So who is the most outstanding female singer ever?
Dolly Parton? Tina Turner? Madonna? Britney Spears? Who?

Aretha Franklin

I took the missus to see dolly parton a couple of months ago, she is an awesome live singer, i would say dolly all the way

Madonna......no question!

Joycelin Brown withoiut a doubt,shes sung guest vocals on lots of tracks and a v powerful voice.

Paul

Dians Ross - The most powerful voise of the lot.

More powerful than Aretha Franklin?

I've seen both live, when they were at their peak and there's simply no comparison.

Their voices are totally different to each other and Aretha Franklin's is most definitely the more powerful with a much greater range.

Elkie brooks

Personally as a singer i think that Ella Fitzgerald was probably the best singer her vocal range covered three octaves, the way she interpreted songs in terms of phrasing and intonation was revolutionary.
Her stamp and mark has been left for others to emulate and you hear her style in many modern recordings and many genres .
she had a showbiz career that lasted 57 years!! she recorded over 2000 songs and she won 13 grammies now i don't really like scat or jazz but her voice has to be easily in the top three.

I too am a big fan of Aretha franklin and i would also put her in the top three.

I can't stand some Whitney Huston songs but the woman can sing..well she could before the drugs

I dont think i can really choose between these three (splinters in my bum)lol

I don't think you can compare the likes of Dolly Parton to Aretha Franklin or Madonna, be it vocally or during performance - all are very entertaining and have an amazing track record too.
Vocally, how do all three compare to the range and power of Celine Dion, who, by example, can hit what are considered quite challenging notes?
I personaly do not like Mariah Carrey or Leona Lewis but appreciate their appeal. Both can hit those all so high notes but of the three, Celine can deliver very, very confident power chords.
Celine most outstanding? Hmmm?
Neither Celine, Mariah or Leona will ever make the kind of impression that someone like Tina Turner or Anastacia can make during a perfomance but that's obvious!
None of the singers I've mentioned have the purity of voice like Sarah Brightman and I guess none of them have the uniqueness of Shirley Bassey (Dame).
Very hard indeed to pick the most outstanding female singer ever.
I'm still making my mind up.

Here are some other female singers to think about:

Agnetha Faltskog (Abba)?
Alanis Morrisette?
Alicia Keys?
Annie Lennox?
Avril Lavigne?
Barbara Streisand?
Beyonce Knowles?
Bjork?
Britney Spears?
Cher?
Christina Aguilera?
Connie Francis?
Dido?
Donna Summer?
Dusty Springfield?
Edith Piaf?
Gwen Stefani?
Heather Small?
Janis Joplin?
Julie Covington?
J-lo?
Karen Carpenter?
Kate Bush?
Katie Melua?
Kelly Clarkson?
Kylie Minogue?
Linda Ronstadt?
Maria Callas?
Mary J. Blige?
Montserrat Caballé?
Nana Mouskouri?
Nina Simone?
Olivia Newton-John?
Pat Benatar?
Patsy Cline?
Pink?
Rihanna?
Sade?
Shakira?
Shania Twain?
Sinead O’Connor?
Stevie Nicks?
Tammy Wynette?
Whitney Houston?

Hmm louder yes, Aretha is loud.

What about LeAnn Rimes & Maria Carey

Very true!

I picked madonna personally becasue nobody can match her for chart sucess.

If your picking the singer for their vocal talents then madonna is not going to win going up against the likes of those other singers mentioned in your list.

So when you say "outstanding".....are we talking outstanding vocal tallent, outstanding level of sucess or outstanding good looks?

Im not sure picking an overall winner for being "outstanding" would be possible, many of the above named singers have tallents in certain areas, but an overall winner......hmmm.....thats tough!

Madonna - That girl knows how to put on a show ans is still goig good at 50

Nina Simone - That lady had some soul and sends shivers down your spine when she sings

Kate Bush - Love her voice and creativity and used to really fancy her.

There's no doubt that many of the singers in the last century and this new one are beautiful, but good looks obviously don't just make an outstanding singer, or even a good one at that! Ho Ho Ho!
Yep, Madonna has stage presence, she's been around for a good number of years, she's done (and still does) the tours and has quite a diversity of hits. She re-invents herself very well and most importantly, can sing. And yes, she can look very, very beautiful, but before I tick all the box's, I then look and listen to Cher!
Now there's a female singer whose done the decades, the tours, the hits and the films too....but is her level of success, voice, etc, any more outstanding than Aretha Franklin or Diana Ross or Madonna?
Interestingly, Madonna and Cher are GREAT performers who l-o-v-e to perform.
I believe what will make a truly outstanding 'winner' for the title is someone who a) everyone will find hard to disagree with, even if they are not a big fan, and b) the singer finally chosen may not actually tick all the box's but may have that small or large incredible quality that surpasses all her peers.
Perhaps it's not just about the vocal range but the whole 'package'!

If the question was about a male singer, I think I would find it easier to choose the most outstanding one - ever (in my opinion), but I'm really finding it difficult to pick an outstanding female singer. They're all brilliant!

Not just loud. A much greater range.

Neither she nor Diana Ross is as good now as they were at their peak.

As it happens, Florence Ballard, the founder and orignal lead singer of The Supremes had a much grittier voice than Diana Ross. Berry Gordy made Diana Ross the lead singer precisely because her voice was softer and more "poppy".

True.

Mind you, he did the same thing with the Miracles and Martha & The Vandellas.

Aretha and Madonna seem popular then.

For me it's Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins, Massive Attack and the odd bit in Lord of the Rings). Probably not had many tracks played at a disco but for me her voice is just fantastic.

Interestingly, Aretha Franklin has been named the greatest singer of the rock era in a Rolling Stone magazine poll. Read more here.

Jill St Claire for me.

Jenny Lewis. Both her solo stuff and her stuff with Rilo Kiley are awesome.

Randy Crawford's voice always sounded good. Aretha, excellent, personally never rated Madonna.
Interesting thoughts though.......

To me it's got to be Karen Carpenter.
I know she didn't have the "power" of the likes of Tina or Aretha, but the way she sang cannot be replicated, I absolutely love the way she put emmotion into all her tracks.

Jim

Laura White!...50000 complaints to X Factor

And she'll be at Brimingham Symphony Hall in the near future I believe.

It has to be Mariah Carey, her voice is amazing!!!!

Whilst it is incredibly impressive that she has an 8-octave range, I really don't want to hear every single note in that range on every single word she sings. One of the most irritating wastes of talent ever.