Greatest Female Vocalists!

1. Barbra Streisand

Actress | Yentl

Barbra Streisand is an American singer, actress, director and producer and one of the most successful personalities in show business. She is the only person ever to receive all of the following: Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, Cable Ace, National Endowment for the Arts, and Peabody awards,...

2. Linda Ronstadt

Soundtrack | The Pirates of Penzance

Linda Ronstadt was born on July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for The Pirates of Penzance (1983), An American Tail (1986) and The Abyss (1989).

3. Ella Fitzgerald

Soundtrack | Sphere

On Saturday, June 15th, 1996, an era in jazz singing came to an end, with the death of Ella Fitzgerald at her home in California. She was the last of four great female jazz singers (including Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Carmen McRae) who defined one of the most prolific eras in jazz vocal ...

4. Audra McDonald

Actress | Beauty and the Beast

Audra McDonald was born on July 3, 1970 in Berlin, Germany as Audra Ann McDonald. She's an actress and singer, best known for her many roles on Broadway. Her mother was a university administrator and her father was a high school principal stationed in West Berlin with the U.S. Army. She has a ...

5. Lori Lieberman

Soundtrack | Deadly Force

Lori Lieberman was born on November 15, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Deadly Force (1983), Fame (1982) and Americathon (1979).

6. Blossom Dearie

Soundtrack | The Squid and the Whale

Blossom Dearie was born on April 28, 1924 in East Durham, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Squid and the Whale (2005), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018). She was married to Bobby Jaspar. She died on February 7, 2009 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New ...

7. Jane Olivor

Soundtrack | Saturday Night at the Baths

Jane Olivor was born on May 18, 1947 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Saturday Night at the Baths (1975), Same Time, Next Year (1978) and Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (1966).

8. Julie Budd

Actress | Two Lovers

Every once in a blue moon a spectacular young singing voice comes out of nowhere and immediately blows away the listening audience with its sheer range, strength, clarity, purity and maturity. While such remarkable adolescent talents such as Judy Garland, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Tanya Tucker...

9. Amy Winehouse

Soundtrack | Amy

Amy Jade Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983 in Enfield, London, England and raised in Southgate, London, England to Janis Holly Collins (née Seaton), a pharmacist & Mitchell "Mitch" Winehouse, a window panel installer and taxi driver. Her family shared her love of theater and music. Amy was ...

10. Melissa Manchester

Soundtrack | The Great Mouse Detective

Melissa Manchester attended the Manhattan School of Music and Arts, where she learned to play the piano and the harpsichord. Her father is a bassoon player in the New York Metropolitan Opera orchestra. In the early 1970s, Melissa studied songwriting at New York University School of the Arts in New ...

11. Patti LuPone

Actress | Beau Is Afraid

A fireball of talent and a musical force to be reckoned with, singer/actress Patti LuPone was born on April 21, 1949 in Northport on Long Island, New York, of Italian heritage. Her parents, Orlando Joseph LuPone, a school administrator, and mother Angela Louise (Patti), a librarian, eventually ...

12. Bette Midler

Soundtrack | Beaches

Multi Grammy Award-winning singer/comedienne/author Bette Midler has also proven herself to be a very capable actress in a string of both dramatic and comedic roles. Midler was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 1, 1945. She is the daughter of Ruth (Schindel), a seamstress, and Fred Midler, a ...

13. Carly Simon

Soundtrack | All Good Things

Carly Simon has an unparalleled career that spans five decades of openhearted storytelling both in song and print. Joining the singer-songwriters of the early 1970s, Simon changed the public's conception of pop music to an honest, sensitive and intelligent craftwork. Simon's biggest success came ...

14. Rosanne Cash

Soundtrack | The Little Rascals

Rosanne Cash was born on May 24, 1955 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for The Little Rascals (1994), Rosanne Cash feat. Chely Wright: Sister, Oh Sister (2012) and Angie (1994). She has been married to John Leventhal since April 30, 1995. They have one child. She ...

15. Crystal Gayle

Soundtrack | The Hateful Eight

Born January 9, 1951, in Paintsville, Kentucky, Crystal Gayle moved with her family to Wabash, Indiana, when she was still quite young. Her music career was given a big boost by her older sister, country superstar Loretta Lynn. Loretta thought that Crystal's real name of Brenda Gail Webb was not ...

16. Janis Ian

Soundtrack | Mean Girls

Janis Ian is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s; her most widely recognized song, "At Seventeen", was released as a single from her 1975 album Between the Lines which reached number 1 on the Billboard chart.

