Aretha Franklin performs at the world premiere of “Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives” during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
DETROIT — Rolling Stone ranks Aretha Franklin No. 1 in its list of the “greatest singers of all time” on Sunday.
The list has 200 singers and orders them based on “originality, influence, the depth of an artist’s catalog, and the breadth of their musical legacy,” according to the article.
Franklin, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Detroit, was called a “force of nature, a work of genius, and a gift from the heavens,” by the music magazine.
It says the “Respect” artist described her mission as a singer like this: “Me with my hand outstretched, hoping someone will take it.”
Outside of Franklin, the magazine ranks Iggy Pop, a Detroit-born vocalist, No. 176, saying he “would have been one of the most attention-getting vocalists ever, thanks to his ready-for-anything, scenery-eating yowl.”
The third Detroiter the magazine named was Bob Seger, at No. 181. According to Rolling Stone, Seger was the first rock star with a youthful voice, being most famous for his song “Night Moves.”
Martha Reeves, lead singer of Martha and the Vandellas, came in at No. 151. The magazine said Reeves’ “gleeful, girlish, gritty voice cut straight through the airy harmonies of her group mates.”
Born in Detroit and raised in Grand Rapids, El DeBarge was listed at No. 137, with the magazine describing his voice as “like caramel” on the song “All This Love.”
Jackie Wilson, who was born in Highland Park, ranked No. 121. Famous for “Lonely Teardrops,” (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher” and “Baby Workout,” Wilson was admired by Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, the magazine said.
Aretha Franklin JStone/Shutterstock.com
Patti Smith, ranked No. 117, moved to St. Clair Shores in 1980 after marrying MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith. The magazine said Smith wanted to be a poet, not a singer, but the album “Horses,” released in 1975, showed she could be both.
Ranked No. 101, the magazine said Motown star Gladys Knight “never quite gets the respect due to her. Her reading-the-riot-act crossover smash ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ was instantly replaced in the popular consciousness by Marvin Gaye’s cover, and she tended not to be hailed as the queen of anything. Her church-trained voice, warm and wise, was more approachable than that.”
Anita Baker, who lives in Grosse Pointe Park, was ranked No. 92. Baker’ 1986 ballad “Sweet Love” “is just one example of how she built on her idols’ (Mahalia Jackson and Sarah Vaughn) legacies, then combined them with her considerable talent and keen knowledge of R&B’s evolving ideals …,” the magazine said.
Coming in at No. 87 is Diana Ross, who was born and raised in Detroit and was one of Motown’s biggest acts. Rolling Stone described Ross’ voice as a “creamy timbre and flirty insouciance,” which created “a unique vocal style.”
Another Motown alumni is Michael Jackson, who was ranked No. 86. “Jackson’s best vocal moments thrived in their ability to transcend styles and transform expectations – the way the Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’ turns James Brown into bubblegum, the exuberance mixed with bite of ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” the way ‘Human Nature’ dreams of connection while shivering in isolation,” the magazine said.
Soul singer Wilson Pickett ranked No. 76. Born in Prattville, Alabama, Pickett moved to Detroit in 1955 and got his start in the city’s gospel scene. “Few soul singers had his unyielding rhythmic acuity, and he could sound peacock-proud without seeming merely arrogant,” the magazine wrote.
Temptation David Ruffin, who also had a solo career, was ranked No. 66. The Motown star sang lead on “I Wish it Would Rain, “Ain’t too Proud to Beg” and “My Girl.”
Ranked at No. 50 is Joni Mitchell, who lived in Detroit’s Cass Corridor in the 1960s with then husband Chuck Mitchell. The magazine said her vocals are “unmatched.”
Named the Princess of R&B, Aaliyah, whose family moved to Detroit when she was 5, was ranked at No. 40 for a voice with “flexibility and crisp range.” Her debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number,” sold 3 million copies in the U.S. and was certified platinum.
Coming in at No. 23 is Smokey Robinson. The magazine said “the Motown empire was built around Robinson – when he hits those impossibly delicate high notes, it’s the essence of romantic pleading. He was raised on Fifties doo-wop, but he invented his own soul style with the Miracles, squeezing so much emotion out of ballads like ‘Ooo Baby Baby,’ ‘The Tracks of My Tears,’ or ‘The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage.”
Motown star Marvin Gaye came in at No. 20, with a rich, velvety voice that belts out “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and “Let’s Get it On.”
Near the top of the list, Saginaw-born Stevie Wonder ranked No. 7. Raised in Detroit, the magazine said “few other singers could so convincingly sell both the unabashed tenderness of ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’ or ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’ and the simmering anger that underlies ‘You Haven’t Done Nothin’ or ‘Living for the City.'”
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