Best Female Singers

Born on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, Whitney Houston released her debut album at age 22 and scored three No. 1 singles. Whitney (1987) delivered four more No. 1s and earned Houston her first Grammy, with later albums including I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990) and My Love Is Your Love (1998) as well as soundtracks to The Bodyguard (1992) and Waiting to Exhale (1995). With her marriage to singer Bobby Brown in 1992 and ensuing drug use, Houston's career got off track. She eventually made a comeback with 2009's I Look to You and also co-starred in the the film remake Sparkle. Houston died from accidental drowning in a hotel on February 11, 2012.

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born May 5, 1988) is a British singer-songwriter who has sold millions of albums worldwide and won a total of 15 Grammys as well as an Oscar. Adele’s first two albums, 19 and 21, earned her critical praise and a level of commercial success unsurpassed among her peers. After becoming a mom in 2012, Adele returned to the charts with the ballad "Hello" in 2015, the lead single from what was dubbed her comeback album 25. In 2017 she won five Grammys for her work on 25, including album, record and song of the year.

Maria Callas was born in New York City in 1923. She made her professional debut with the Royal Opera of Athens in Boccaccio, and soon won her first major role with Tosca. Eventually garnering international acclaim, Callas made her Italian opera debut at the Verona Arena in 1947, later followed by her 1954 American debut in Norma. During the 1960s, the quality and frequency of her performances waned. On September 16, 1977, Callas died in Paris of a heart attack.