Born in New York City, Ian entered ...

17. Adele

Soundtrack | Skyfall

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born May 5, 1988) is a British singer-songwriter who has sold millions of albums worldwide and won a total of 15 Grammys as well as an Oscar. Adele's first two albums, 19 and 21, earned her critical praise and a level of commercial success unsurpassed among her peers. ...

18. Emmylou Harris

Soundtrack | Brokeback Mountain

Emmylou Harris was born on April 2, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for Brokeback Mountain (2005), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and Lawless (2012). She was previously married to Paul Kennerley, Brian Ahern and Tom Slocum.

19. Laura Nyro

Soundtrack | Final Destination

Laura Nyro was born on October 18, 1947 in The Bronx, New York, USA. She was a production manager, known for Final Destination (2000), My Girl (1991) and A Home at the End of the World (2004). She was married to David Bianchini. She died on April 8, 1997 in Danbury, Connecticut, USA.

20. Joni Mitchell

Soundtrack | Two Weeks Notice

Joni Mitchell is one of the most highly regarded and influential songwriters of the 20th century. Her melodious tunes support her poetic and often very personal lyrics to make her one of the most authentic artists of her time. As a performer she is widely hailed for her unique style of playing ...

21. Carole King

Soundtrack | A League of Their Own

Carole King is an American composer and singer-songwriter.

She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the USA, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1999. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making ...

22. Maria Muldaur

Soundtrack | The Grinch

Folk and blues singer Maria Muldaur was born as Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato on September 12, 1943 in Greenwich Village, New York City. At age five, Maria was already singing Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", with her aunt accompanying her on piano. Muldaur became an ...

23. Judy Garland

Actress | The Wizard of Oz

One of the brightest, most tragic movie stars of Hollywood's Golden Era, Judy Garland was a much-loved character whose warmth and spirit, along with her rich and exuberant voice, kept theatre-goers entertained with an array of delightful musicals.

She was born Frances Ethel Gumm on 10 June 1922 in ...

24. Melanie

Soundtrack | Boogie Nights

With her sweet, captivating voice, quirky yet insightful songwriting and bubbly, upbeat, free-spirited hippie persona, pop and folk singer/songwriter Melanie totally epitomized the whole "flower power" counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s.

She was born Melanie Anne Safka on February 3, 1947, in ...

25. Janis Siegel

Soundtrack | Dick Tracy

Janis Siegel was born on July 23, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Dick Tracy (1990), Swing Kids (1993) and Manhattan Transfer: Soul Food to Go (1988).

26. Jennifer Warnes

Soundtrack | Holidate

Singer/songwriter Jennifer Warnes has enjoyed enormous crossover success not only on the pop and country music charts alike, but also for her often exceptional song contributions to several hit movies. Jennifer was born on March 3, 1947 in Seattle, Washington and raised in Anaheim, California. She ...

27. Karen Carpenter

Soundtrack | Paul Williams: Still Alive

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen Carpenter moved with her family to Downey, California, in 1963. Karen's older brother, Richard Carpenter, decided to put together an instrumental trio with him on the piano, Karen on the drums and their friend Wes Jacobs on the bass and tuba. In a battle of the...

28. Cass Elliot

Soundtrack | Free Guy

Cass Elliot was born Ellen Naomi Cohen on September 19, 1941, in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in the Washington D.C. environs and in her senior year of high school, performed in a summer stock production of "The Boyfriend" at the Owings Mills Playhouse, where she played the French nurse who ...

29. Janis Joplin

Soundtrack | Watchmen

Janis Lyn Joplin was born at St. Mary's Hospital in the oil-refining town of Port Arthur, Texas, near the border with Louisiana. Her father was a cannery worker and her mother was a registrar for a business college. As an overweight teenager, she was a folk-music devotee (especially Odetta, ...

30. Doris Day

Soundtrack | Love Me or Leave Me

One of America's most loved actresses was born Doris Mary Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Alma Sophia (Welz), a housewife, and William Joseph Kappelhoff, a music teacher and choir master. Her grandparents were all German immigrants. She had two brothers, Richard, who died ...

31. Eydie Gormé

Soundtrack | Nobody

Eydie Gorme was born in New York on August 16, 1928 to Sephardic Jewish parents. Her father, Nessim Gormezano, was a Turkish-born tailor who changed his last name when he arrived in the United States. She began singing straight out of high school, with various big bands. But her big break came ...

