Greatest all time singers in Christian music.

[Jimbo]

I just did this blog and figured it would make a good discussion for the new bulletin feature..here goes..:

Rolling Stone magazine had the top 100 singers of all time this week. I took a peek on my lunch break and found it interesting.

Here was the top 10:
1) Aretha Franklin
2) Ray Charles
3) Elvis
4) Sam Cooke
5) John Lennon
6) Marvin Gaye
7) Bob Dylan
8) Otis Redding
9) Stevie Wonder
10) James Brown

Lots of singers with Christian roots or connections..Aretha, Dylan, Cooke and Elvis. Other singers with Christian ties were..
14) Al Green
21) Johnny Cash
32) Bono (Yeah!) Come join my U2 group!
63) Dion
73) Dolly Parton

This made me think, who would be on your Mt. Rushmore of all time Christain singers? I used to do these Mt. Rushmore topics all the time on the old myccm.

Here are mine:

1) Mac Powell. Third Day's singer has the most reconizable voice in Christian music today, and the best vocals of his career are on the new record Revelation.

2) Russ Taff. From The Imperials to his solo career to the Gaither Vocal band, Russ has a voice for the ages.

now to a couple of unlikely picks...

3) Ken Tamplin..Sammy Hagar's cousin has a bunch of solo and group projects in the 90's. The best hard rock voice ever. He might be the most underated artist of all time.

4) Marc Martel. This is the dude from Downhere with the soaring higher voice of the two guys. This is a great band and Marc's voice has been compared to Freddie Mercury for good reason.

So who would be on your Mt. Rushmore of all time Christian singers? You can comment in the box below or I'm going to make this a discussion topic as well.

[tobymacfan]

Check out my comment on your blog about this and you will see my answer to your question.

[Steven S. Billings]

1. Greg X. Volz - The original Petra lead singer. Man, what a set of pipes!
2. Bob Carlisle - Lead singer for Allies (awesome group - how about a reunion?) and noted soloist. Most recognized perhaps by his song "Butterfly Kisses."
3. John Schlitt - The longest Petra lead singer. There is a vid on YouTube from the Farewell concert that has these two guys singing together. The caption was something like "Sand and Fog." Very apt! Two amazing voices - quite different, but they can both still sing like crazy!
4. Joel Hanson - Lead singer for PFR. Wow! Smooth and flexible, with great range.

[RockitD]

Hard between males and females...

1) Kim Burrell - her voice is a throwback to the great jazz singers of old.

2) Russ Taff - he made the Imperials great and his solo projects are second to none. I was listening to Under Their Influence the other day. Russ Taff was his best.

3) CeCe Winans - She's my favorite of the Winans

4) Michael Sweet - Stryper's lead vocalist made me a metal fan. His pipes are powerful

5) Margaret Becker - showed women can rock! I followed her from Never For Nothing to Grace. She was my fav for a long time.

BTW, Jim...all of the top 10 had a church background sans Lennon. Marvin Gaye was a PK...who actually ended up shooting him and going to jail for it. James Brown did some early Gospel stuff...I'm not sure about Redding, but the whole "Soul" movement was the utilization of church music with secular lyrics...something Charles was condemned for by the church.

[Jimbo]

Hi Dion, I figured those other guys you mentioned might have had some gospel roots, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the imput!

RockitD said:

Hard between males and females...

1) Kim Burrell - her voice is a throwback to the great jazz singers of old.

2) Russ Taff - he made the Imperials great and his solo projects are second to none. I was listening to Under Their Influence the other day. Russ Taff was his best.

3) CeCe Winans - She's my favorite of the Winans

4) Michael Sweet - Stryper's lead vocalist made me a metal fan. His pipes are powerful

5) Margaret Becker - showed women can rock! I followed her from Never For Nothing to Grace. She was my fav for a long time.

BTW, Jim...all of the top 10 had a church background sans Lennon. Marvin Gaye was a PK...who actually ended up shooting him and going to jail for it. James Brown did some early Gospel stuff...I'm not sure about Redding, but the whole "Soul" movement was the utilization of church music with secular lyrics...something Charles was condemned for by the church.

