The 1900s gave the world some of the most powerful voices in history. Thanks to records, radio, and television, singers could reach people in every corner of the globe.
Each artist on this list helped shape how music sounds today. Here is a look at fifteen singers whose work still inspires fans and performers.
1. Frank Sinatra (1915-1998), American Traditional Pop and Jazz
Few singers have matched the smooth, conversational style of Frank Sinatra. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, he rose to fame in the 1940s and became known as The Voice.
Teenage fans once packed theaters just to hear him sing.
His phrasing made every lyric feel like a personal story. Songs such as My Way, Fly Me to the Moon, and New York, New York became standards that other singers still perform.
He worked with great arrangers and bandleaders, which gave his records a polished sound.
Sinatra also changed the album. Records like In the Wee Small Hours treated an album as one complete mood instead of a pile of singles.
He won multiple Grammy Awards and acted in films, earning an Oscar for From Here to Eternity. His influence on pop and jazz singing remains huge today.
2. Elvis Presley (1935-1977), Rock and Roll
When Elvis Presley swiveled his hips on television in 1956, parents gasped and teenagers cheered. Raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, and later Memphis, he blended country, gospel, and rhythm and blues into something fresh.
Sun Records producer Sam Phillips helped capture that early spark.
Hits like Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, and Jailhouse Rock made him a star almost overnight. He sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide and starred in more than thirty films.
His look and attitude set the template for the rock star.
Elvis also showed how music could bring different communities closer together, even during a time of deep division in America. He later thrived in Las Vegas shows and a famous satellite broadcast from Hawaii in 1973.
Fans still visit Graceland every year to honor the King of Rock and Roll.
3. Aretha Franklin (1942-2018), Soul and R&B
Respect is one word, yet Aretha Franklin turned it into an anthem. Raised in Detroit, she learned to sing in her father’s church, where gospel shaped her powerful sound.
By her early twenties she was recording for Atlantic Records.
The 1967 release of Respect, along with Chain of Fools and Natural Woman, made her the Queen of Soul. Her voice could whisper, soar, and growl within a single song.
Many singers say they studied her runs and phrasing.
She won eighteen Grammy Awards and became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Her songs also became part of the civil rights era’s soundtrack.
In 2005 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a fitting honor for a lifetime of music.
4. Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), Rock
Picture 72,000 people clapping and singing along in perfect unison. That was Freddie Mercury at Live Aid in 1985, when Queen stole the show.
Born in Zanzibar and raised partly in India, he moved to England as a teenager.
As lead singer of Queen, he had a four-octave range and a flair for drama. Bohemian Rhapsody mixed rock, ballad, and opera in a six-minute song that radio stations were told would never get played.
Listeners proved them wrong.
He also wrote classics like Killer Queen, Somebody to Love, and Don’t Stop Me Now. His stage presence made huge arenas feel like living rooms.
After his death in 1991, awareness about AIDS grew through tribute efforts. Queen’s music continues to find new fans with each generation.
5. Whitney Houston (1963-2012), Pop and R&B
Born into a musical family in Newark, New Jersey, Whitney Houston had gospel in her bones. Her mother Cissy Houston and cousin Dionne Warwick were already respected singers.
Whitney sang in church choirs before signing with Arista Records.
Her 1985 debut album sold millions and produced hits like Saving All My Love for You and How Will I Know. She later scored seven straight number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, a record at the time.
Her version of I Will Always Love You, from The Bodyguard, became one of the best selling singles ever.
Critics praised her clear tone and soaring high notes. Her performance of the national anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl is still remembered as a high point.
Many pop and R&B singers today point to her as a model.
6. Michael Jackson (1958-2009), Pop
Thriller is still the best selling album of all time, with estimates above seventy million copies. Michael Jackson began his career at age eleven with his brothers in The Jackson 5.
By the 1980s he had become a solo superstar.
He mixed pop, funk, and R&B with sharp dance moves like the moonwalk, first shown on television in 1983. Songs such as Billie Jean, Beat It, and Man in the Mirror topped charts across the globe.
His short films for music videos raised the bar for the entire industry.
He also helped break barriers on MTV, which had played few Black artists before. Producer Quincy Jones guided much of his best work.
Jackson earned many Grammy Awards and his influence can be heard in nearly every modern pop performer.
7. Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), Jazz
At seventeen, Ella Fitzgerald walked onto the stage of Harlem’s Apollo Theater planning to dance. Nerves got the better of her, so she sang instead and won the contest.
That lucky moment launched one of jazz’s greatest careers.
Known as the First Lady of Song, she had pure tone, perfect timing, and fearless scat singing. She could turn a melody upside down and land on her feet every time.
Her Song Book albums, which honored composers like Cole Porter and George Gershwin, are treasured to this day.
Fitzgerald won thirteen Grammy Awards and sold tens of millions of records. She also broke racial barriers on the concert stage.
Even late in life, she kept touring, showing how deeply she loved her audience and her craft.
8. Billie Holiday (1915-1959), Jazz and Blues
A single white gardenia in her hair became Billie Holiday’s signature. Her voice was not the biggest, but it carried deep feeling in every note.
She grew up in Baltimore and began singing in Harlem clubs as a teenager.
