NPR To Profile 50 Great Voices

NPR is seeking input from listeners for a series that will highlight 50 great singers. The list will eventually be narrowed down to 50 of the greatest, from all the nominations sent in. I will send in 50, but you don't have to send in a list that big....you can send as few as you like.

The list below is not necessarily a list of my personal favorites, although NPR doesn't discourage that. It was tough to suppress the urge to include my personal preferences to make sure a variety of deserving singers were included. Although the vast majority on this list are among my favorites.

I wrote the rough draft for this list in about 25 minutes at work earlier this week (had to change a few though)

My list - In no particular order:

1. Mahalia Jackson
2. Sam Cooke
3. Donny Hathaway
4. John Lennon
5. Marvin Gaye
6. Bob Marley
7. Otis Redding
8. Joan Baez
9. B.B. King
10. Mercedes Sosa
11. Luther Vandross
12. Smokey Robinson
13. Whitney Houston
14. Willie Nelson
15. Aretha Franklin
16. Luciano Pavarotti
17. Nat Cole
18. Lou Rawls
19. Miriam Makeba
20. Louis Armstrong
21. Billie Holiday
22. Patsy Cline
23. Frank Sinatra
24. Pattie Labelle
25. Gladys Knight
26. Ray Charles
27. Ella Fitzgerald
28. Stevie Wonder
29. David Ruffin
30. Russell Thompkins Jr.
31. Ronald Isley
32. Chuck Berry
33. James Taylor
34. Elvis Presley
35. Diana Ross
36. Elton John
37. Fats Domino
38. Mary Christine Brockert
39. Mavis Staples
40. Grace Bumbry
41. Michael Jackson
42. Dinah Washington
43. Bessie Smith
44. Sarah Vaughn
45. Bill Withers
46. Little Anthony
47. Michael McDonald
48. Natalie Cole
49. Roberta Flack
50. Sammy Davis Jr.