I like Patti, but there was always a little too much drama. It doesn't "Age" well. If you know what I mean. It's like trying to watch MC Hammer sing "Can't Touch This" the way he did it 25 years ago. Not pretty.
@Laurence A. Have you watched Aretha at the Kennedy Center awards in 2015? It was one of her last performances. She sang Natural Woman for I believe Carole King. It's on RU-vid. Check it out, and see what you think. She did a pretty good job, "at her age". I could not imagine Patti LaBelle doing a better job. Sometimes the "scream and over dramatization" is not appropriate. Patti has calmed down somewhat over the years. As I said, I like her, and have attended her performances when she appears in D.C. But I prefer Aretha's more soulful and controlled performances.
Ever since she started taking voice lessons on a consistent basis, it's easy for her -- because her voice sits naturally high, anyway. She is a Spinto Soprano -- even though she often gets mistaken for a Mezzo-Soprano. Heck, even she didn't know she was a Soprano at first. Other vocal coaches and singers had to tell her. She didn't come up with any formal training.
@@chocolateangel8743 Jennifer has never taken a vocal class nor had vocal training. She is naturally gifted and her instrument has evolved over time . It's just that it takes time for some artists to find thier true sound or identify it . Jennifer has always had a very powerful voice and you're right she is a spinto soprano . I could understand if people previously said she was mezzo its because her voice gets more and more powerful and refined with time so 15 years ago her voice is not like now , it has evolved
Pattie killed it. She can’t even be compared. That’s what you call taking a song and making it yours. But out of the rest I’ll have to say Ledisi was my top!!!
Between the two Patti conveys a lot more emotion and sings from the heart. More colorful tone, more potent. She's performing the way God intended with her instrument.
The fact that no one is saying Jennifer Hudson's rendition isn't the most incredible work of art is insane. The only other contender I accept is Ms. Patti Labelle
@@voicelover23 She most definitely is not. JHUD's voice does not appeal to everyone and that's apparent in het mixed reputation, but I can acknowledge the amount of skill it takes to do what she does.
The thing is, it’s not THAT rare for a soprano to sing that high easily. It’s just that most high sopranos don’t have the vocal weight that Aretha and Patti had. It would just sound like a little girl squeaking for many of them.
@@wendyshipp3565 Aretha was just too smooth with it. It was dynamically well done. It was sang with so much ease and emotion, the way she brought the song to life, built it up, and brought it back down was genius. She worked the hell out of that song, all those other ladies try their best to replicate what she did FIRST!!! The Ain’t no way recording is like butter. Too smooth!!!
@@richiesol20 Jennifer uses a painfully ugly squeal at the top .. zero beauty to it . Ledisi in this clip managed her squeal better. More beauty within the ugliness
Her voice was becoming darker around this time. I think 1992 is when is starting maturing and getting deeper but even if her voice was chestier and 2 tones lower, it was still amazing so I agree with you
Because it was so uniquely hers….you immediately know it’s Whitney. Only the legends have this, everyone else sounds generic except for Patti, she also is in a class of her own. Not saying the others aren’t good singers with the exception of a few, sorry some were horrible, but they just don’t have that unique quality to their voices that distinguishes them from the pack….sorry I can’t tell one from the other…no signature.
@@aldnor129 that’s very true! It’s most definitely a uniqueness with Whitney voice and we never can put our finger on it but when can all agree that it’s something there that nobody else has and that’s why she’ll always the standard. Anyone can sing a song but only a few can Whitney or Patti a song.
WHITNEY DEVOURED IT (she’s naturally a lower voice compared to aretha so it makes sense that she lowered it to an f5) keep in mind she was on your when she sang that performance. meaning her voice was tired and overworked but she still delivered killer vocals. naturally i mean she’s The Voice for a reason.
Agreed and also Whitney was at the end finishing her lengthy Bodyguard world tour on that performance She was exhausted mentally, physically and vocally
@@dedee7288 She was able to produce amazingly huge sustained G5s. F5s were also easy even though she mostly went up to E5/Ebs, since she used an insane amount of chest voice up to Eb5s.
@@willybeama1 Right. I'm Like Girl Bye. Mary A Pretty Good Singer, With 50,000,000 Million+ In Album Sales. And Is The BIGGEST SALING FEMALE R&B ARTIST FOR OVER THE LAST 25YRS. DON'T EVER HATE ON THE ORIGINAL GANGTRESS/ EMPRESS/ QUEEN OF HIP-HOP SOUL/& R&B PERIOD. # MY LIFE IS WILL ALWAYS BE ONE OF THE GREATEST CLASSIC ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, PERIOD.
Pattie is an artist that I never looked up but she was definatly the BEST OF THE BEST NO COMPARING !!! Seriously what kind of vocal monster is she? dang
Think Ain’t No Way is my fav of Aretha’s, I love her recorded version, though I don’t ever recall seeing her sing it live like this. Perhaps in the very early days. So I give massive credit to the girls singing it in the original key particularly. Must say I really loved Cynthias version.
And that is why Aretha is The Queen. No one did it as easily as she did it and with that deepest of soulful voices to boot. She was unchallenged even when she was not at the peak of her powers. Amber Riley and Patti Labelle must get honourable mentions, but let there be no doubt of who The Queen was and still is - Aretha Louise Franklin. Let everyone bow down to her GREATNESS.
I think Ledisi is my favorite here. I know she has a sustained Bb5 in ‘chest-mix’ (she’s done it in 4 women before) - but down a tone she just murders the vocals and she kept with the lyrics instead of just belting for the sake of belting and I am so into it.
IMHO no one even came close to Aretha’s effortless sound and pure emotion. I absolutely love JHud, however, and she was the closest. So glad she is playing The Queen in the Respect movie.
Well, Aretha’s version was from the studio. I haven’t heard her sang it so perfectly live. The rest of the singers sang it live which is harder but I can say I haven’t heard anyone’s version beat Aretha’s studio version
Smh Whitney is STILL pissing y’all off from beyond the grave. When are you going to learn that it has NEVER been about how high the notes are? It’s about the quality. Aretha had it. Whitney had it. Does your fav have it?
I feel like this song is so powerful the less singers do, the more impactful it becomes. Aretha absolutely killed it by delivering such amazing and strong vocals in the climax so quickly and effortlessly. I feel like a lot of the singers here tried to mask how how hard the climax is to sing by trying to sing and scale up and down around that note. for this reason I think Jennifer and amber did amazing, then whitney, ledisi maybe but Aretha really set the bar really high with how this song should be preformed! it's a really hard song to sing live!
@@raulmayers2072 If You Have Terrible Taste Then Say That. That Whole Performance, Patti Ate That Song Up! Patti's Was The Best. I Listen To Hers More Than The Original.
Whitney was the only one who sang the actual lyrics "Cause if YOU NEED ME, don't you know THAT I NEED YOU" while the others said "BABE, BABE, BABE...". Saying those vowels (I, e, u) in a high tone is harder than saying "babe".
Jennifer's is probably my favorite (other than the queen's of course). Cynthia, Whitney, and Amber absolutely slayed... also I was very impressed by Shoshana Bean's
The smoothness in Ms. Franklin's voice on this track is unmatchable. Other singers try too damn hard, as if they don't understand the crescendo is based on the lyrics. At the top she's demanding her lover to say what they feel because she had enough; that angst is built up. Most don't do justice to it.
This song should actually be untouched. Even Aretha could not surpass her own recording. Most singers scream here as if they got a constipated stomach.
I would have loved for years specifically 1996 Mariah singing this maybe someone can do one of the compilations using various notes to make it like she sang it
Whitney made it her own and I love when folks do that. Ledisi is simply magnificent. Ms.Patti Ms.Patti! Never disappoints. Whew! Amber Riley should be known an elite singer because she is! Her covers are always heartfelt and great especially on soulful songs.
Sasha Allen had an amazing rendition of this song on The Voice. Her growls and vibrato are surreal. Ain't No Way is one of my all time favorite Aretha's songs.
Interesting on recorded Aint no Way its Cissy Houston doing the high range vocals throughout the whole song! Whitney part of this clip..she was vocally exhausted and tired from finishing up last few dates of her long lengthy two year Bodyguard world tour 1993 - 1994
This is great. I didn't know so many singers have performed this song. A testament to Aretha's legacy as an amazing mainstream artist. Talented ladies including Arerha. Great video.
Loving every single one of them!!! 😍😍😍 this song is never an easy one to nail even on your best vocal days! Shoutout to Carolyn Franklin for writing such a perfect song to challenge Ree vocally. And on top of that, to have Cissy do one of the most perfect backgrounds ever. She knew what her sister and Cissy were capable of👏🏼😍😍😍
JHud is a phenomenal freak of nature. What a gift. Shoshana’s studio recording is my favorite by far, but she sounds like facacta on this video. The others are pretty much just screaming.