Holiday bent melodies like a horn player, treating each lyric as a personal diary page. Her recording of Strange Fruit in 1939 protested racial violence and shocked many listeners.
Songs like God Bless the Child and Lover Man showed her gift for storytelling.
She worked with greats such as Lester Young and Count Basie. Though her life was marked by hardship, her recordings remain deeply moving.
Today singers across jazz, soul, and pop cite her phrasing as a major influence, and her Grammy Hall of Fame recordings are still widely studied.
9. Ray Charles (1930-2004), Soul, R&B, and Blues
Blind by age seven, Ray Charles learned music by ear and by touch at a school in Florida. He later taught himself to read braille music.
That determination fueled a career that crossed every border in American music.
In the 1950s he mixed gospel feeling with blues and rhythm, creating the sound people now call soul. Hits like What’d I Say and Georgia on My Mind made him a household name.
His 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music brought country songs to new listeners.
He refused to play segregated venues, standing firm on principle. Charles won seventeen Grammy Awards and was among the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
His piano playing and raspy, joyful voice remain instantly recognizable decades later.
10. Sam Cooke (1931-1964), Soul and Gospel
Silky and effortless, Sam Cooke’s tenor made listeners lean in closer. He started in gospel as a member of The Soul Stirrers, then crossed into pop in 1957 with You Send Me.
The move stirred debate in church circles but opened new doors.
Cooke wrote much of his own material, including Chain Gang and Cupid. In 1964 he released A Change Is Gonna Come, inspired by the civil rights struggle.
The song remains one of the most important protest anthems in American music.
He was also a business pioneer. Cooke started his own record label and publishing company, which was rare for Black artists at the time.
His life ended too soon at age thirty three, but his smooth style shaped Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, and many others.
11. Tina Turner (1939-2023), Rock and Soul
Energy was Tina Turner’s trademark, and she had enough to light up a stadium. Born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, she first rose to fame with husband Ike Turner in the 1960s.
Their song Proud Mary became a rock and soul classic.
After leaving the act in 1976, she started over with almost nothing. Her 1984 album Private Dancer proved that comebacks are possible, bringing hits like What’s Love Got to Do with It.
She went on to win eight Grammy Awards.
Turner’s raspy voice and powerful stage moves inspired countless performers. She filled arenas around the world well into her fifties.
Her story of resilience also reached a wide audience through her memoirs and film. She is often called the Queen of Rock and Roll.
12. Stevie Wonder (born 1950), Soul, Funk, and R&B
Little Stevie Wonder signed with Motown at just eleven years old. Born Stevland Morris in Saginaw, Michigan, he was blind from infancy yet mastered piano, drums, and harmonica.
His first number one hit, Fingertips, came at thirteen.
In the 1970s he gained creative control and released a run of landmark albums, including Talking Book, Innervisions, and Songs in the Key of Life. He played many instruments himself and used synthesizers in groundbreaking ways.
Songs like Superstition and Sir Duke remain party favorites.
Wonder also used his fame for good causes. He helped push for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to become a national holiday.
With more than twenty Grammy Awards, he stands among the most honored musicians ever, and his warm, expressive voice keeps new fans coming.
13. Édith Piaf (1915-1963), French Chanson
Nicknamed the Little Sparrow, Édith Piaf stood barely four foot eight. Yet her voice filled Paris music halls with a trembling, heartfelt power.
She grew up in hard circumstances and first sang on the streets.
A nightclub owner named Louis Leplée spotted her talent in 1935 and gave her a start. Over the next decades she turned songs like La Vie en Rose and Non, je ne regrette rien into symbols of French culture.
She wrote the words to many of her own songs.
Piaf’s style, called chanson, puts the story first and the singer’s feelings right on the surface. She also became popular in the United States, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Her emotional delivery continues to touch listeners who may not speak a word of French.
14. Bob Marley (1945-1981), Reggae
From a small village in Jamaica to stadiums around the world, Bob Marley carried a message of unity. He formed The Wailers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in the early 1960s.
Their blend of ska, rocksteady, and reggae grew into something global.
Albums like Catch a Fire, Exodus, and Legend introduced millions to Jamaican rhythms. Songs such as One Love, No Woman, No Cry, and Redemption Song spoke about freedom, hope, and equality.
Time magazine named Exodus the best album of the century.
Marley survived a 1976 shooting and still performed days later. In 1978 he brought rival political leaders together on stage during the One Love Peace Concert.
His music still sells strongly, and his face appears on posters in nearly every country.
15. Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007), Opera
Opera rarely makes the pop charts, but Luciano Pavarotti managed it. Born in Modena, Italy, he was a baker’s son who first planned to become a teacher.
A gift for singing changed his path.
His bright, ringing tenor won fame after he hit nine high Cs in La Fille du Regiment at Covent Garden in 1972. Audiences also loved his warm personality and ever present white handkerchief.
His recording of Nessun Dorma became famous when it was used for the 1990 World Cup.
That same year, he joined Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras as The Three Tenors, drawing enormous television audiences. Pavarotti also held charity concerts with pop stars, bringing opera to new fans.
He proved that great singing can speak to everyone, whatever the language.
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