Pajiba

I personally think the best singer ever is John Lennon, he sounds like an angel.

My god, Rolling Stone needs to be replaced with something much more modern that has a respect for the past. Plus, they also talk about politics too much for a music magazine. Which is stupid, because all of their political columns are exactly the same, pages of leftist bullshit.

Also, your list sucks. Depeche Mode? Yaz? It must be catching because now Pajiba sucks.

Fuck Rolling Stone, man... They're the PETA of music journalism.

Dano: That list is pretty obviously a joke. Chris Cornell's version of Redemption Song? Yaz? Pat Benatar? Heart? Nobody makes a list like that without giggling the whole way through.

I agree that the list was too old and too masculine. I would keep most in the top 10, but add Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Tori Amos, Neko Case, Kim Gordon, Mike Ness, Karen O, and Morrissey ( I know he's a jackass, but he can sing) to the list.

Well if we're looking for female singers, was Janis fucking Joplin on anybody's list?

Agree with the author about Moyet in Yaz. Situation is one of my favorites.

If I weren't at work I could go on, but generally speaking I don't agree with Rolling Stone or the author.

Jarvis Cocker and Roger Daltrey. The end.

should have been MTV without videos, ugh.

I agree it's not the best list in the world, but come on, it's a hell of a lot better than their list of the best guitarists. And if you read their explanatory pages on why some artists made it and some artists didn't, Dylan actually fits their criteria (more focused on emotional believability and movement than on born skill). Sure, I would have re-arranged the list a bit, put Thom Yorke a lot higher, maybe dropped some people here or there, but I thought it was a solid list overall.

And you bash people for being sexist, but your top 7 are all either women or duets where women are the lead. Sexism works both ways. And no way is Chaka Kahn better than Aretha Franklin.

And the list of their voting panels includes people of a wide age range. So your argument of oldsters keeping the young people down is inaccurate and invalid.

Ultimately, I hope people will take this list for what it is: 100 good musicians who everyone should at least listen to at some point in their lives. If you've got a different opinion, say so. But don't scream down an institution as tried and true as Rolling Stone magazine because you don't like one of their lists. That's childish.

It's Maynard JAMES Keenan and I would give my boyfriend's left nut if it meant he would sing to me EVERY night. siiiiiggghhh.

Dear Pajiba Music,

You are unnecessary and terrible.

Love,
Deniz

I didn't read the Dylan article. Because it was written by Bono. By Bono. I could feel the doucheitude radiate off the page. I had to turn away lest I start wearing ridiculously tinted glasses

Agente, I love Social D with a fiery passion, and I shook his hand at the greatest concert ever (Neil Young/Crazy Horse, Sonic Youth, Social D), but ... Mike Ness has about a three-note range.

PJ Harvey kicks Pat Benatar's ass sideways and backwards. And Chrissie (notably absent from your list, Ms. M&B) slays them both.

Oh, I don't see Freddie Mercury on your list either. Or Plant, who is pretty much the prototype hard-blues-rock singer. Good call on Perry Farrell, tho.

Paul McCartney and Freddie Mercury top my list, but then again, I'm also stuck in the '60s and '70s (but I'm a 21 year old female, not a 50 year old male, so... points for that?)

God I hope you're right. This list is so many levels of terrible.

Have you all ever READ her fuckin' blog? She doesn't take too much seriously. Give me a break.

Rolling Stone sucks balls.

Joey Ramone.

Again, I'll be glad to take my beloved MJB off the list to make room for the likes of Billie Holiday. I'm sure Ms. Blige would agree.

OK, here's the thing: I'm not a Celine Dion fan - I agree with those who argue that 90 % of her discography could be the companion to a Danielle Steel novel but the woman can sing. In fact, she can do practically anything with her voice and most of the time she does just that and, instead of mere technical accuracy, she clearly puts real passion and conviction into her performances. So, to the geriatric powers that be over at Rolling Stone, if you're going to put Bob Dylan on #7, at least have the balls to admit that we're not talking about singing here at all. Seriously.

The PETA of music jornalism? That may be my favorite quote ever. I shall be using it and claiming it as my own.

*evil laugh*

You may use it, Park.

Bono, love your band, love your voice. I, however, don't ever want to see you ranked in a top 100 voices behind Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, or, for that matter, Steve Perry ever again.

At the risk of sounding like one of the old farts you've uncovered on the RS editorial staff, I find that the reason that new bands are not represented in lists like these is not necessarily because they aren't on the same level artistically. They may well be. But, I think it has something to do with how dull they are as people, as public figures. If Iggy Pop and some more recent singer is in competition with each other for 'best of all time", I think it would be foolish to discount the fact that even if Iggy is brushing the end of his 50s, he'll beat out the younger singer, because he's the more compelling figure. This is showbiz, after all. In the land of American Idol singing-as-sporting-event, and with carefully controlled media training undergone by the modern rock star, something of this x-factor has been lost. It could also be that older rock musicians have time on their side, which makes them more mythical. But, my gut tells me it's that more modern artist, with some exceptions, just aren't as interesting to a mass audience. And a mass audience is how these guys pay their bills

To the point that RS is a declining institution, I submit that all North American music rags suck. I've not found one to even come close to, say, MOJO magazine out of Britain. Even that one is in decline, according to many, for the very reasons you've cited here. But, at least with MOJO, you get well-written stories about bands which show off the personalities of the musicians and how the band stands within the context of newer acts. The thing is, the demographics of these rags are aimed at those to whom they can get the most bang for their advertising buck. And for Spin, Blender, and indeed Rolling Stone, this seems to be the focal point, along with really unimaginative lists to use as filler between ads.

Ultimately for me, music journalism is best served by bloggers. If you want a more varied list that doesn't rely on a canonical approach, than you will have come to the right place with music bloggers. If the RS list reflects antiquated musical tastes, than it also represents a medium with a fast approaching sell-by date.

@samantha. "defer to my elders". Ouch. I guess I deserved that! :)

I haven't seen the whole list myself. For me, choosing the best singer of all time has more to do with the emotional connections you feel to the voices involved, not so much the technique.

Boringly perhaps, the Beatles as a singing unit would all get my vote - because when I hear those voices something warm and fuzzy stirs inside me. Elvis Costello gets my vote too. And Neil Finn. Oh, and Gladys Knight. These voices feel like home to me.

I would pay to listen to Harriet Wheeler singing FDA Regulations. Right the EF on I would.

No Ann Wilson or PJ Harvey? That's a fucking crime.
Where's Nick Cave?

i know i'm late to the party (damn you, corporate i.t. world!), but i have to say, it's astonishing that chrissie hynde is nowhere to be found, either in the pajiba review or the comments. how can that be?

wait...i see "chrissie" once. that's it?

We can agree that Rolling Stone hasn't been credible for a while. If I had my way (which should be all the time) my top 5 would be...

1) Jim James- My Morning Jacket, my favorite band.
2) Hector Lavoe- on the list of sacred Puerto Ricans, that if you talk shit about you will likely get cut.
3) Charles Aznavour- don't understand a word of French, but the man can sing.
4) Cee-lo from Gnarls Barkley- Hear me out. The retro soul on an acid trip sound is very underrated. He's this generation's Al Green. Yeah I said it.
5) Georgia Hubley- from Yo La Tengo. She can sing so sweetly about arson, almost makes you forget it's a song about burning down Tony Orlando's house.

Interesting observation: the female singers on the list are far less likely to have men inspired by them listed than the male singers on the list are to have women inspired by them.