[tobymacfan]

1. Michael W Smith
2. Steven Curtis Chapman
3. Rich Mullins
4. Kevin Max
5. Mac Powell from Third Day
6. Mark Stuart from Audio Adrenaline
7. Michael Tait from dc Talk and Tait
8. tobyMac
9. Rachael Lampa
10. Amy Grant
11. Jaci Velasquez
12. Peter Furler from Newsboys
13. Phil Joel from Newsboys
14. Paul Coleman
15. Ben Olin from This Beautiful Republic
16. Trevor McNevan from Thousand Foot Krutch and FM Static
17. Rebecca St James
18. Stacie Orrico
19. Chris Sligh
20. Phil Stacey
21. Mandisa

[Steven S. Billings]

How could we forget Bryan Duncan??

[Ben Hunnicutt]

1. Matthew Ward - 2nd Chapter of Acts
2. Kevin Max - DC Talk
3. John Schlitt - Petra
4. Barry Blaze - Code of Ethics

that pretty much covers the four corners, there are other great musicians but these guys have true VOCAL talent.

[Matthew Gress]

Christian Singers (solo):

Greatest Voice: Russ Taff. Kevin Max. Margaret Becker.

The following may not be technically great voices, but they still move me artistically:

Rich Mullins; Charlie Peacock; Mark Heard; Steven Delopoulos.

[Chris Reuber]

hmmm... I don't know about a few responses on here! Some responses seem to be more of a "popularity" list, and others talk about artistic music, which isn't the subject....

my brother and I have often had discussions about the same thing, and here's what I've found to be in my top 10 (not that my opinion is any more correct than anybody elses of course):

1)- Russ Taff
2)- Bob Carlisle
3)- Glen Kaiser
4)- Michael Sweet
5)- Dale Thompson
6)- Michael English
7)- Jeremy Camp
8)- Tiffany Arbuckle (Plumb)
9)- Michael Tait
10)- Ashley Cleavland

[Jimbo]

Good list..Michael Swet made my original Mt. Rushmore for all around Christian artist. Michael English is another one I had forgoten and is a good choice!

Chris Reuber said:

hmmm... I don't know about a few responses on here! Some responses seem to be more of a "popularity" list, and others talk about artistic music, which isn't the subject....

my brother and I have often had discussions about the same thing, and here's what I've found to be in my top 10 (not that my opinion is any more correct than anybody elses of course):

1)- Russ Taff
2)- Bob Carlisle
3)- Glen Kaiser
4)- Michael Sweet
5)- Dale Thompson
6)- Michael English
7)- Jeremy Camp
8)- Tiffany Arbuckle (Plumb)
9)- Michael Tait
10)- Ashley Cleavland

[RockitD]

Ben Hunnicutt said:

1. Matthew Ward - 2nd Chapter of Acts
2. Kevin Max - DC Talk
3. John Schlitt - Petra
4. Barry Blaze - Code of Ethics

that pretty much covers the four corners, there are other great musicians but these guys have true VOCAL talent.

Matthew Ward has an incredible voice. I was listening to a Christmas cut with he and Israel Houghton. Loved some of his solo work, of course Chapter of Acts, and his background vocals/duets with folk. I was just thinking of "Not By Might" with Leslie (Sam) Phillips on Dancing With Danger...a true classic.

[Chris Reuber]

I have to say that really do like Greg X. Volz's vocals... the G.X.V. era of Petra is my favorite, and I was never as much into them after he left. I did get his first two solo albums, and you gotta believe that he's one of the few singers who actually carried off the Aerosmith classic "Dream On" as perfectly as he!

Steven S. Billings said:

1. Greg X. Volz - The original Petra lead singer. Man, what a set of pipes!
2. Bob Carlisle - Lead singer for Allies (awesome group - how about a reunion?) and noted soloist. Most recognized perhaps by his song "Butterfly Kisses."
3. John Schlitt - The longest Petra lead singer. There is a vid on YouTube from the Farewell concert that has these two guys singing together. The caption was something like "Sand and Fog." Very apt! Two amazing voices - quite different, but they can both still sing like crazy!
4. Joel Hanson - Lead singer for PFR. Wow! Smooth and flexible, with great range.