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Your Favorite Legacy Jazz Vocalists

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By Michael Ricci
June 30, 2024
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Member votes were tabulated and this list represents our favorite legacy jazz vocalists. Fully transparent and easily verifiable, All About Jazz's favorite legacy vocalists poll was conducted during the 2023-2024 calendar year and ran up through June 28, 2024. We want to thank every member who participated in creating this impressive list for the next generation of jazz enthusiasts to discover.

Ella Fitzgerald

Sarah Vaughan

Billie Holiday

Carmen McRae

Barbara Morrison

Frank Sinatra

Dinah Washington

Nina Simone

Nat King Cole

Tony Bennett

Anita O'Day

Mel Torme

Al Jarreau

Johnny Hartman

Peggy Lee

Abbey Lincoln

Julie London

June Christy

Amy Winehouse

Dean Martin

Joe Williams

Betty Carter

Rosemary Clooney

Lou Rawls

Jon Hendricks

Jimmy Rushing

Louis Armstrong

Nancy Wilson

Mark Murphy

Bessie Smith

Etta James

Billy Eckstine

Chris Connor

Eddie Jefferson

Bing Crosby

Annie Ross

Doris Day

Ray Charles

Aretha Franklin

Eartha Kitt

Etta Jones

Big Mama Thornton

Ernestine Anderson

Mose Allison

Al Jolson

Chet Baker

Natalie Cole

Astrud Gilberto

Sam Cooke

Gil Scott-Heron

Leon Thomas

Sammy Davis Jr.

Big Joe Turner

Ma Rainey

Mahalia Jackson

Harry Belafonte

Louise Tobin

Ethel Waters

Joao Gilberto

Oscar Brown Jr.

Lee Wiley

Keely Smith

Alberta Hunter

Jimmy Witherspoon

Helen Humes

Irene Kral

Jo Stafford

Lorez Alexandria

Jimmy Scott

Judy Garland

Patti Page

Ivie Anderson

Lena Horne

James Brown

Dakota Staton

Carol Sloane

Edith Piaf

Josephine Baker

Donny Hathaway

Bill Henderson

Celia Cruz

Maxine Sullivan

Kay Starr

Mildred Bailey

Bob Dorough

Al Hibbler

Joya Sherrill

Mavis Rivers

Jeanne Lee

Carol Fredette

Della Reese

Lina Romay

Sara Martin

Juliette Greco

Anna Mae Wilburn

Blossom Dearie

Robert Johnson

Elvis Presley

Howlin' Wolf

100

Louis Prima

101

Bobby Blue Bland

102

Leon Redbone

103

Eva Cassidy

104

Miriam Makeba

105

Charles Brown

106

King Pleasure

107

Otis Redding

108

Helen Ward

109

Phyllis Hyman

110

Esther Phillips

111

Betty Roche

112

Ruth Brown

113

Rebecca Parris

114

Martha Raye

115

Ella Mae Morse

116

Connee Boswell

117

Tito Rodriguez

118

Ernie Andrews

119

Gal Costa

120

Kenny Rankin

121

Jeri Southern

122

Bobby Womack

123

Leonard Cohen

124

Monica Zetterlund

125

Captain Beefheart

126

Joe Cocker

127

Helen Forrest

128

David Bowie

129

David Allyn

130

Michel Warlop

131

Christiane Legrand

132

Henri Salvador

133

Billy Paul

134

Bobby Cole

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