Your Top 4 Fave Divas and Their Parallels

[NormiMalone]

There's seems to be a lot of pitting divas against each other from both the media and their fans, but often times they have more in common than we acknowledge. My top 4 divas (keep in mind, I'm old) seem pretty different at first glance, but there are a lot of parallels

Madonna Janet Jackson Mariah Carey Bjork

All have very distinctive styles, voices and a shared affinity for beats and basslines

All have had a run of very strong work followed by a period of lesser output, then released a latter-period work that shows there is still some gas in the tank after all. (Madame X, Unbreakable, Caution, Vulnicura)

In some cases, there are even overlapping collaborators

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Janet Jackson
Mariah Carey

Guy Sigsworth, Talvin Singh, Mark "Spike" Stent
Bjork
Madonna

Dave "Jam" Hall
Madonna
Mariah Carey

Timbaland, Danja
Mariah Carey
Bjork
Madonna


So what about y'all? Who are your top 4 fave divas and what are their parallels? What do your fave divas have in common?

[beredy]

I can't believe you didn't mention the most obvious overlapping collaborators for Bjork and Madonna - Neellee Hooper and Marius de Vries.

[NormiMalone]

I can't believe you didn't mention the most obvious overlapping collaborators for Bjork and Madonna - Neellee Hooper and Marius de Vries.

I KNEW I was forgetting someone!!!! Thank you

[beredy]

Tell me you also know Bjork is a co-writer of Bedtime Story?

[NormiMalone]

Tell me you also know Bjork is a co-writer of Bedtime Story?

Oh dear...

Are you gonna answer the question posed in this thread, or merely pick apart the post?

[aRat]

All are dusty

[beredy]

Oh dear...

Are you gonna answer the question posed in this thread, or merely pick apart the post?

I would but I don't think I have 4 divas in total I like. Madonna - yes. Björk - yes.

I like MC's Caution and E=MC^2, Janet's RN1814, janet. and The Velvet Rope (and Control sometimes does it for me, sometimes I wish the songs were edited down a minute or two). But the rest of their discography is a bore for me. Whitney, Celine - nope. Don't do anything for me. And I can't remember any more divas,so I guess that's it.

[JeremySpears]

Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Selena Gomez

- Britney, Selena and Janet often get a lot of hate for their singing just because they aren’t Whitney 2.0. The truth is that they all can sing and have unique voices.
- Britney and Christina were both in the Mickey Mouse Club
- Britney, Christina and Selena all worked for Disney
- Christina and Selena sang soundtracks for Disney movies
- Britney and Janet are two of the best performers of our time
- Janet and Christina both co-write and co-produce the majority of their work
- They all acted in several movies / TV-Shows
- They all started their careers when they were children
- They all take way too long to release new albums
- Britney, Janet and Christina shot commercials for Pepsi
- Janet and Christina love to put interludes on their albums lol
- Britney and Selena are underrated songwriters. Of course they don’t write all their songs but when they do write it’s usually really good.
- They all had embarrassing performances. Janet has the 2004 SuperBowl, Britney the 2007 VMAs, Xtina has 2011 National Anthem and Selena has the 2017 AMAs.
- Britney, Christina and Janet all have / had shows in Las Vegas

[beredy]

Hmmm, I never felt like Britney and Christina were divas, but I guess they could be for some. Xtina has that diva behaviour at least.

Selena is not a diva. LOL. How on Earth?

[NormiMalone]

Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Selena Gomez

- Britney, Selena and Janet often get a lot of hate for their singing just because they aren’t Whitney 2.0. The truth is that they all can sing and have unique voices.
- Britney and Christina were both in the Mickey Mouse Club
- Britney, Christina and Selena all worked for Disney
- Christina and Selena sang soundtracks for Disney movies
- Britney and Janet are two of the best performers of our time
- Janet and Christina both co-write and co-produce the majority of their work
- They all acted in several movies / TV-Shows
- They all started their careers when they were children
- They all take way too long to release new albums
- Britney, Janet and Christina shot commercials for Pepsi
- Janet and Christina love to put interludes on their albums lol
- Britney and Selena are underrated songwriters. Of course they don’t write all their songs but when they do write it’s usually really good.
- They all had embarrassing performances. Janet has the 2004 SuperBowl, Britney the 2007 VMAs, Xtina has 2011 National Anthem and Selena has the 2017 AMAs.
- Britney, Christina and Janet all have / had shows in Las Vegas

I agree with that point especially, but I also believe they all have earned a more leisurely recording schedule given just how hard they have all worked in their careers. Thank you for this very thoughtful contribution, you've made some very interesting parallels between your faves. Now THIS is what I'm talking about!

[JeremySpears]

Hmmm, I never felt like Britney and Christina were divas, but I guess they could be for some. Xtina has that diva behaviour at least.

Selena is not a diva. LOL. How on Earth?

