Key Takeaways
- Influential Singers: The list highlights 40 of the most significant Black female singers from the ’60s and ’70s.
- Impact on Music: These artists played a crucial role in shaping rock ‘n’ roll and popular music.
- Standout Tracks: Each singer is associated with iconic songs that showcase their talent.
- Legacy: Their contributions continue to inspire new generations of musicians.
In 2008, Rolling Stone put together a list of the “100 greatest singers of all time.” The lineup was mighty.’
At the 100th spot was Mary J. Blige, who was asked to say a few words about the woman at the top of the list: the incomparable Aretha Franklin.
“She is the reason why women want to sing,” Blige said. “Aretha has everything – the power, the technique. She is honest with everything she says. … It’s beautiful to see, because it helps people with a lack of confidence in their ability, like myself. I look at her and think, ‘I need a piece of that. Whatever that is.'”
Blige, of course, is not the only singer to look up to Franklin, nor is Franklin the only woman to have paved the way for people like Blige. Over the course of years, Black women singers in particular have proven to be indescribably important to the progression of rock ‘n’ roll. Bob Dylan picked up an acoustic guitar because he heard Odetta, a Black female folk artist well known in New York City, and there would be no “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley if there hadn’t been “Hound Dog” by Big Mama Thornton, an early pioneer of R&B music. The Beatles, meanwhile, were enamored with the Ronettes.
All of that to say: Black women are some of the most important not only in rock’s history but in music’s itself. In the below list, we’ve come up with 40 of the Most Influential Black Female Singers of the ’60s and ’70s, plus standout tracks from each. (They’re not, however, ranked in any particular kind of order.) Many of these women found success before and after those decades, but we’re focusing specifically on their importance in that time frame…
Standout Tracks: “Ain’t No Way,” “Rock Steady,” “Respect,” “Chain of Fools,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”
2. Mahalia Jackson
Standout Tracks: “Keep Me Every Day,” “How I Got Over,” “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” “Move on Up a Little Higher”
3. Etta James
Standout Tracks: “Something’s Got a Hold on Me,” “At Last,” “Tell Mama,” “Baby What Do You Want Me to Do,” “A Sunday Kind of Love”
4. Ruth Brown
Standout Tracks: “Yesterday,” “Shake a Hand,” “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” “What Happened to You,” “Secret Love”
5. Shirley Bassey
Standout Tracks: “Goldfinger,” “Diamonds Are Forever,” “Big Spender,” “Something” “Never, Never, Never”
Standout Tracks: “The One Who Really Loves You,” “You Beat Me to the Punch,” “Two Lovers,” “My Guy,” “What’s the Matter With You Baby”
7. Martha Reeves (and the Vandellas)
Standout Tracks: “Dancing in the Street,” “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave,” “Come and Get These Memories,” “I’m Ready for Love,” “In My Lonely Room”
8. Diana Ross
Standout Tracks With the Supremes: “Baby Love,” “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Back in My Arms Again,” “You Can’t Hurry Love”
Standout Solo Tracks: “Touch Me in the Morning,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Love Hangover,” “Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To),” “Last Time I Saw Him”
9. Nina Simone
Standout Tracks: “Mississippi Goddamn,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “Feeling Good,” “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” “I Put a Spell on You”
10. Tina Turner (With Ike Turner)
Standout Tracks: “Proud Mary,” “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine,” “I Want to Take You Higher,” “A Fool in Love,” “Nutbush City Limits”
11. Gladys Knight (and the Pips)
Standout Tracks: “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “If I Were Your Woman,” “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye),” “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”
12. Patti LaBelle (Solo and With Labelle)
Standout Tracks: “Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song),” “Lady Marmalade,” “Eyes in the Back of My Head,” “Come What May,” “What Can I Do For You?”
13. Dionne Warwick
Standout Tracks: “Walk On By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Then Came You,” “I’ll Never Love This Way Again”
14. Mavis Staples (With the Staples Singers)
Standout Tracks: “I’ll Take You There,” “Let’s Do It Again,” “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me),” “Respect Yourself,” “Touch a Hand, Make a Friend”
Top 25 Soul Albums of the ’70s
There’s more to the decade than Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, but those legends are well represented.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci