Cover Story

The 100 Greatest Singers
of All Time

Our blue-ribbon panel of 179 experts ranks music's finest vocalists.

What Makes a Great Singer?

By Jonathan Lethem

THE TOP TEN

1. Aretha Franklin By Mary J. Blige
2. Ray Charles By Billy Joel
3. Elvis Presley By Robert Plant
4. Sam Cooke By Van Morrison
5. John Lennon By Jackson Browne
6. Marvin Gaye By Alicia Keys
7. Bob Dylan By Bono
8. Otis Redding By Booker T. Jones
9. Stevie Wonder By Cee-Lo
10. James Brown By Iggy Pop

THE PLAYLIST: Hear 10 key tracks from each of the best singers

THE VOTERS: The panel of experts plus how the list was tabulated

SPECIAL GALLERY: Legends at Work — From Dylan recording "Like a Rolling Stone" to Brian Wilson cutting Pet Sounds, indelible images of the greatest singers of all time

THE BALLOTS: See the handwritten ballots from our expert panel, including Keith Richards, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, James Hetfield and Courtney Love

BONUS INTERVIEWS:
Janis Joplin By Stevie Nicks
James Taylor By David Crosby
Annie Lennox By Rob Thomas

BEHIND THE COVER VIDEO: Contributor Alan Light breaks down the method behind the list

FEATURE

The Deep Shallowness of Marc Jacobs

With his manic personality and gift for mixing high and low art, the only fashion designer who matters has embarked on his most ambitious redesign yet: himself. By Vanessa Grigoriadis

Rock & Roll

Led Zep Members Ponder Tour

Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones try out new singers for possible Robert Plant-free tour.

INDUSTRY: Rock Albums Lead Fall Season, But Record Biz Still Struggles

CHECKING IN: Neil Young Opens Up the Vaults With Crazy Horse Disc, Box Set

IN THE STUDIO: The Decemberists Return With Fairy-Tale Concept Album

IN THE STUDIO: 50 Cent Gets "Dark" on New Disc

STUDIO NOTES: Depeche Mode Go "Spiritual"

ON THE ROAD: Mash-Up King Girl Talk's Sweaty Party

BOOKSHELF: From the Delta to the Black Keys: The Story of the Blues

PROFILE

Hail to the Chiefs: Buzz Band Returns

The Kaiser Chiefs craft intense, hooky disc with a little help from Mark Ronson and Lily Allen. By Brian Braiker

VIDEO: Kaiser Chiefs perform three acoustic songs

BREAKING

Deerhunter Go Pop

Atlanta crew tames the noise on breakthrough disc

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Bradford Cox performs "Microcastle" in Brooklyn, New York
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: An acoustic rendition of "Never Stops"

Q&A

Taylor Swift

The country princess on her fanatical fans and jamming with Def Leppard

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

How Obama Won

Two of America's leading political experts discuss Obama's historic win and what's in store for the next four years. By Jann S. Wenner

McCain in Flames

John McCain ran one of the most incompetent campaigns in modern times — and has left the GOP smashed to pieces. By Matt Taibbi

NEW BLOG: Taibbi Unbound
ARCHIVE: All Campaign '08 Stories in Rolling Stone

Reviews

Guns n' Roses Chinese Democracy

Audacious and unhinged, Axl Rose (finally!) returns with a great hard-rock record.

PLUS: New discs from the Killers, Beyoncé, The Fireman, David Cook, Mudvayne, Akon, Los Campesinos!, Rivers Cuomo, Jesse Malin, Ludacris, David Archuleta, Calle 13, Dido, The Rapture, Trace Adkins, Friendly Fires, Blake Shelton, Land of Talk and Seal

REISSUES: The Doors, Warren Zevon, Phish, Belle and Sebastian

ALL REVIEWS

KEY TRACKS: Hear the best of this issue's review section

Movies

An American Classic

Sean Penn gives his all as gay icon Harvey Milk and lifts the biopic to the level of art By Peter Travers

PLUS: Quantum of Solace, Che, A Christmas Tale, The Dukes

BLOG: The Travers Take

Also In This Issue...

Fricke's Picks

Scheinman's Singing Strings: Jazz Violinist Jenny Scheinman
Endless Summer: Gary Usher
New, Live Beck-Ola: Jeff Beck
High-Speed Elegy: Jeff Dahl

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

ROCK'S RAREST ARTIFACTS: How much was the drum from the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band? What about one of Jimi Hendrix's torched guitars? A guide to 15 of the most valuable pieces of rock memorabilia.

BEHIND ELVIS COSTELLO'S NEW SHOW: Get a sneak peek of Costello's new talk-and-music TV show, Spectacle, including Sting live and Smokey Robinson on the couch.

TOUR REPORT: Smashing Pumpkins Go Back in Time — Billy Corgan celebrates 20 years of the Pumpkins by digging into the band's catalog on its new tour. Including a report from the New York dates and photos, plus hear the band's best albums.