Patti always delivers such a queen and jennifer omg what a vocal legend, great choice of aretha to play her in the movie. Cintia is such an elegant singer, Amber i nodded very hard hahaha. Demi and kelly clarkson kinda struggle, still amazing voices . Never heard of Lafrieta, amazing. Mia had some notes off, still great way to deliver the song. Morgan has her own rendition which makes it amazing. Shoshana such a vocalist! Amazing control and technnique, Ledisi for me it's like a mix between cintia and jennifer. Whitney was such a talent, her runs are so unique.
There is just something about Whitney’s voice. It has this great distinctive mixture of proper, classy, yet soulful tone, that you just don’t find with other vocalists.
Amber Riley was my favorite. JHud and Patti come as close seconds. I like Whitney’s (3 semitones/1.5 tones lower just as a correction) and Kelly’s versions too. Actually everyone here did great
@@milesjohnson7423 Aretha is no where near being a coloratura. Leave the operatic terms for the vocalists that are classically trained and have actually mastered the skill.
The fact that all these singers had to go through all these contortions just to get through what Aretha did (probably sitting at a piano) is telling. Love them for trying tho!
Ledisi exudes control, power, class, a style all her own while respecting the song and the artist. Just sheer brilliance and the standout for me. Pattie, Cynthia, Amber, and Jennifer were great as well.
What makes that song so difficult is that it's a marathon, not a sprint. Even if getting up to the G5 isn't hard for a singer, the repetition gets vocally exhausting. That's why they'll go up into head voice for the last note
I think around this time, even though it was still phenomenal, what I read is she was having vocal problems which she developed an ulcerated throat or vocal nodules around mid 1994. Even though her voice was getting darker around this time, She still sounded really phenomenal. That’s good you can notice the tones. I suck at it haha
That was a really good compilation of some of the best singers out right now. I just watched the Aretha movie a couple days ago and was reminded of her genius and contribution to American music. "Aint No Way" is one of my favorite songs of hers to sing, but I CANNOT do it in the original key. Nowhere near. Aretha is the Queen of Soul for reason. Her legacy reigns supreme.
Cynthia's concert performance available here on RU-vid with Phebe Edwards taking the Cissy Houson's bv is wonderful. Her tone is very rminiscent of Aretha, her dynamics are amazing and the conversation with Phebe is beautiful to see. She's a fabulous singer and performer.
This may be a group of extremely skilled singers, but not a single one sounded anywhere NEAR as effortless as Ledisi, and she by far had the best opt up.
Ledisi knocked it out of the park!! Shoshana Bean close second!! I think some of the other artists struggled because they sang in the original key. That is a high song.
I love Amber version becuz it seem she stayed in the same pocket and note with the Queen. Yall should go look up Amber version when she was on tour. She sang the hell out this song.
shoshana bean... just heard of her. what a voice - y is no one talkin about her voiceeeee - she's crazy and she knows it -idek her and i love her already
Even if Whitney sang this song lower, only she was able to sing these climactic lines with clear diction, which is one of the things I love about the way she sang. My favorite version of hers was her duet with Mary J. Blige on the Divas Live '99 show. She was pointing her finger at the audience while singing "because if you need me..." like she was the boss!
whitney’s wasn’t great tho. her f5’s were very pushed and that’s why they were so quiet compared to literally everyone else tho. love whitney and she has great moments. pretty much her whole career is just perfect but this is the worst i’ve ever heard her sound
@@emanx222 I doubt she couldn't,her heady mix got extended up to a C6 in the recent years. She has the potential to slay this when rested, especially knowing that it's been more than a year since she last performed a show.
@@uncoolartist358 I still don't think she could if I'm honest. I know her mix has increased quite a bit but her ability to control that mix is still quite shaky. She can hit specific notes but linking notes together isn't as easy, and the buildup to that note requires a seamless switch that I don't think Celine can do anymore. Plus, even if she could hit the note, it would entirely lack power and the mix would be incredibly obvious and less impactful. There's a reason she took the song down a whole tone haha
That G5 must be really tough to sing live! Their voices sound really strained just ascending into that note! No wonder Aretha never sang this song live.