Impressive female vocalists

[Zeno]

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my favorite female singers are joni mitchell (before she wrecked her voice from smoking), eva cassidy, billie holiday, and janis joplin. the common thread to me in all these women is that they all lay it on the line every single time, and never hold anything back.

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I think you forgot Etta James in that list turnipmonster. Etta released a CD fairly recently called "Blues to the Bone". I highly recommend it. And also, Etta's rendition of 'At Last' is beyond compare. IMO

-Zeno

[Pete H]

Sabina Classen (Holy Moses, Temple Of The Absurd) has been my favourite female vocalist forever.

Most live clips I found sounded crappy, but these were decent(ish):

Holy Moses - Too Drunk To [censored]

Holy Moses - Military Service

Couple studio versions with better quality:

Holy Moses - End Of Time

Holy Moses - Panic (video is so bad it's good)

Temple Of The Absurd - Darker Than Hate

And even though you all think I have crappy taste in music, I love Anastacia's voice. Too bad they make him sing crappy songs, but I guess her bank balance makes it good for her.

Anastacia with Jamiroquai

NP: Kreator - Storming With Menace

[luckyjimm]

Bjork of course!
Feist
Amy Winehouse
PJ Harvey

[RobertJohn]

First suggestion that comes to mind

ella fitzgerald:

Misty

and

sarah vaughan

bonus cool down the pace clip

[Pete H]

Lizza Hayson (Mahavatar) has impressive range.

Didn't find any live clips.

Mahavatar - Cult

[pete fabrizio]

For old-fashioned belters, there's none better than Shirley Bassey:
Goldfinger
I who have nothing
Love story
Diamonds are forever

[ragip]

hope sandoval, the singer for mazzy star. there's a great live recording of her singing sweet jane if you can find it. also chan marshall (cat power) and beth gibbons (portishead).

[JaBlue]

fwiw beth gibbons put out an album with some guy named rustin man and i like it.

[obvv]

Eva Cassidy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSUGe-tVaJ4

[mikech]

she's not necessarily "impressive," but my favorite female vocalist of all time (and i'm not embarrassed to admit it) is karen carpenter.

for a woman with such a small frame she had an amazingly full-bodied and resonant voice. even without any knowledge of her biographical background, her voice possesses a deep, innate sadness; in the context of her eventual tragic death, her voice and songs are further tinged with an endless melancholy.

superstar

only yesterday