I voted for Annie Lennox. Completely coincidentally, Pandora is playing Sweet Dreams! Even without the current soundtrack, that would have been my vote, to be clear.

Ann Wilson all the way. Where is Pat Benatar?

Aretha. This is a question?

Thank you : ) Tough call, but Joan Jett narrowly beats out the amazingness of Annie Lennox by virtue of I've actually seen Jett in concert and she kicked ass. Pure stripped down rock and roll.

Show me ANYONE else who could do this, and maybe there could be a competition. Y'all put up a bunch of entertaining unarmed children against a professional gunslinger!

Adele's music is okay, but whenever I hear her voice I think OH GOD IN FIVE YEARS SHE'S GONNA SOUND LIKE A LAWNMOWER

Voted for Kate just because she was listed...as a friend of mine said when I gave him some obscure Kate Bush to listen to, "that's redundant; ALL Kate Bush is obscure Kate Bush."

FWIW her "Directors Cut" set is awesome.

lobo81865 wrote:Ann Wilson all the way. Where is Pat Benatar?

Good Question!

threemoons wrote:Voted for Kate just because she was listed...as a friend of mine said when I gave him some obscure Kate Bush to listen to, "that's redundant; ALL Kate Bush is obscure Kate Bush."

FWIW her "Directors Cut" set is awesome.

I have been a fan of Kate Bush since 1981...

I wouldn't Respect the results of this thread if Aretha wasn't on top.

I wonder if she'll be there again for Obama's re-inauguration. Perhaps with an even more ridiculous hat.

Tina is such a close second.

I spent roughly a month singing "Into the West" nonstop by Annie Lennox (on the LOTR: ROTK Soundtrack) after seeing the film because it's just so lovely and her voice complements the theme of the song so well.

In this case Aretha. But if Reba had been on here that would be a real woman!!!

ardubu wrote:I have been a fan of Kate Bush since 1981...

Since '84
I think the closest she has come to a hit is "Don't Give Up" on Peter Gabriel's "So" or maybe Maxwell's cover of "This Woman's Work" which was sung on American Idol.

Where's Patsy? And can I throw in Freddy Mercury? Just watched Queen at Live Aid and David Bowie w Annie Lennox and Queen... What can I say- I was shopped out by Saturday!

You can't compare them all together, they each had their own niche. Compare each in her own class then ask who's above the pack.

Oh Yes Aretha, She is getting the R-E-S-P-E-C-T she deserves so far this morning. But I have to say Turner and Lenox are worth a second mention to go along with my vote.

Today is Tina Turner's 73rd birthday. :-)

However, for this poll, I choose Aretha. But, Tina and Annie Lennox are close behind.

moles1138 wrote:Since '84
I think the closest she has come to a hit is "Don't Give Up" on Peter Gabriel's "So" or maybe Maxwell's cover of "This Woman's Work" which was sung on American Idol.

Since 1978...

Maybe in the US... In the UK, "Wuthering Heights," her debut at age 16, hit number 1 and stayed there for weeks.

Pat Benatar! Why is she not on the list?

If Joan Jett doesn't win this poll I may have to come blow up Woot HQ.

I happen to like all of the female vocalists on the list, but Franklin wins the top prize. I agree with the above statement that every one had their own niche, but Aretha could belt it out better than any of the others.

+1 on Kate Bush, since '82. Should have mentioned Siouxie Sioux, Diamanda Galas, and Johnette Napolitano if you want really obscure. Athough, Kate wins out of those.

Merrill Garbus

If that performance doesn't knock your socks off, well I just don't know.

It's almost a shame that the rest of these ladies had to go up against Aretha. The Queen of Soul wins this competition hands down.

I agree. We saw Tina at the Greek Theater and she put on one hell of a show.

Discover Kate Bush folks……..:-=)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzRA9UzuU8c&feature=fvwrel

Ain't no WAY, Aretha can be anything other than Numero Uno!

The poll is invalid. No Pat Benatar and no Carly Simon? You have no taste.

Etta James!

I only selected Adele cause Grace Slick was not among the choices.

Aretha is the best.

Da bes, on the other hand...

chimpygomonkey wrote:Aretha is the best.

Da bes, on the other hand...

**I would have liked the 2 guys to do a real sword fight **

This is a very good office argument but I really can't make a choice!

It's a toss up between Annie Lennox, Aretha Franklin & Tina Turner....

I suppose it comes down to the type of music one likes the best....

I grew up listening to these 3 ladies & like someone else said, I would have added Etta James to the list.

Your office sounds like a great place to be

Can't believe other people know who Kate Bush is. Been a fan since 1979. Never see her stuff in the U.S.

ellenneiger wrote:Where's Patsy? And can I throw in Freddy Mercury? Just watched Queen at Live Aid and David Bowie w Annie Lennox and Queen... What can I say- I was shopped out by Saturday!

I second the nod for Patsy. And I throw in Enya as well. What the hell woot?

If you were to remove Aretha from human history, at least 3 of the other names would disappear, as they pull their sound from the the queen of SOUL...The Original.

maxikyd wrote:Can't believe other people know who Kate Bush is. Been a fan since 1979. Never see her stuff in the U.S.

Really??? She was pretty darn successful in the U.S. during the 80's. If you have an album go gold, you are hardly toiling in obscurity.

What! No Janice Joplin? This poll is rigged!

Just pointing out that "the best" is a pretty generic question.. If the question who is the "best singer", there is no way way Joan Jett should even be on the poll. There was a reason the Runaways didn't turn over the lead singe duties to her until they got in a pinch. And I say this as someone who loves Joan Jett's music.

The guy poll seemed to favor the great voices (Freddie Mercury, Roger Daltery) while disdaining those that were merely great performers (Mick Jagger is an iconic performer and he and Keith Richards were great song writers, but the fact remains that he is a mediocre singer)

In this one, the 2 best voices (Ann Wilson and Roberta Flack) aren't getting much love. And I don't blame anybody for this. I think Roberta Flack has a great voice, but I just don't care for her music at all.