# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/61 "2023-09-30T00:04:59Z")
[Allison Young](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On58Mq52UlY) [Jane Lui](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6BMWDwJHrs) [Morgan James](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axb7fF8nldU) [Robyn Adele Anderson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVwqSlTFQq0) ---
**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 30, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/62 "2023-09-30T00:15:50Z")
I’ll second Josh Groban, although I’ve mentioned him in prior threads, so I didn’t here. My favorite of his being “Higher Window” > **[Josh Groban - Higher Window \[Official Music Video\]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FPA8DHdia8%2F)** > > © 2011 WMG "Higher Window" by Josh Groban, from Illuminations, available now.Download Illuminations on iTunes: http://bit.ly/JGilluminationsConnect with Josh... ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/63 "2023-09-30T00:35:27Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/myfdZOB5DHw/maxresdefault.jpg "José James - Come To My Door (1 Mic 1 Take)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myfdZOB5DHw) José James and Emily King are both amazing singers ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/64 "2023-09-30T00:42:13Z")
I think his rendition of Strange Fruit is special [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HWE-X7VV-FY/hqdefault.jpg "Jose James - Strange Fruit") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWE-X7VV-FY) ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/65 "2023-09-30T00:47:52Z")
No list like this is complete without: [Piaf](https://youtu.be/Q3Kvu6Kgp88?si=EB4Axk65f27IEJTv) [Barbara](https://youtu.be/d9cEY13bUTo?si=rR1LzgNJzgCvqym5) [Meiko Keji](https://youtu.be/hiVajQDB_AA?si=KpLRcxmdBeoHwM_X) ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/66 "2023-09-30T00:55:29Z")
Not exactly “these days” though… ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/67 "2023-09-30T01:24:24Z")
How about… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eG0H6DQL1HQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Zaz - Eblouie Par La Nuit ( Live at Stuttgart Jazz Open 2015 )") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG0H6DQL1HQ) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/68 "2023-09-30T02:15:01Z")
Look up the YouTube channel for Postmodern Jukebox. They use a lot of great singers and the performances are live and not auto tuned. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/69 "2023-09-30T03:28:43Z")
Brandi Carlile has a nice voice too. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/70 "2023-09-30T04:16:48Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Look up the YouTube channel for Postmodern Jukebox. They use a lot of great singers and the performances are live and not auto tuned. I’m a big fan (as you can tell by the singers I linked above). ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/71 "2023-09-30T04:38:44Z")
I meant to play two other songs by Sia. The first song I ever heard by her was this one… > **[Sia - Chandelier (Official Video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjPBrBU-TM%2F)** > > Sia's official music video for "Chandelier"Listen to more by Sia: https://sia.lnk.to/listenYDWatch more Sia videos: https://sia.lnk.to/listenYD/youtubeSubscr... She is mesmerizing. > **[Sia's heartrending acoustic performance of "Titanium" | LA LGBT Center](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soBnLUhWB7g%2F)** > > Sia wows at a sold-out fundraiser for the Los Angeles LGBT Center with a stirring acoustic rendition of "Titanium" at An Evening with Women in 2013, held at ... ---
**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 30, 2023, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/72 "2023-09-30T05:55:50Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I’m a big fan of Regina Spektor. And she’s someone who has been ripped off a LOT. “Ripped off”? No more than _she’s_ “ripped off” Tori Amos… ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/73 "2023-09-30T06:44:48Z")
I recently had the privilege of attending a production of Das Rheingold in Seattle, featuring the great Greer Grimsley as Wotan. He’s been the undisputed best Wotan on the international opera scene for quite some time, and though I’d never heard of him before, I was blown away by the visceral experience of his booming vocals. It takes a special kind of talent to be able to sing so that thousands of people up to a hundred feet away can hear you clearly without amplification, and he’s got it in spades. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hIZe3gF1Ye0/maxresdefault.jpg "Das Rheingold: "Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge" (Greer Grimsley)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIZe3gF1Ye0) ---
**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 30, 2023, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/74 "2023-09-30T07:38:14Z")
Here’s a Youtube video with 719 million views, Pentatonix, an a capella group doing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. I know that number of views doesn’t automatically mean quality, but I love their voices and harmonies [https://youtu.be/LRP8d7hhpoQ](https://youtu.be/LRP8d7hhpoQ) And @smapti 's post reminded me of a great bass-baritone, Bryn Terfel: [https://youtu.be/j615j-OKQNg?t=39](https://youtu.be/j615j-OKQNg?t=39) ---
**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 30, 2023, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/75 "2023-09-30T09:10:43Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > listened on YouTube I don’t have very many chances to listen to current singers either. Basically I hear two songs by one artist most weeks when I watch _Saturday Night Live_ (and I am only occasionally impressed by them), and sometimes YouTube will show me an interesting singer (and I don’t subscribe to anyone’s channel but just let YouTube show me things based on what I’ve watched before). That’s how I learned of Eva Cassidy and Allie Sherman. Another singer I think is now great is Connie Talbot. I heard her performance of ‘Over the Rainbow’ which was done when she was 6 years old on _Britain’s Got Talent_. Yeah, she was not yet a great singer at that point, of course. On the other hand, I found myself thinking, if Judy Garland did a very good version of it and died when she was 47, and Israel Kamakawiwoʻole did an even better version of it and died when he was 38, and Eva Cassidy did a brilliant version of it and died when she was 33, what’s going to happen to Connie Talbot? If she continues to improve, at some point she will do an even better version of “Over the Rainbow” and promptly keel over dead on the spot. Another example of how there are great singers who almost didn’t get discovered at all is Susan Boyle. She was sort of the opposite of Connie Talbot. She was just short of 48 when she sang ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ on _Britain’s Got Talent_. The judges and everyone in the audience were stunned at how good she was. They all thought something like “How has she gone so long without being discovered?”. ---
**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 30, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/76 "2023-09-30T15:50:16Z")
Repeating myself a bit, but the [thread about Great Covers of a Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596) has a -lot- of hits for this thread, including Josh Groban, Pentatonix, and a bunch of quality, but sometimes only “internet famous” artists. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/77 "2023-09-30T16:02:46Z")
My wife drug me to a Michael Buble concert last year. Not a fan of his music but he has to be one of the best crooners out there today. He is pretty funny too. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/78 "2023-09-30T17:16:43Z")
This thread makes me realize I have not been to the opera for a while. Who is today’s Pavarotti? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/79 "2023-09-30T17:38:07Z")
She should have gone to rehab. Great song, though. The truth is, great vocal ability isn’t rare. My kid took vocal lessons, and at his class concert there were several singers who could have held their own on American Idol, just from one class in one school. I saw a cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Great Gig in the Sky’, a couole of years ago and a local singer just blew the roof off the place, easily matching the original vocals which were amazing. The popular singers that ‘make it’ need something else. On American Idol it’s often a sob story or some oher uniqueness factor. Women often also have to be attractive to get noticed. Songwriting ability helps, as does connections to famous people or money. There’s also a luck factor, and an ‘it’ factor which can be hard to define. Charisma, star appeal, a certain look, whatever. This is why there are so many ‘engineered’ pop stars It’s easy to find people with a good voice, then you can mold the other stuff around them, get Max Martin to write them a hit, dress them in sexy but ‘empowering’ clothes, yada yada. ---
**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 30, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860/80 "2023-09-30T19:23:16Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > She should have gone to rehab. Great song, though. Yeah, great singer, great song, true story. Unfortunately. j [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-great-singers-these-days/990860.md?page=5)