100 Greatest “Female” R&B/Soul Vocalists.
100 Greatest
Female
R&B/Soul Vocalists
1. Aretha Franklin
2. Dinah Washington
3. Etta James
4. Ruth Brown
5. Mavis Staples
6. Minnie Riperton
7. Big Maybelle
8. Patti LaBelle
9. Darlene Love
10. LaVern Baker
11. Whitney Houston
12. Doris Duke
13. Roberta Flack
14. Mary Wells
15. Tina Turner
16. Gladys Knight
17. Chaka Khan
18. Dionne Warwick
19. Irma Thomas
20. Florence Ballard (Supremes)
21. Nancy Wilson
22. Patti Austin
23. “Little” Esther Phillips
24. Anita Baker
25. Carla Thomas
26. Denise Lasalle
27. Melba Moore
28. Cissy Houston
29. Ronnie Spector (Ronettes)
30. Freda Payne
31. Linda Clifford
32. Dee Dee Sharp
33. Faye Adams
34. Martha Reeves
35. Jean Terrell (Supremes)
36. Nora Hendryx
37. Judy Craig (Chiffons)
38. Vesta Williams
39. Bonnie Pointer (Pointer Sisters)
40. Shirley Ellis
41. Barbara Lynn
42. Millie Jackson
43. Thelma Houston
44. Nellie Lutcher
45. Big Mama Thornton
46. Ann Peebles
47. Donna Summer
48. Phyllis Hyman
49. Julia Lee
50. Toni Braxton
51. Arlene Smith (Chantels)
52. La La Brooks (Crystals)
53. Randy Crawford
54. Diana Ross
55. Natalie Cole
56. Mary Weiss (Shangri-Las)
57. Deniece Williams
58. June Pointer (Pointer Sisters)
59. Merry Clayton
60. Fontella Bass
61. Mabel John
62. Valerie Simpson (Ashford & Simpson)
63. Betty Everett
64. Kathy Sledge (Sister Sledge)
65. Shirley Brown
66. Ethel “Earl-Jean” McCrea (Cookies)
67. Gladys Horton (Marvelettes)
68. Mariah Carey
69. Shirley Alston (Shirelles)
70. Mary Wilson (Supremes)
71. Doris Troy
72. Stephanie Mills
73. Maxine Brown
74. Ester Satterfield
75. Yolanda Adams
76. Terry Ellis (En Vogue)
77. Gloria Jones
78. Varetta Dillard
79. Brenda Holloway
80. Kim Weston
81. Carolyn Gill (The Velvelettes)
82. Wanda Young (Marvelettes)
83. Mary J. Blige
84. Miki Howard
85. Brenda Payton (Brenda & Tabulations)
86. Alicia Keys
87. Margie Joseph
88. Wanda Young
89. Lauryn Hill
90. Regina Belle
91. Candi Staton
92. Sugar Pie DeSanto
93. Judy Clay
94. Martha Wash
95. Ernestine Anderson
96. Deloris Hall
97. Bettye Swann
98. Ann Cole
99. Zola Taylor (Platters)
100. Inez Foxx
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iforcolor
ARCHIVIST, EDUCATOR, HISTORIAN, and ARTiST
Dale Shields is a professor of theatre, director, and actor (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional).
Research Accomplishments:
The 2017 winner of The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award®, 2017 and 2015 Tony® award nominee for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award, and the winner of the 2017 AUDELCO/"VIV" Special Achievement Award. In 2020 He was also awarded The Actors Fund / Encore Award
On the web, he is the archivist and historian of Iforcolor.org and Black Theatre/African American Voices [Facebook] (theatre, music, and art). He has taught classes and workshops at SUNY Potsdam, Susquehanna University, Denison University, Randolph-Macon College, Macalester College, The College of Wooster, Ohio University, Wayne State University, and the Joseph Papp Public Theatre (New York Shakespeare Festival).
Education
B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees from Ohio University.
