The Stars Have Aligned for Lee Bailey’s EURweb TOP 200 American Soul Singers of All Time official show-stopping List. And what a star-studded, powerful, and impressive list it is…
In Commemoration of Black History Month, we’ve come up with a special salute to America’s musical innovators, and architects
“SOUL is more than a musical genre – it’s the essence, the special ingredients, the secret sauce of Black American Culture. “Soul is our culture – baby.” – Diane Blackmon Bailey, Veteran Radio Personality
Developing the Top 200 List was a daunting task for the exclusive group of entertainment industry collaborators.
With all the musicians/performers having own special unique talents and gifts within their own rights it was disheartening to see so many unsung, ignored and sometimes forgotten entertainers who contributed overwhelmingly to the Foundational Black American music cultural and experience. To celebrate, recognize and honor them is heartfelt.
Our rich American music history also must be preserved and taught to younger generations unaware of individual soul singer’s musical contributions, and how that particular sound, became the coming of age soundtrack, for an entire nation.
From Cab Calloway, Rosetta Tharpe, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations to Little Richard, Chaka Chan, Rick James, New Edition and many more, hands down soul music is in a class by itself.
Presenting the EURweb Top 200 American Soul Singers of All Time Official List.
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Publishers! As a convenience to you, below is a portion of the EURweb TOP 200 American Soul Singers (and Groups) of All Time as published. You have permission to post as is (yes, you can change/modify the headline/title and the article verbiage).
Presenting The EURweb ‘Top 200 American Soul Singers’ of All Time! | PicsVideos
*Soul Music is more than a musical genre. It’s an original American expression of creativity, a unique cultural art form born out of pain, oppression, extreme pressure, and an eyewitness view of the exclusive atrocities that are the Black American experience. From this pure American experience, major musical art forms (genres) of expression were created and cultivated.
“SOUL is more than a musical genre – it’s the essence, the special ingredients, the secret sauce of Black American Culture. “Soul is our culture – baby.” – Diane Blackmon Bailey, Veteran Radio Personality
Diane Blackmon – on air at CBS Radio Station WCAU FM Philadelphia
Ranging from the early days of Gospel, Jazz, Country, R&B (Rhythm & Blues) Disco, Rap/Hip Hop, and Pop all of these categories encompass the overall influences of Black Americans, its innovators, creators, architects, and global musical Influencers.
Little Richard / Getty
Sister Rosetta Tharpe / Getty
Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe were the unsung original Rock & Rollers. Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come,’ the Godfather of Soul, James Brown’s national anthem ‘Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud’ – to the sound of Sammy Davis Jr., we witnessed the nation slowly changing.
Soul Music possesses a unique subliminal frequency, a musical mathematical equation that connects them to us all; from the East coast to the West coast, down South, up North, and everywhere in between.
Paramount -Theater
The Black American Music scene, experience, and origin dominate the history of American Music with its genius, compassion, and contributions to the overall betterment of all mankind. Once ostracized from the American radio airwaves and classified as “Colored” and “Race Music,” among other derogatory and racially explicit terms, the action of segregated radio programmers, disk jockeys, promoters, and others, forced the creation of many alternative Black radio powerhouses, in local cities and markets. This unique circumstance assisted in the development of this new cultural American music art form, which resonated with America’s youth and the urban population.
KDIA ‘The Boss of the Bay’ Radio Station hosted the Jackson 5’s last San Francisco Bay Area performance as a group (September 22, 1981) at the Oakland Coliseum. Michael Jackson would go solo soon after. Photo Credit: Paul Robeson
Through Black American innovation, pure talent, tenacity, imagination, and fearlessness, a brand-new form of expression, “American Soul Music,” was conceived exclusively by Black people and for Black people. By conceptualizing their exclusive ‘Black American Experience’, our trailblazers created the blueprint … an original unique music sound, style, and dance, including new categories and genres that are legendary, iconic, and unforgettable.
Unfortunately, the new era of radio consolidation, advertiser bias, network monopoly, and the politics of the 1980s, doomed Black radio and marked the beginning of a rapid deletion and decline of Black-owned and operated stations across the country.
EURweb Top 200 Soul Singers collage (by Danielle Holland) – Photos via Getty
To date, Stevie Wonder’s legendary KJLH FM Radio in Los Angeles California is one of only 168 Black Owned Radio Stations still in existence. To put that in perspective, there are currently 10,315+ commercial AM and FM radio stations in the country.
In commemoration of Black History Month, Lee Bailey’s EURweb is publishing the official Top 200 American Soul Singers of All Time list. It was compiled by an exclusive group of radio leaders, music industry executives, and media specialists from a list of over 450 nominees.
EURweb Top 200 Soul Singers collage (by Danielle Holland) – Photos via Getty
And now, ladies and gentlemen …
EURweb’s Top 200 American SOUL Singers (and Groups) of All Time
1. James Brown
2. Michael Jackson
3. Prince
4. Aretha Franklin
5. Luther Vandross
6. Whitney Houston
7. Little Richard
8. Chaka Khan
9. Patti Labelle
10. Stevie Wonder
Get the rest of the EURweb Top 200 List here: https://eurweb.com/2023/presenting-the-eurweb-top-200-american-soul-singers-of-all-time/
