Why Rolling Stone’s ‘200 Greatest Singers’ list is controversial

I am a sucker for lists, especially one that celebrates music and in this case, one which has turned out to be controversial. This is the 200 Greatest Singers list that Rolling Stone (RS) Magazine put out last Jan. 1, which is an update of one from five years ago. The result was culled from choices by the RS staff and key contributors.

The list encompasses a hundred years of popular music and centers on those artists with mass appeal. No opera singers are included. The criteria are big on “originality, influence, depth of catalogue and breath of musical legacy. They are those artists who can remake the world just by opening their mouths.” Think John Lennon.

There are great choices. Legends abound. Aretha Franklin is tops, followed by Whitney Houston, Sam Cooke and so forth. But then, where is Celine Dion? That was the question that the incensed diehard fans of the Canadian pop diva asked and which resulted in a protest staged at the Rolling Stone offices.

Rolling Stone had a ready answer. The list is not about great voices, which Dion certainly has. It is about great singers. Those who with their voices create a “bond between artist and listener in the most elemental connection in music.” Think sweet and easy Ella Fitzgerald or Willie Nelson whose delivery is laconic, but which certainly mesmerizes. The list is a “celebration of that bond that shaped history and defined our lives.”

Maybe not Celine. I understand why Katy Perry is not in it. But why not Madonna who certainly created that sort of bond with audiences and influenced several generations of followers from all over the world? And what about Tony Bennett? As far as depth of catalogue is concerned, he has few equals. Maybe only Frank Sinatra or in the rock ‘n roll era, Elvis Presley.

By the way, Swifties. Taylor came in at No. 102. Barbra Streisand is at No. 147, Alicia Keys is at No. 186 and the youngest in the list is Billie Eilish at No. 198. No, Olivia Rodrigo is not in it.

Here are those who made it to the Top 100. Do check out the rest in the Rolling Stone website. Maybe you’d agree. Maybe not. But it would still be fun finding out who the great voices are.

Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Sam Cooke, Billie Holiday, Mariah Carey, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Otis Redding, Al Green, Little Richard, John Lennon, Patsy Cline, Freddie Mercury, Bob Dylan, Prince, Elvis Presley, Celia Cruz, Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Adele, Smokey Robinson, George Jones, Mary J. Blige.

Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Mahalia Jackson, Chaka Khan, Hank Williams, Luther Vandross, Bonnie Tyler, Bessie Smith, Thom Yorke, Dusty Springfield, Kurt Cobain, Van Morrison, Curtis Mayfield, Louis Armstrong, Aaliyah, Etta James, Teddy Pendergrass, Ariana Grande, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Mavis Stapleton, Linda Ronstadt, Toni Braxton, Rod Stewart, Joni Mitchell.

Sade, Mick Jagger, Miriam Makeba, Willie Nelson, Tina Turner, Barry White, Brian Wilson, Lady Gaga, Howlin’ Wolf, Kate Bush, Umm Kulthum, George Michael, Robert Plant, Bjork, Minnie Riperton, David Ruffin, Dennis Brown, Rihanna, Youssou N’Dour, Ronnie Spector, Roy Orbison, Muddy Waters, Hector Lavoe, Patti LaBelle, D’Angelo.

Wilson Pickett, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Emmylou Harris, Chris Cornell, Joao Gilberto, Steve Perry, Amy Winehouse, Lata Mangeshkar, Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Jimmie Rodgers, Selena, Gal Costa, Nusrat, Carl Costa, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Anita Baker, Stevie Nicks, Toots Herbert, Vicente Fernandez, Chuck Berry, Usher, Bob Marley, Clyde Mcpatter and Elton John.

Now, now, because of this list, I am itching like mad to do a local version. The Greatest Filipino Singers of all time. That would be fun. But I still need to muster up enough courage to face the bashers who will rise up in protest if their favorites do not make the list. I already know that a lot of big names will not. Yucky! Yucky.