# Most beautiful/perfect voices in popular music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727 "2011-02-17T18:11:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/61 "2011-02-18T09:45:13Z")
Apart from the very obvious ones (Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Van Morrison, etc…) I would add [Antony Hegarty](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MDlMdu2gjw). Seriously one of the most beautiful and moving voices I’ve heard over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/62 "2011-02-18T10:06:25Z")
Not terribly well-known in Europe or the US but fantastically popular in India: The sisters [Lata Mangeshkar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lata_Mangeshkar)and [Asha Bhosle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Bhosle) have absolutely beautiful voices - and they have been put to good use. A rather conservative estimate is that they have recorded around 20.000 songs between them! Wonderful voices! One of my favorite Lata Mangeshkar songs: [Dil to hai dil](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJdTTrkq7vA). ---
**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:** [February 18, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/63 "2011-02-18T11:00:58Z")
No [Liz Fraser](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUmdR69nbM)? Brendan Perry gets a look in, but not ex-bandmate [Lisa Gerrard](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j1lBFaYv70)? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/64 "2011-02-18T11:20:30Z")
A lot of my favourites have been mentioned. Patsy Cline, Karen Carpenter and Elizabeth Fraser very high up my list. But two not mentioned yet I don’t think [Briana Corrigan](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6ZSb5F60R8) (ex- beautiful south) [Harriet Wheeler](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOn_7nw_xxk) (The Sundays) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/65 "2011-02-18T11:30:12Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > [This vid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m11c_wSqOdM) shows Mariah Careys five octave vocal range. I swear, she could let glass explode in het higher registers. That woman can \*sing. \* But perhaps that is more technical brilliance. I’ll see your Mariah Carey and raise you **Yma Sumac**. The woman not only had a five-plus octave range (from baritone to bats, basically) but she could do some seriously inhuman things with it. [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KprLT-JxPY) a bit of musical weirdness that shows off both the range and some of the effects. Unearthly. She’s like Bjork to the power of ten. Personally, though, I prefer her better-known mambo [Gopher](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7921127072115783301#). No, I don’t know why it’s called that. ---
**Author:** ![pojimba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@pojimba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pojimba)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/66 "2011-02-18T11:40:48Z")
Doesn’t get much better than Maddie Prior. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/67 "2011-02-18T11:42:18Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’ll see your Mariah Carey and raise you **Yma Sumac**. The woman not only had a five-plus octave range (from baritone to bats, basically) but she could do some seriously inhuman things with it. [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KprLT-JxPY) a bit of musical weirdness that shows off both the range and some of the effects. Unearthly. She’s like Bjork to the power of ten. > > Personally, though, I prefer her better-known mambo [Gopher](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7921127072115783301#). No, I don’t know why it’s called that. Weird, but a _good_ weird. The comparison with Bjork is a good one. they have more than just vocal gymnastics in common. There is also a certain, strangeness. Can’t put my finger on it but it is definitely there. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/68 "2011-02-18T12:03:17Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’ll see your Mariah Carey and raise you **Yma Sumac**. The woman not only had a five-plus octave range (from baritone to bats, basically) but she could do some seriously inhuman things with it. [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KprLT-JxPY) a bit of musical weirdness that shows off both the range and some of the effects. Unearthly. She’s like Bjork to the power of ten. Ha! I heard Yma Sumac on my fav internet radio station [Radio Paradise](http://http://www.radioparadise.com/), and looked her up. I read about the five octave range and then read that the only modern popular artist to rival that was…the unlikely star Mariah Carey. Which was weird because Carey’s stage image is much more that of a sexy kitten than that of a serious vocal artist. Another modern voice artist is the Dutch performer [Greetje Bijma](http://http://www.greetjebijma.com/en/do;info/page;1134/Biography.html). Originally an award winning jazz singer, she is the modern Yma Sumac and prefers to do really weid things with her voice, when just pretty singing becomes too boring. Look her up on Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/69 "2011-02-18T12:24:43Z")
Liz Fraser ex Cocteau twin (as mentioned previously). Annie Haslam from Renaissance. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/upIlhve5r-g/hqdefault.jpg "Renaissance - Carpet Of The Sun") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upIlhve5r-g) ---
**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/70 "2011-02-18T13:05:07Z")
One that I rediscovered this week is **Julie Covington**. See her on this version of **In My Life** : [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oZS0tP0oP0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oZS0tP0oP0) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/71 "2011-02-18T14:20:45Z")
> [@soulmurk](#): > > Sarah McLachlan’s voice can send shivers down my spine. > > Chris Cornell, whose music I don’t always like, has the perfect rock singer’s voice and range. Soulmurk, we are soul mates. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/72 "2011-02-18T14:24:21Z")
[Dudu Fisher](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J65XTiR5vXU). Went from synagogue cantor wto playing Lonfon Les Miz’s Jean Valjean in one audition. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/73 "2011-02-18T16:52:40Z")
I’ll second Freddie Mercury. And add Nicole Atkins to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/74 "2011-02-18T17:12:22Z")
Some really great ones mentioned, I’ll only add: Tori Amos Vince Gill ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/75 "2011-02-18T17:18:31Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Soulmurk, we are soul mates. Great minds, and all… just don’t tell my wife 😛 Another one that occurs to me but that also might push the definition of “popular” is Beth Gibbons of Portishead. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/76 "2011-02-18T17:27:19Z")
Not mentioned yet is the man with the most perfect tenor pop voice I’ve heard in years - Raul Malo. He was formerly with the alt-country band the Mavericks, now solo. Think Roy Orbison Here is one of my favorites, a love song to tolerance [“Matter Much To You”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fUETlA30KI). ---
**Author:** ![LaurenIpsum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@LaurenIpsum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaurenIpsum)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/77 "2011-02-18T17:44:37Z")
(Hello all. Long-time lurker, first-time poster.) For me, there’s only one answer: Bing Crosby. His voice is like velvet and listening to some of his songs makes me melt. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/78 "2011-02-18T18:10:07Z")
I second Bing Crosby and nominate Simon LeBon of Duran Duran fame. They share an ability to take an okay or even firmly mediocre song, and own it and make it shine. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/79 "2011-02-18T18:26:09Z")
No mention of [Dido](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-fWDrZSiZs) yet? In the “haunting but beautiful” category, let me nominate [Geoff Tate of Queensryche](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhat-xUQ6dw). [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPJW9O0_w3E) a clip of him doing the national anthem. And [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcwQlGjNqrs) is him singing a cover of Simon and Garfunkle’s “Scarborough Fair.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727/80 "2011-02-18T18:47:32Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I second Bing Crosby and nominate Simon LeBon of Duran Duran fame. They share an ability to take an okay or even firmly mediocre song, and own it and make it shine. We’ve seen Simon LeBon (with Duran Duran) and David Bowie live fairly recently, and they have both impressed us with their vocal abilities. As for five octave vocal ranges, I didn’t want to nominate Prince for the most beautiful/perfect voice because while his is extremely nice and versatile, he isn’t, in my opinion, the most perfect singer, but his range rivals Mariah Carey’s. He sings very nicely and perfectly in control way, way down low and way, way up high. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-beautiful-perfect-voices-in-popular-music/571727.md?page=5)