Listening Room Blog

This time it was no contest.

We also didn’t get as much interest as in our last four polls. Maybe our readers aren’t as passionate about the ladies, maybe it was the post-Holiday blues, or maybe we just threw too many polls at you too quickly.

Either way, we still had nearly 100 female singers submitted, and had a clear winner.

No real surprise: The winner of our Best Female Singer readers poll, as voted by you, is the one and only Aretha Franklin.

Aretha had nearly twice as many votes as our runners-up, which consisted of a three-way tie for second place. Those songbirds are:

• Billie Holiday
• Whitney Houston
• Ann Wilson

Nice mix of genres there, which is always pleasing to see. We’d have to say Wilson was a surprise at the top, but clearly the Heart songstress earned her spot among rockers.

Rounding out the top 10 in our poll are:

• Christina Aguilera
• Janis Joplin
• Annie Lennox
• Mary J Blige
• Mariah Carey
• Patsy Cline

Then we have the rest. We’ve noted the number of votes each singer received below, with the names in alphabetical order within the vote totals.

Again, we thank those of you who participated, and hope that the rest enjoy reading through the results. We’ll take a break from the polls for a few weeks.

But keep reading The Listening Room, because we’ll give you plenty to read, including our weekly Wednesday series on Guitar Players You Should Know, columns by our music writer Roberto Parente, and our regular selection of music news and oddities.

In the meantime, here are the rest of our Best Female Singers as voted by our readers, colleagues and contributors:

4 – Debbie Harry
4 – Chrissie Hynde
4 – Joni Mitchell
4 – Grace Slick
3 – Ella Fitzgerald
3 – Emmylou Harris
3 – Chaka Khan
3 – Patti LaBelle
3 – Stevie Nicks
3 – Pink
3 – Bonnie Raitt
3 – Diana Ross
3 – Sade
3 – Fiona Apple

2 – Anita Baker
2 – Pat Benatar
2 – Beyonce
2 – Sandy Denny
2 – Celine Dion
2 – Mama Cass Elliot
2 – Marianne Faithful
2 – Alison Kraus
2 – KD Lang
2 – Teena Marie
2 – LeAnn Rimes
2 – Linda Ronstadt
2 – Koko Taylor

2 – Linda Thompson
2 – Lucinda Williams
2 – Amy Winehouse
1 – Yolanda Adams
1 – Anastacia
1 – Julie Andrews
1 – Erykah Badu
1 – Joan Baez
1 – Kathleen Battle
1 – Laura Branigan
1 – Kate Bush
1 – Tracy Chapman

1 – Kelly Clarkson
1 – Shamiqua Copeland
1 – Randy Crawford
1 – Iris Dement
1 – Sheena Easton
1 – Melissa Ethridge
1 – Faith Evans
1 – Beth Gibbons
1 – Lesley Gore
1 – Penepole Houston
1 – Jennifer Hudson

1 – Wanda Jackson
1 – Etta James
1 – Alicia Keyes
1 – Carole King
1 – Gladys Knight
1 – Diana Krall
1 – Amy Lee
1 – Peggy Lee
1 – Loretta Lynn
1 – Madonna

1 – Shirley Manson
1 – Cerys Matthews
1 – Carmen McCrae
1 – Christine McVie
1 – Alison Moyet
1 – Dolores O’Riordan
1 – Joan Osborne
1 – Katie Perry
1 – Liz Phair
1 – Edith Piaf
1 – Minnie Ripperton
1 – Robyn

1 – Jill Scott
1 – Carly Simon
1 – Siouxie Sioux
1 – Bessie Smith
1 – Ronnie Spector
1 – Dusty Springfield
1 – Barbra Streisand
1 – Tamia
1 – Irma Thomas
1 – Doris Troy
1 – Tina Turner
1 – Carrie Underwood
1 – Sarah Vaughn
1 – Dinah Washington
1 – Nancy Wilson
1 – CeCe Winans

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