# Divas... Talented women musicians... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175 "2015-03-04T04:26:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/21 "2015-03-06T18:55:55Z")
Elis Regina. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/22 "2015-03-06T22:35:48Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Not a diva, but I can’t think of a more talented female musician than **Joni Mitchell**. The title says “Musicians,” and Joni is one of the only women mentioned so far who is an actual musician and composer in addition to being a singer. Almost all of the “divas” mentioned here are singers only, not musicians or songwriters. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/23 "2015-03-07T00:31:10Z")
I’m not sure that I can actually respond to that in a way that won’t get me warned. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/24 "2015-03-07T03:04:16Z")
At the risk of alienating the entire southern half of the US… Reba? ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/25 "2015-03-07T09:08:39Z")
Anne Sophie-Mutter ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/26 "2015-03-07T15:31:57Z")
> [@Waterman](#): > > Anne Sophie-Mutter is certainly a talented female musician, but she’s a violinist, not a singer. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the term “diva” applied to anyone other than a singer. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/27 "2015-03-07T15:54:44Z")
Perhaps thinking of Anne Sofie Von Otter? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/28 "2015-03-07T23:29:00Z")
Sondra Prill ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/29 "2015-03-08T04:10:12Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Not a diva, but I can’t think of a more talented female musician than **Joni Mitchell**. I see your Joni Mitchell and raise you [Hiromi Uehara](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk7_dXIKt0Y). (Though she’s a pianist, not a singer. But you said “musician”.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/30 "2015-03-08T04:22:48Z")
Are singers musicians? 'Cause I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/31 "2015-03-08T04:35:42Z")
My two degrees in music from the music department at a top tier university, my teaching position in the music department at a top tier university, my two decades of dedication and hard work at refining my craft in the musical arts, and the basic dictates of language would tend to disagree with you. Would you care to actually make an argument rather than simply posting your unsupported and ignorant opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/32 "2015-03-08T05:05:52Z")
There’s many female singers that I like, but the only one that puts the image of a “diva” in my head would be Gaia Riva. Other than that, so far as I am aware, she’s not particularly famous nor known. [Gaia Riva - For Someone Else](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEpGzmGMumU) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/33 "2015-03-08T05:49:53Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Are singers musicians? 'Cause I don’t think so. As both an instrumentalist and a singer, I will wholeheartedly say that, yes, singers are musicians. The human voice is an instrument, to be used for good or ill. Watch this and tell me that Floor Jansen (the female singer) is not a musician: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3brcfttchzA/maxresdefault.jpg "NIGHTWISH - Ghost Love Score (LIVE IN BUENOS AIRES 2012)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3brcfttchzA) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/34 "2015-03-08T06:52:47Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Are singers musicians? 'Cause I don’t think so. I submit Clare Torry’s incomparable performance in _The Great Gig in the Sky_ as a piece of evidence that (some) singers are musicians. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/35 "2015-03-08T07:06:19Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I submit Clare Torry’s incomparable performance in _The Great Gig in the Sky_ as a piece of evidence that (some) singers are musicians. I must admit, that’s an astounding piece of work. I saw a documentary on the making of DSOTM and she was given free reign to sing whatever she felt was appropriate, and she came out of the session feeling disappointed with her recording! If you can believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/36 "2015-03-08T07:26:45Z")
Here’s an interesting [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIW7xZSlZoM) with Clare. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/37 "2015-03-08T12:07:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Are singers musicians? 'Cause I don’t think so. **Leaffan** - I want to point out that, whether you know it or not, this is an extremely rude thing to say to singers. You’re questioning/walking right past their craft. If you kinda know this, and were saying it for snark value, well, that would not be nice. If you really didn’t understand that singers are musicians, well, please note that they _are_. This is kinda like looking at one athlete from one ethnic group and saying “they work hard” and another from another ethnic group and saying “wow, they have natural talent.” ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/38 "2015-03-08T14:05:27Z")
It’s also linguistically incoherent, unless we’re using some esoteric definition of “musician” that I’m not aware of. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/39 "2015-03-08T14:36:52Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > It’s also linguistically incoherent, unless we’re using some esoteric definition of “musician” that I’m not aware of. If this was being discussed sincerely by non-music folks, I would assume that there is a thought that says “Musician = someone who makes music using an instrument/object” vs. “Musician = someone who makes music.” Just to be clear: it’s the second one, folks! 😉 It’s kind of like those 'leventy-billion drummer jokes. I have a drummer friend - brilliant musician - who loves to invoke the sign he saw at a park: “No musicians or drummers.” Cute, but…sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175/40 "2015-03-08T15:36:18Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > If this was being discussed sincerely by non-music folks, I would assume that there is a thought that says “Musician = someone who makes music using an instrument/object” vs. “Musician = someone who makes music.” > > Just to be clear: it’s the second one, folks! 😉 I think people who say what **Leaffan** said may be thinking along the lines of “Singing doesn’t make you a musician: _everybody_ does that—at church, in the shower, at summer camp…” But yeah, a professional singer, of whom the word “diva” is an appropriate description, would definitely be a musician. I notice that over in the recently-revived thread [Are the Beatles overrated as musicians?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=724348) some, but not all, of the replies are addressing only the Beatles’ _instrumental_ abilities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divas-talented-women-musicians/714175.md?page=3)