# Are there any great singers these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 29, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860 "2023-09-29T12:27:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/41 "2023-09-29T19:08:39Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > I usually dislike “vocal gymnastics” but Sia always impresses me. I don’t know how much her studio recordings are enhanced but here’s some [live Sia stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bltLjnMw9bA). Also of note, she doesn’t dance. In her videos, she always has someone else dancing to her singing, because she wants her part of the work to be all about her voice. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/42 "2023-09-29T19:13:04Z")
Rachel Price is another favorite of mine. She’s best known as the lead singer for Lake Street Dive. Here she is singing What I’m Doing Here: [https://youtu.be/lcUeothSPyc?si=alhNPIJj2KF4XN4z](https://youtu.be/lcUeothSPyc?si=alhNPIJj2KF4XN4z) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/43 "2023-09-29T19:15:33Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Faith No More’s Mike Patton? Yes, that Mike Patton… versatile is right: > **[Mike Patton's Mondo Cane-08- Deep Deep Down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaUrzMeS4xg%2F)** > > Live at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam.Directo en Amsterdam de Mondo Cane, miradlo entero, no tiene pérdida. > **[The Young Gods ft. Mike Patton - Did You Miss Me (Live @ Montreux 2005) \[HQ\]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyYwjqkA-lw%2F)** > > Recorded live on July 13, 2005 at Miles Davis Hall, Montreux, Switzerland.Montreux Jazz Festival 2005 > **[Mike Patton (Peeping Tom) - We're Not Alone(Live)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuUc3aRPTG0%2F)** ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/44 "2023-09-29T19:26:51Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > …I will be sampling some of the folks listed here… I guess I should have posted some of Amy’s music upthread, to make this easier. Never mind, I’ll do it now. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KUmZp8pR1uc/maxresdefault.jpg "Amy Winehouse - Rehab") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUmZp8pR1uc) j ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/45 "2023-09-29T19:37:16Z")
I’m a big fan of Regina Spektor. And she’s someone who has been ripped off a LOT. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/46 "2023-09-29T19:49:36Z")
A few people have mentioned Sia. Great! Gives me another chance to play this song. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FMQRfliyznQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Jimmy Fallon, Sia, Natalie Portman & The Roots Sing "Iko Iko"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMQRfliyznQ) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/47 "2023-09-29T19:59:29Z")
Alice Smith is another terrific singer lots of people may not have heard: [Linky](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqwxth5WFR4&pp=ygULYWxpY2Ugc21pdGg%3D) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/48 "2023-09-29T20:07:31Z")
I’ve always loved that song! ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/49 "2023-09-29T20:25:02Z")
Me too carrps! I always sing along. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/50 "2023-09-29T20:44:27Z")
I once stumbled across a YouTube channel, where the host found and played vocal-only tracks from several pop stars; that is, just their voices, with no enhancement or instrumentals added. I remember that Taylor Swift didn’t have a particularly powerful voice (which is not to say that she makes bad music), but the one who blew me away was the avatar of pop princess: Ariana Grande. That young woman can _sing._ As others have mentioned, Adele, David Draiman of Disturbed (like @tofor, I’m not a fan of metal; but he _kills_ his cover of “The Sound of Silence”), Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga. Rhiannon Giddens, definitely. I had never been a fan of the Spice Girls, thinking of them as anodyne pop, with no great musical talent. But then I heard Melanie Chisholm - Mel C., “Sporty Spice” - singing Mary Magdalen in a 2010 production of _Jesus Christ, Superstar_. Yeah, I was wrong - they had at least _one_ amazing singer: [https://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=lw5HdK8\_p6w&1](https://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=lw5HdK8_p6w&1) A couple that haven’t been mentioned: Amy Lee of Evanescence and Sarah Bareilles. Also, slightly more obscure, a Faroese singer named Eivør Pálsdóttir. Popular in Scandinavia, but not much known in the Anglosphere, even though she can and does sing in English as well as Faroese. [https://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=wsl-KHGe4Kk&1](https://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=wsl-KHGe4Kk&1) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/51 "2023-09-29T20:46:27Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > The truth is, almost all of the singers that “make it” have a lot of talent. Yep. I mean unless it is a case of being related to someone, like Frank Sinatra jr, but even he was a decent singer. I like Taylor Swift, but I am not a swifty. I think she has great talent. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/52 "2023-09-29T21:17:52Z")
