Who has/had the best voice? - Whitney Houston Discussion

[–] Lige (335) 5 years ago

Ella.

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[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

Ella is my fave, seriously.
While not my fave, Barbra Streisand certainly made her name on her singing more than any other aspect of her legacy.

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[–] strntz (12675) 5 years ago

I was never a big fan of Ella because of her singing style (scat), but I recently heard some recordings where she sang more traditional, and her voice was stunning.

Of the three first mentioned, I have to go with Celine for that particular group. Whitney and Mariah had a very short run where their voices were good (particularly Mariah). I think they both sang at 110 percent and could hold their vocal control because of their young age. I'm not a fan of most of Celine's recordings but she sounds like she did 30 years ago so it's her for the win.

Two of my favorites female voices are Jo Stafford and Marilyn McCoo. I love Karen Carpenter but won't mention her because she's a contralto and a totally different type of singer.

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[–] Lige (335) 5 years ago

Yeah, Ella's ballads showcase her crystalline vocals so much more. I can do without the scat.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 2 years ago

The issue is: who the hell set these parameters? What a narrow range of choices. No opera divas. No country artists. The range is implicitly delimited to women vocalists, which bespeaks a small mind on the part of the OP, but I’ll let that slide, but I think Marvin Gaye might want to say “Hello.”

Eva Cassidy has the widest vocal and emotional range of any popular music singer in history, and the widest command of musical genre; but you never heard of her ‘cause she died at 32 from bone marrow cancer.

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[–] dmac8 (5050) 5 years ago

It's probably Mariah but I'd rather listen to Whitney.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 5 years ago

Leontyne Pryce

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Mariah and Whitney are belters, which is similar to yelling. That high note in “I will always love you” was basically a beautiful yell.

So both Mariah and Whitney damaged their vocal chords with that style.

Celine however uses trained technique to hit high notes and her voice is still great.

I don’t like Celines accent getting in the way of some songs though.Theres a flow to English that French speakers will never master.

I feel like she overpronounces words sometimes.

So I’m giving it to younger Whitney as the winner. Nobody can cover her songs and sound good, so she’s basically perfection.

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[–] Moviebuff1 (2835) 5 years ago

Whitney, hands down.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Mariah's debut album was ok but I haven't enjoyed anything since and I'd rather drink acid than listen to Celine, I find her wailing and Mariah's whistle-register thing she does irritating and unpleasant to listen to.

I vote Whitney.

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[–] TimMC (9143) 5 years ago

Not a HUGE fan of them but I like some of the music of each.

Whitney and Mariah are tied.

Celine is bringing up the rear.

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[–] breathfromanother (822) 4 years ago

Thanks for the answers, everybody! :) I would say it's a tie between Whitney and Mariah for me. Celine has a great voice, but I'm more a fan of her personality than her music.

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