Best. Voice. Ever.

[Mouse]

One of the finest and most underrated singers is Lulu. Yes, the lady who sang "To Sir with Love." I've got her Rhino greatest hits CD and it's got Lulu singing cheerful pop, MOR, R&B, glam rock (two Bowie songs!), a James Bond theme, and her first hit--a cover of "Shout"! She can sing it all. She. Can. Sing. Period.

[snarkypotato]

I'm going to be a copy-cat and say Tom Waits for the guys. I love his voice (and music in general).

I also really like Ofra Haza's voice. I don't like all of her music, but that voice of hers can give me goosebumps. There's one song, "Love Song" where she's singing acapella; I can listen to that song over and over again. I wish I knew what the hell she was saying though. I also like the song “Jerusalem of Gold.”

[Deleted]

I've been watching a lot of live Jeff Buckley performances on Youtube lately, and dude, does he have an amazing voice or what?

I don't think she's been mentioned here yet, but PJ Harvey has one of the most interesting voices I've heard. I found it hard to get into some of her music at first (and I'm still not a huge fan of her early-early stuff, but still), but now I LOVE her. (There was a better performance of Meet Ze Monsta on Youtube a while ago, but it was deleted, quite sadly.)

And of course there's Sarah Slean, who I would probably shoot someone to sound like.

While I'm on the topic of Canadian singer-songwriters, Hawksley Workman has a quite impressive range and was awesome live.

Ooh! I'm too lazy to find a link for evidence, but Dave Grohl has a sexy, sexy voice. As do Gavin Rossdale and Shirley Manson. (You'd think I enjoy early-mid 90s music, huh?)

[Deleted]

Ok.....Jeff Buckley. There are no words. His voice is what I expect to hear if I ever get to Heaven.

Gavin Rossdale's voice is like sex to me. Seriously. Like butter.

I greatly enjoy Eva Cassidy, as well. That woman could SING.

And for all you metalheads out there (my musical tastes are teasingly diverse), I would like to nominate Pantera's Phil Anselmo. He's an asshat, but MAN oh MAN can he sing. Not only yell, but sing.

[elizabeth]

Otis Redding - he has/had an awesome voice. He was also very underrated.

Dean Martin - another singer with an awesome voice, his voice was silk.

Ella Fitzgerald - she has/had the most beautiful voice. Female singers today could learn how to sing from her.

Freddie Mercury - his voice is amazing.

[Deleted]

Dusty Springfield. I'm listening to 'I will follow him' and her voice is just...gah.

I'm so excited that another one of my 'best voice ever' noms, Kristin Chenoweth is going to be playing her.

[starskin]

Any Divine Comedy fans out there? Neil Hannon's voice is amazing. It's a rich, sonorous baritone, and he has no qualms about using it. I love how he can go from the nihilistic new wave growl of "Europop" to the swoon of "Everybody Knows I Love You". Oh, and I can't forget "My Lovely Horse"! Combine that with catchy melodies, great orchestrations, and fantastic lyrics and you've got me hooked.

For female vocals, I adore Liz Fraser of Cocteau Twins. It's so otherwordly and beautiful, and she uses it in such unexpected and brave ways. I can't really find the words to describe it. Man, I wish I could sing like Liz Fraser.

And word to the Jeff Buckley love. One note from him and I'm undone. Oddly, cats seem to really like him too.

[kelly9480]

My tastes are schizo. Chris Cornell, Otis Redding, Jeff Buckley, Etta James, Lynden David Hall, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway, Smokey Robinson, Susan Tedeschi, Alison Krauss, Nina Simone, Cassandra Wilson all have that certain something in their voices that will make me listen to songs I don't even like, just to hear the voice, lyrics be damned.

Current new favorite voice is Corinne Bailey Rae. Girl has some amazing songs (and some where you're like, "Um, Corinne?"), but the voice is lovely.

[Deleted]

Kelly9480, I totally forgot to mention Chris Cornell. I agree completely.

[girlnamedcarl]

Justin Hawkins of The Darkness has a glorious voice. It never fails to bum me out that he and Freddie Mercury will never get to duet.