Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers

By Taft Ayers

The folks at Rolling Stone recently released their list of the 100 "greatest singers of all time." I am going to release them in four groups of 25 (not that you couldn't look them up on your own, but hey, this is fun!)

Feel free to argue with my opinions, that's what makes music so great.

Also, feel free to laud me for my opinions, that's what makes music so great.

**The list was made by an all-star cast of voters. Each voter was asked to list his or her 20 favorite vocalists from the rock era, in order of their importance. Those ballots were recorded and weighted according to methodology developed by the accounting firm of Ernst & Young, which then tabulated and verified the results for Rolling Stone.**

100. Mary J Blige- She's pretty powerful, no doubt. In 50 years, she'll be top 50.

99. Steven Tyler- Holy freakin'crap, #99? Write this down: THAT'S WAY TOO LOW.

98. Stevie Nicks- Has inspired every woman with a guitar to be powerful..#98's good.

97. Joe Cocker- I can't think of him without thinking of Kevin Arnold,Wonder Years.

96. B.B. King- The list is for 100 greatest SINGERS, I'm okay with his ranking.

95. Patti LaBelle- Inspired Alicia Keys & Mary J Blige, WAY TOO LOW.

94. Karen Carpenter- RS threw her a bone here, she might make my top 200, maybe.

93. Annie Lennox- What a cool voice! Completely freaks me out, but I'm cool with it.

92. Morrissey- He completely blows. I know Thom Yorke would disagree, enough said.

91. Levon Helm- Brilliant man. Under-appreciated. 91 is an insult, but not a shocker.

90. The Everly Brothers- Kind of fruity to me, but I get why they are on the list.

89. Solomon Burke- Complete stud. Ben Harper says he's an influence;does it for me.

88. Willie Nelson- Without him on the list, my blue eyes would be crying in the rain.

87. Don Henley- I don't do the Eagles, but I can objectively say this is too low a rank.

86. Art Garfunkel- Go ahead and kill me, but his voice = blah, blah freaking blah.

85. Sam Moore- Shouldn't be on any top 100, except top 100 scratchiest vocals.

84. Darlene Love- The first person on the top 100 that I've never heard of.

83. Patti Smith- Michael Stipe said her voice was a "howling, mad beast" Agreed-100%

82. Tom Waits- I'd rip up my copy of the RS if he wasn't on the list, #82 is fine.

81. John Lee Hooker- "If they made a drug that was John Lee, I'd never be sober"-BR

80. Frankie Vallie- It's hip and cool to put him on the list; things we all wanna be.

79. Mariah Carey- I'm not in her fan club, however, #79 is an insult to her voice.

78. Sly Stone- His other name should be "Mr. Great Vocal Track" - belongs in top 50.

77. Merle Haggard- The signature low notes make him the Southern Soul Man..77's fine.

76. Steve Perry- 76 is a terrible insult. He is top 25 material for sure, hands down.

75. Iggy Pop- I can't listen to him sing without laughing. He's humorous to me.