Anna ou I thought we were talking about female artists in general I-

[NormiMalone]

Hmmm, I never felt like Britney and Christina were divas, but I guess they could be for some. Xtina has that diva behaviour at least.

Selena is not a diva. LOL. How on Earth?

I really don't want this to become a Who Is/Is Not a Diva discussion, please. If JeremySpears sees Selena Gomez as a diva, that's perfectly chill. The question was answered perfectly

[Hejira]

I can't believe you didn't mention the most obvious overlapping collaborators for Bjork and Madonna - Neellee Hooper and Marius de Vries.

Didn't Bjork kind of shade Madonna on what she did with her production?

[bm08]

[MENTION=87686]NormiMalone[/MENTION], I've moved this topic to the General Music Discussion forum as it seems more appropriate there.

[RayRay]

My five most scrobbled artists:

1. Mariah Carey
2. Madonna
3. Celine Dion
4. Lara Fabian
5. Debbie Gibson

Debbie Gibson and Mariah Carey. Both were born in 1970 and in Long Island, both have been writers & producers since they first came out. Mariah has Marilyn's piano, Debbie has Liberace's piano. Debbie & Vanilla Ice presented Mariah with her first Grammy in 1991 & Debbie is one of the few people Mariah follows on Twitter. Both setting records with their #1 hits. Both worked with Michael Jackson. Mariah sang on his song What More Can I Give, Debbie Gibson sang in his video for Liberian Girl.

Debbie Gibson and Madonna both worked with Fred Zarr (Debbie's Out Of The Blue album, Madonna's True Blue album).
They also both worked with Katy Perry. Madonna for a photo shoot. Debbie played Katy's mother in the Last Friday Night video.

Celine Dion and Lara Fabian. Both having hits in English and French.

Working with Pat Leonard:
Madonna
Lara Fabian

Working with Walter Afanasieff:
Mariah Carey
Celine Dion
Lara Fabian

Working with Carl Sturken/Evan Rogers:
Lara Fabian
Debbie Gibson

Working with Jellybean:
Madonna
Debbie Gibson

[NormiMalone]

Anna ou I thought we were talking about female artists in general I-

Your answer was divine, thank you so much!

My five most scrobbled artists:

1. Mariah Carey
2. Madonna
3. Celine Dion
4. Lara Fabian
5. Debbie Gibson

Awesome, thank you. Just now remembering that David Foster is also a link between Madonna, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion---that man gets around. And I had no idea Debbie Gibson has Liberace's piano, that is really fun factoid! Thanks again

[JSparksFan]

This is an interesting topic!

I think it's hard for me to whittle it down to a diva top four, but if I had to, it'd be Mariah Carey, Madonna, Rihanna, and Beyoncé.

- Mariah and Beyoncé are both revered as two of the most outstanding vocalists of all-time.
- Mariah and Madonna are both brilliant and absolutely criminally underrated songwriters (they're quite possibly the two best songwriters ever). Beyoncé is a good songwriter, and Rihanna is decent in that department.
- Mariah, Madonna, and Beyoncé regularly co-produce their own music.
- Madonna, Rihanna, and Beyoncé are each TIDAL shareholders.
- Madonna and Beyoncé are both touring forces, perhaps the two biggest solo females ever in that department, and renowned for their abilities to entertain.
- Mariah, Rihanna, and Beyoncé each have one US #1 song that features Jay-Z as a supporting act ("Heartbreaker", "Umbrella", "Crazy in Love"). Madonna has a US #2 album that features Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Beyoncé in a song's ("Illuminati") lyrics. Of course, Rihanna is managed by RocNation, which Jay-Z founded, and I believe Jay-Z assists in Beyoncé's management, though she herself founded Parkwood Entertainment, so would be considered self-managed, as Madonna also is.
- Rihanna and Beyoncé have cited Mariah and Madonna as two of their great musical influences, and Rihanna cites Beyoncé as one of hers.
- Rihanna and Beyoncé have each recorded music that hit on most of the major mainstream genres: pop, R&B, country, and hip/hop.
- Mariah, Madonna, and Beyoncé have each been nominated at the Grammys for Album of the Year at least once, though none has ever won that top honour. Mariah and Beyoncé have both been denied three times, and Mariah had that infamous 1996 ceremony where she was (criminally) snubbed six for six times.
- Mariah, Madonna, Rihanna, and Beyoncé have each been a part of various acting projects. Madonna has been perhaps the most acclaimed of the four, but their performances are usually panned or mixed, at best.

[Goldmoney]

I only have 2 and they're both strong, powerful black women.

The King and Kween.

[NormiMalone]

This is an interesting topic!

I think it's hard for me to whittle it down to a diva top four, but if I had to, it'd be Mariah Carey, Madonna, Rihanna, and Beyoncé

Wonderful choices and great response! You uncovered a great many commonalities amongst your faves. That's what I'm hoping to spotlight with this thread: our faves have a lot in common. Thank you!