I’ll add Maynard James Keenan of Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. A great great voice and lyricist. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/53 "2023-09-29T22:13:35Z")
> **[American Soul Singer & Rochester Native Danielle Ponder to Perform at The...](https://nysfair.ny.gov/american-soul-singer-rochester-native-danielle-ponder-to-perform-at-the-great-new-york-state-fair-this-summer/)** > > As Rochester native Danielle Ponder’s star continues to rise nationally, the Great New York State Fair looks forward to welcoming the singer-songwriter to The article notes her “her unique sound – a mix of pop, R&B, blues, rock and soul.” Autotuning is to my knowledge a minority tool, with singers from all those genres and more using their voices just like singers always have. There are literally thousands like Ponder, some of whom are receiving recognition and many who are still waiting for a break. Hear her at [https://danielleponder.com/](https://danielleponder.com/). ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/54 "2023-09-29T22:22:13Z")
I see a metric ton of impressive singers on ye olde Youtube who are doing remarkable covers, often with minimal (okay, visible or detectable to -me-) augmentation. I would agree that a lot of top 40s radio pop feels overproduced to me, but as far as I can tell, that’s always been a thing since modern enhancement, blending, and mastering was a thing. Sure they can do MORE now, but how many “Making of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_'s greatest album” specials talk about all the takes, all the sound mixing, enhancement or softening of the singer / background / etc took place? Same thing, different methods. So, a tiny hint of unfair judgement, which, credit to @FairyChatMom, they fully acknowledge. I do the same when I miss the… hmmm… flair? of the 80s/90s music I grew up with in modern pop music. Then I realize that I’m definitely listening to some songs at least based on rose-colored earbuds as it were - I love some of the music based on what it makes me remember and how it made/makes me feel rather than some impartial evaluation of the skill of the vocalists involved. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/55 "2023-09-29T22:48:56Z")
I think there are great singers all over the place. Some are ones who haven’t quite made it yet. For instance, have you listened on YouTube to Allie Sherlock, who sings on the streets of Dublin? Perhaps she has almost made it, since she’s just 18 and has appeared once on Ellen Degeneres’s show. And to cite the example that I’ve undoubtedly mentioned so many times on the SDMB that you’re all bored with it, there’s Eva Cassidy, who is now reasonably well known, although she didn’t make it until after she died. I think she’s the greatest singer who ever lived. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/56 "2023-09-29T22:53:23Z")
I heard Chloe sing the National Anthem at the World Series last fall. Don’t know about how it manifests itself (or whether it does) in her recorded work, but I was very impressed at the quality of her voice and her obvious musicianship. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/57 "2023-09-29T23:05:07Z")
She’s an even better songwriter than singer, but Lana Del Rey is fantastic. Distinctive voice with a range from contralto to mezzo-sorprano. She’s basically created a new genre of music (blues & alternative rock) so not everyone likes her stuff right away. I’m hooked. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/58 "2023-09-29T23:08:24Z")
Another one who hasn’t been mentioned is Mandy Patinkin. Beautiful, beautiful warm tenor voice. Could listen to it all day long. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/59 "2023-09-29T23:16:28Z")
@Ulf_the_Unwashed, Mandy Patinkin is great! I saw him live in 2004 and was very impressed. No Josh Groban fans on this thread? I first heard him on “We Are the World for Haiti”. The recording starts off with Justin Bieber, Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Nettles, and my reaction was “meh”–and then Groban comes in, with a voice that made me sit up and take notice. Since then I’ve heard him live, and he blew me away. “Anthem”, from _Chess_: [https://youtu.be/61DiWi00d2w?list=PLFEE0785B716E0085](https://youtu.be/61DiWi00d2w?list=PLFEE0785B716E0085) “Bring Him Home” from Les Mis [https://youtu.be/fXnRf3TQcpk?list=PLFEE0785B716E0085](https://youtu.be/fXnRf3TQcpk?list=PLFEE0785B716E0085) “River” [https://youtu.be/-uoKsEqFppo](https://youtu.be/-uoKsEqFppo) And seconding @Dorjan on Lea Salonga, another singer I’ve been lucky to hear live. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/60 "2023-09-29T23:48:16Z")
Puddles Pity Party [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_OrXPEkFW9w/maxresdefault.jpg "Puddles Pity Party - Still Loving You/Nights In White Satin - Scorpions Moody Blues Smoosh Up") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OrXPEkFW9w) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860.md?page=4)