wOw Music | 11/14/2008 9:15 am
Barbra Streisand Headlines Top Ten List Of States' Best-Selling Female Musicians
You’ll never guess which ten women have sold the most records in the United States …
We all know women rock, but these ladies really rock. From Barbra Streisand to Whitney Houston, we’ve tracked down the top ten female musicians who have sold the most records in the United States. Think you know who’s made it? You’d be surprised …
Read more about: Barbra Streisand, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Entertainment, Linda Ronstadt, Madonna, Maria Carey, Music, News, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, The Dixie Chicks, Whitney Houston


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36 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Can’t argue with this Top Ten choice. They are all superb. My favourite is Linda Ronstadt. Barbra Streisand is wonderful; saw her in her Broadway stage debut many moons ago. Easy to spot the future superstar and natural to play Fanny Brice. (I was right). Celine may be considered great, but not by my standards. She would be the only exception to the selection here. She just doesnt have the right stuff…the “thrilling” stuff.
Streisand - pure magic. Madonna - epitome of how to stay alive - by continually growing and reinventing yourself. Celine - possibly the greatest talent of the bunch. Mariah - how many octaves? Shaina - staying true to oneself. Ronstadt - I’ve missed her.
Of course, there are also 2 train wrecks on that list (Whitney and Britney) and one on my permanent poop list (Reba)… she will never be forgiven for her public trashing of the divine divas… Dixie Chicks.
Where’s Cher?
Where’s Cher INDEED! There’d be no Madonna nor Britney without Cher.
Way to go chicas! Although i must confess.. I don’t have a SINGLE album by any one of these women. I have one song by Whitney downloaded on my ipod. One by the Dixie chicks and one by Madonna and that’s it. None of my favorites must have sold enough…
Melissa Etheridge
Antigone Rising
Annie Lennox
Sass Jordan
Pink
Duffy
Not to many women truly rockin it out out there…
I don’t have any of them either… except for the Dixie Chicks… (and I bought their DVDs because of their treatment by the Bush administration and the country music establishment.) I really like their album “Taking The Long Way” though. This isn’t the first time protest has enriched my musical palate.
Best-selling doesn’t mean squat to me. What good is a popularity contest when the vast majority are tasteless baboons? Not that most of the women in WOW’s list don’t possess some ounce of talent, but they are certainly not tops just because they have cunning publicists.
Here are MY Women Who Rock:
Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde)
CHRISSIE FREAKING HYNDE (Pretenders)
Annie Lennox
Cher
PATTI FREAKING SMITH
Sarah McLachlan
Tori Amos
Jann Arden
Ani DiFranco
Chrissy Amphlett of the Divinyls (THE Queen of Australian Rock ‘n’ Roll)
Sophie B Hawkins
PJ Harvey
ANN (and Nancy, blah blah) FREAKING WILSON (Heart)
Melissa Etheridge
Joan Armatrading
Sharleen Spiteri (Texas, the band)
Maria McKee (Lone Justice)
Patty Griffin
SHIRLEY MANSON (Garbage)
Kate Bush
Honorable Mentions for the Newbies (and Not-Quite-Classic-But-Getting-There):
Tegan & Sara Quin
Imogen Heap (Frou Frou)
Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley)
Beth Hart
Fiona Apple
Oh my. I’m just gonna stop there.
Did you miss Tracy Chapman? and Grace Slick was the mother queen!!!! joni mitchell, the be good tanyas. po’ girls…
Holy God, I DID miss Tracy Chapman! She is one of my favs! See, I knew my list was gonna be incomplete.
Grace Slick is another (and Janis…), but Joni Mitchell bugs the everliving hell out of me. I personally think she’s highly overrated. And now I am going to get stoned to a bloody pulp…
I love Streisand, The Dixie Chicks, and Linda Ronstadt, and I respect Celine, Whitney, and Mariah—who all have undeniable talents…I admire Madonna’s intelligence regarding the way she has managed her career…Shania Twain has a pleasant voice ( and is easy on the eyes)…The inclusion of Britney and Reba on this list of women in music, who have made the most money simply shows that there must be a large segment of the population who are devoid of taste!!! Britney Spears’ singing ability is in no way equal to another singer of her generation: Christina Aguilera. As for Reba, I think the sound of fingernails scratching across a blackboard is more enjoyable than the sound of her voice (I can’t stand to look at her either)—she really grates on me! I like many of the people who Kryssi named, but I would also have to include the FABULOUS Linda Perry on my list—She’s an excellent singer, songwriter, and producer (both Pink and Christina Aguilera have benefitted from Perry’s song writing and production talents)…Also, I would include Joan Jett, who shows that women can still rock at 50!
I agree with Melanie on the inclusion of Ms. Spears to the list. To me, she’s all flash & no substance.
There are women with much better voices. Christina Aguilera. Emmy Lou Harris. Debbie Friedman. Joss Stone. Joanne Shenandoah. The eternally terrific Etta James. And two that are no longer with us: Patsy Cline & Beverly Sills.
The only album I have by any of the women on the list is “The Best of Shania Twain”.
C’mon, no Joni Mitchell? No Aretha Franklin? Tina Turner? Diana Ross? Stevie Nicks? Alanis Morissette? Sarah McLachlan? Tori Amos? Pat Benatar? Janet Jackson? Mary J. Blige? Sheryl Crow? Bjork?
I feel so out of the loop.
Nope. You are very much perfectly IN the loop. Way to go, with your awesome picks! Bjork is a true original; can’t believe I left her off my list. Tina Turner, isn’t her nickname something like the “QUEEN of Rock ‘n’ Roll”??? Sheesh.
Personally I’m into Antony (Antony & The Johnsons.) Antony singing Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will” will rip your heart out.
My girlfriend is VERY into Antony. The falsetto tends to grate on my nerves but I do think Antony’s songs are absolutely gorgeous. My favorite has been “Cripple and the Starfish”…
It’s a lot to take all in one shot. You have to put his music on shuffle.