32. Dolly Parton

Soundtrack | The Porter Wagoner Show

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee and raised in Sevierville, Tennessee to Avie Lee Parton, a housewife & Robert Lee Parton, a tobacco farmer. At 12, she was appearing on Knoxville TV and at 13, she was already recording on a small label and appearing at ...

33. Aretha Franklin

Actress | The Blues Brothers

Grammy-winning Queen of Soul and the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Barbara Vernice (Siggers) and C. L. Franklin, a Baptist minister, who preached at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit for over thirty ...

34. Idina Menzel

Soundtrack | Frozen

Idina Menzel was born on May 30, 1971 in New York City, New York as Idina Kim Mentzel. She's an American actress, singer & songwriter. She's best known as Maureen in Rent, Elphaba in Wicked & the voice of Elsa in Frozen (2013). Her mother Helene Goldberg was a therapist & her father Stuart Mentzel ...

35. Regina Spektor

Soundtrack | Bombshell

Regina Spektor was born in Moscow, USSR to a musical Jewish family. Her father, Ilya Spektor, is a photographer and violinist. Her mother, Bella Spektor, was a music professor in a Russian college of music and now teaches at a public elementary school in New York. Spektor learned how to play piano ...

36. Ofra Haza

Actress | The Prince of Egypt

Ofra Haza was born on November 19, 1957 in Tel Aviv, Israel. She was an actress and composer, known for The Prince of Egypt (1998), American Psycho (2000) and Head-On (2004). She was married to Doron Ashkenazi. She died on February 23, 2000 in Ramat Gan, Israel.

37. Kelly Clarkson

Soundtrack | The Kelly Clarkson Show

Kelly Brianne Clarkson was born on April 24, 1982 in Fort Worth, Texas and raised in Burleson, Texas to Jeanne Ann Taylor (née Rose), an English teacher & Stephen Michael Clarkson, an engineer. She was the first winner of the series American Idol in 2002. Kelly is also a strong believer in God.

38. Cyndi Lauper

Soundtrack | Cyndi Lauper: Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Cyndi Lauper was born on June 22, 1953 in Ozone Park, Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for Cyndi Lauper: Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1983), Vibes (1988) and Cyndi Lauper: Time After Time (1984). She has been married to David Thornton since November 24,...

39. Elaine Paige

Soundtrack | The Boys from Brazil

Elaine Paige, as an actress, recording artist, producer, and broadcaster, has made a major contribution to the modern musical that ensures her own chapter in the entertainment world and justifies the title "The First Lady of Musical Theatre".

She has starred in numerous West End productions and on ...

40. Shirley Bassey

Soundtrack | Moonraker

Shirley Bassey was born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales, and raised in the nearby working class neighborhood of Splott. Her mother was originally from Yorkshire, and her father was a Nigerian seaman who left the family when she was less than two. She later helped to support her family by working in an...

41. Ethel Merman

Actress | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Born in the Astoria section of Queens, New York City, Ethel Merman surely is the pre-eminent star of 'Broadway' musical comedy. Though untrained in singing, she could belt out a song like quite no one else, and was sought after by major songwriters such as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Having ...

42. Tina Turner

Soundtrack | Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

With almost fifty years in the music business, Tina Turner became one of the most commercially successful international female rock stars. Her sultry, powerful voice, her incredible legs, her time-tested beauty and her unforgettable story all contributed to her legendary status.

Born to a ...

43. Liza Minnelli

Soundtrack | Cabaret

Liza Minnelli was born on March 12, 1946, the daughter of Judy Garland and movie director Vincente Minnelli. She was practically raised at MGM studios while her parents worked long hours there and she made her film debut at 14 months of age in the movie In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Her ...

44. Diana Ross

Soundtrack | The Wiz

Best known as the the lead singer of the popular 1960s singing group The Supremes, Diana Ernestine Earle Ross was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, the second of six children of African-American parents Ernestine Lillian (Moten), a schoolteacher, and Fred Earl Ross, who served in the ...

45. Norah Jones

Soundtrack | Ted

Norah Jones (born Geetali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is a daughter of sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar and Sue Jones. She is Anoushka Shankar's half-sister.

In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the ...

46. Paula Abdul

Actress | Robots

Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. She began taking dance lessons when she was eight. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was senior class president and head cheerleader. After graduating in 1980, she started college at Cal State-Northridge, majoring in TV and ...