell used her platform to give a voice to the deprived, and also went on to speak out against the oppression of Black people and other communities of colour. Despite her voice changing tone with age, Joni Mitchell remains one of the best female singers or all time, instantly recognisable thanks in part to the skilful control she has over her triumphant range.

Must hear: Both Sides, Now

9: Tina Turner

Crowned the “Queen Of Rock’n’Roll”, Tina Turner is one of the most iconic figures in music. First breaking through in the 60s with her then husband Ike Turner, as part of the Ike And Tina Turner Revue – hailed as “one of the most formidable live acts in history” – she made her name with cuts such as River Deep – Mountain High and the US Top 5 hit Proud Mary before leaving her abusive husband and striking out on her own. After re-centring herself with the help of Buddhist practices, Turner made one of the greatest comebacks in music history, with her 1984 solo album, Private Dancer, going multi-platinum, and her signature song, The Best, becoming an all-conquering rock anthem. As both the first Black and the first female artist to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, and with her high-energy performances and mighty vocals paving the way for the likes of Beyoncé in the modern era, Tina Turner remains one of the most powerful figures in music history.

Must hear: The Best

8: Dionne Warwick

Known as the second-most-charting female singer of all time, Dionne Warwick’s success has been a journey of self-discovery. With a similar upbringing to many of the world’s best female soul singers, Warwick was raised in a deeply religious and musical household, and her first steps as a performer were through singing in her church’s choir. After forming a gospel trio, The Gospelaires, with her sister and aunt, Warwick went on to record early hits such as Walk On By and I Say A Little Prayer in the 60s. Having since amassed a catalogue of iconic ballads infused with soulful melodies, Dionne Warwick has become a catalyst for women in soul music and continues to rank as one of the best female singers of all time.

Must hear: What The World Needs Now (Is Love)

7: Adele

The UK’s very own queen of heartbreak, Adele has been wearing her crown for the last decade, inducing goosebumps and bringing audiences to tears thanks to her elegant vocal range and poignant lyricism. Debuting her music while still a teenager, Adele gained traction on the now-defunct social-media platform MySpace, and released her debut single, Hometown Glory, in 2007, as means of a protest after her mum persuaded her to leave her home city of London and attend university. In terms of genre, Adele switches with ease between heavy ballads and soulful power anthems which effortlessly fit her mezzo-soprano voice. In 2021, she released her fourth and most vulnerable album yet, 30, demand for which was so high it caused a global vinyl shortage. With her second album, 21, ranking below only The Beatles’ legendary Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in official counts of the UK’s biggest-selling albums of all time, Adele’s status as one of the best female singers in history seems set in stone.

Must hear: My Little Love

6: Madonna

Having sold over 300 million records worldwide to date, Guinness World Record holder Madonna is the most successful female recording artist of all time. Long crowned the “Queen of Pop”, her Confessions tour, staged in support of her 2005 album, Confessions On A Dance Floor, added to her achievements when it became the highest-grossing tour by a female artist. One of the best female singers of the 80s, Madonna has lost none of her relevance or influence as a pop-cultural icon and, with her flair for controversy and reinvention, she shows now signs of stopping any time soon.

Must hear: Like A Prayer

5: Billie Holiday

A pioneer for women in jazz, Billie Holiday’s innovative, fluttering vocals and improvisational skills remain the touchstone for any aspiring jazz singer. After finding work singing in a Harlem nightclub in 1928, Holiday took New York City by storm with her individuality and deeply moving singing style. Throughout the 30s and 40s, she found mainstream success on labels such as Decca and Columbia, though a long-running battle with drug abuse eventually landed her a short prison sentence. Holiday’s addiction eventually weakened her voice, but her vocal technique remained unparalleled, as was evident on her final album, 1958’s Lady In Satin. She lived a demanding life and poured many of her woes into her recordings, but Holiday’s influence as a vocalist remains apparent in the work of almost every jazz singer that followed.

Must hear: Strange Fruit

4: Kate Bush

A songwriter from the age of 13, Kate Bush was still a teenager when she released her debut single, Wuthering Heights, which made her the first woman to score a No.1 in the UK with a self-penned song. Her creativity has captivated audiences ever since, with her legendary soprano vocals and near-mystical literary lyricism inspiring successive generations, among them disciples such as Florence Welch, Björk and St Vincent. Her fifth album, Hounds Of Love, was a commercial and artistic triumph that, while also containing many of the best Kate Bush songs, cemented her place as an experimental art-pop genius among the best female singers of all time.

Must hear: Running Up That Hill

3: Ella Fitzgerald

Dubbed the “First Lady Of Song”, Ella Fitzgerald almost singlehandedly popularised scat singing, and had a way with improvisation that could run rings around even the best jazz musicians. Winning 13 Grammy awards and selling over 40 million albums, Fitzgerald possessed a flexible and ageless voice that could be turned to any style of song. Working with some of the jazz greats, including Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, Fitzgerald has created some of the most iconic jazz songs of all time, helping to establish a songbook that has become the bedrock for all jazz artists.

Must hear: Mack The Knife

2: Amy Winehouse

In many ways Amy Winehouse is an heir to the throne of Billie Holiday, but, as a naturally gifted singer with her own a tragic personal life, there was – and never will be – anyone quite like this London-born icon. Perhaps the greatest alumni of the BRIT School, Winehouse showed promise as an actress and a singer, and, by the age of 16, she was performing live with jazz groups – an early catalyst for her success. Fusing jazz and soul with a 21st-century twist, Winehouse showcased her untouchable voice and shrewd lyrics in both her debut album, Frank, and its critically acclaimed and multiple-award-winning follow-up, Back To Black. Her all-too-premature death, aged 27, in 2011, remains one of the music industry’s greatest losses.

Must hear: Tears Dry On Their Own

1: Aretha Franklin

Topping our list of the best female singers of all time, Aretha Franklin also stands as the most-charting female singer in history. Starting out in the gospel choir at her Baptist church, in Detroit, Franklin began her career as a recording artist in 1960, aged just 18. After moving to Atlantic and scoring a No.1 with a cover of Otis Redding’s Respect in 1967, by the end of the decade Franklin had earned the title of “Queen Of Soul”, with the best Aretha Franklin songs – among them I Say A Little Prayer and I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) – defining soul music. Aside from being a musical icon, Franklin was active in fighting for civil and women’s rights, and, in 2017, she declined to take part in President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Boasting a three-octave vocal range, Franklin sang with a cathartic energy that left audiences hanging on her every word, and she will forever remain music royalty, no matter the genre.

Must hear: I Say A Little Prayer

Check out the best female songwriters in history.

Original article: 12 January 2022

Updated: 4 March 2025