The Top Five Soul Music Female R&B Singers

Are you a fan of soul music? If so, then you’ll definitely want to check out our list of the top five female R&B singers. These ladies have some serious vocal chops and they know how to put on a great show. So, if you’re looking for some great soul music to enjoy, be sure to check out these ladies.

Introduction

When we think of the classic female R&B singers, a few names come to mind. These ladies have graced the stage and studio with their amazing vocal talents for decades, entertaining fans both old and young. In no particular order, here are the top five soul music female R&B singers.

Aretha Franklin is known as the “Queen of Soul” for her incredible contribution to the genre. She has won 18 Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and her hit songs include “Respect”, “Chain of Fools”, and “I Say a Little Prayer”.

Whitney Houston was one of the best-selling artists of all time, with more than 200 million records sold worldwide. She was a five-time Grammy Award winner who released hits such as “Saving All My Love for You” and “I Will Always Love You”.

Diana Ross is a legendary figure in both the music and film industry. She has starred in movies such as Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany, and her solo hits include “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Upside Down”.

Marvin Gaye was one of the most influential artists of all time, paving the way for future soul musicians. His hits include “Sexual Healing” and “What’s Going On”, and he was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Last but not least, Stevie Wonder is a musical icon who has won 25 Grammy Awards throughout his career. He is responsible for hits such as “Superstition” and “I Wish”, and he was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

Whitney Houston

One of the most successful female R&B singers of all time, Whitney Houston is known for her five-octave vocal range, hits like “Saving All My Love for You” and “I Will Always Love You,” and for being a pop culture icon in the 1980s and 1990s. Houston’s debut album Whitney Houston was released in 1985 and went on to become the best-selling debut album by a woman in history. She went on to release seven more studio albums, all of which were certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In addition to her solo work, Houston also recorded duets with many other popular R&B singers, including Bobby Brown, Mariah Carey, and Cissy Houston.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She rose to prominence with the release of her eponymous debut album in 1990 and achieved success with her follow-up albums Emotions (1991) and Music Box (1993). Carey is the only female artist to have been nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy Award three times within the same decade (1990s). With sales of over 200 million records worldwide, she is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. Carey has a five-octave vocal range and is considered a pop, R&B, and hip hop artist. In 1998, Billboard magazine named her the “artist of the decade”, while VH1 listed Carey as their number one “greatest female pop artist” during the same timeframe. Rolling Stone ranked her as the number 28 “greatest artist” of all time in 2010.

Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys is a singer, songwriter, pianist and actress from New York City. She has released six studio albums and thirty-one singles, including fourteen as a featured artist. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor was released in 2001 and sold more than twelve million copies worldwide. The album earned her five Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for “Fallin’”. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys was released in 2003 and sold eight million copies worldwide. It earned her four Grammy Awards, including Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “You Don’t Know My Name”.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B group Destiny’s Child, one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time. Her solo career has generated numerous hits worldwide, including “Crazy in Love,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” and “Run the World (Girls).” She has also starred in several films, including Dreamgirls and Obsessed. In 2015, she released her self-titled visual album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and earned her five Grammy Awards.