Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Top 100 Vocalists of All Time (20-1)


In response to the collective opinion that Rolling Stone's rankings of top vocalists was pretty lame, we here at the Bunkhouse decided to put together our own top 100 list.

How we did it: 12 people were asked to rank their 20 favorite/top vocalists of all time. The people selecting this list work in a wide range of professional fields: Historic home curating, English professors, youth ministers, family counselors, physicians, lawyers, accountants, stay at home dads, and football coaches.

The lists were compiled and rankings were averaged into this outstanding selection of top vocalists.

20-1: The Best of The Best. From here on in, we're just going to let the vocalists and their showcase song speak for themselves. Enjoy.




20. Ronnie Van Zant
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Showcase Song: Tuesday's Gone

19. Nat King Cole
Showcase Song: Unforgettable

18. Etta James
Showcase Song: At Last

17. Willie Nelson
Showcase Song: Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

16. Tom Petty
Showcase Song: Mary Jane's Last Dance

15. Freddie Mercury
- Queen
Showcase Song: Bohemian Rhapsody

14. Bob Marley

Showcase Song: Three Little Birds

13. Bonnie Raitt
Showcase Song: I Can't Make You Love Me

12. Sam Cooke
Showcase Song: A Change Is Gonna Come

11. Paul McCartney

Showcase Song: Let It Be

10. Steve Perry- Journey
Showcase Song: Open Arms

9. Whitney Houston
Showcase Song: I Will Always Love You

8. Robert Plant
- Led Zeppelin
Showcase Song: Stairway to Heaven (It's not cliche!)

7. James Taylor
Showcase Song: Sweet Baby James

6. Marvin Gaye
Showcase Song: What's Going On

5. Bono- U2
Showcase Song: Where The Streets Have No Name

4. Billy Joel

Showcase Song: In The Middle of The Night

3. Johnny Cash

Showcase Song: The Man Comes Around

2. Elvis Presley
Showcase Song: Battle Hymn of The Republic

1. Frank Sinatra
Showcase Song: I Get A Kick Out of You

7 comments:

Tiffany said...

Pure awesomeness. With the exception of #13, which is just my own personal prejudice against Bonnie Raitt that I can't really explain, I think this is an absolutely fabulous Top 20.

Kudos!

Taft said...

This is a phenomenal top 20..and I say that with absolutely ZERO bias in my heart.

Alan said...

Way to bring it home. Ninja list...

dmj said...

After scanning through the whole list of 100, I would be hard pressed to argue with any of the choices. Some artists I'm not familiar with and some that I may not have placed in that exact position in my own personal preference list, but overall a much better accounting than Rolling Stone did. Kudos!!!

benm said...

what the heck? Bob Marley and Willie Nelson? I love their music, but it's not because of their vocal abilities, because neither are terribly impressive; and Mercury didn't even make the list?

Unknown said...

@benm- Mercury is number 15, but I think he deserves to be much higher on the list

ilovekelly75 said...

One woman in the top ten, and she can outsing everyone ahead of her. Billy Joel, Johnny Cash, and Elvis in the top four? Kelly Clarkson can outsing all three of them, and she gets insulted. Meanwhile Jack Black makes the list, along with every other modern singer who is relatively good. Paul McCartney? Bob Marley? BOB DYLAN? Two of whom make the top 20 over Aretha, who gets degraded, yet still makes it high.