40 Famous Black Female Singers in the World

Black artists around the world have dominated pop music. Not only male but black female artists have also created a benchmark that will exist for years to come. There is no denying that these black female artists are some of the most talented individuals in the world. The awards and recognition are not something that can quantify their value but the change they have created in the mind and life of people is something that makes them the best.

They may have had many problems because of racism, color, sex, and more. But right now they are dominating the industry and have reached the most incredible heights with their hard work and talent.

So brace yourselves and read the full article to find the names of some of the best black female singers around the world.

40 Famous Female Black Singers of all time-

Beyonce

Beyonce stands at number one on the list of black female singers in the world because of her contribution to pop music. Born on September 9, 1941, her rise to fame started late in the 90s as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, which was one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. She has multiple music awards to her name, making her one of the best black female singers in the world.

Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys (real name Alicia Augello Cook) is a black American singer and songwriter. She is a classically trained musician who started composing songs at the age of 12 and signed her first record deal at the age of 15. She is one of the best-selling artists & black singers in the female list worldwide with over 30 million album sales. Keys has also received 15 competitive Grammy Awards, 17 NAACP Image Awards, 9 Billboard Music Awards, and 7 BET Awards.

SZA

SZA or Solána Imani Rowe, is an American R&B singer from St. Louis, Missouri. She released her studio debut album, “CTRL” in the year 2015, which went double platinum and helped her get a Grammy Award from fourteen nominations. She has also received the American Music Awards, MTV Music Awards, Bet Awards, and more. She is currently one of the most famous & biggest black female singers on the planet.

Normani

Normani, real name Normani Kordei Hamilton, is a famous black women singer and dancer who was a part of the best-selling girl’s group of all time, Fifth Harmony. Outside the group, she released her first single “Love Lies” with Khalid in the year 2018, which climbed to the top of the charts and was certified 5x platinum by the RIAA. After the hiatus, she also collaborated with Calvin Harris, Cardi B, and more. As a solo artist, she has won more than 44 awards, including BMI, MTV, and more to name a few.

Doja Cat

Doja Cat, real name Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, is an American singer and rapper who started making music at a very young age. At the age of 17, she made her first record deal and since then has been at the top of the charts with multiple viral hits. She has multiple viral songs to her name and was termed the most technically proficient rapper by The Wall Street Journal. She has received multiple music awards, like Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, MTV Awards, and more, making her one of the top black female singers and rappers.

Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe, real name Janelle Monáe Robinson, is a black American singer, rapper, and actress. Her musical career began in the year 2003 with her album The Audition. And, five years later she released her debut EP Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), which helped her to get recognized as a great artist. Monae then went on to release multiple singles and albums which helped her achieve major commercial success. Till date, she has released three studio albums The ArchAndroid (2010), The Electric Lady (2013), and Dirty Computer (2018) setting her as a successful singer and rapper. She has also received awards like Black Reel Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, Soul Train Music Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and more.

Aretha Franklin

Real name Aretha Lewis Franklin, was a black lady singer, songwriter, and pianist from Tennessee, United States. She was referred to as the “Queen of the Soul” because of her voice and achievements in the pop music industry. She is considered one of the best black female singers of all time and also the world’s best-selling music artist, with global sales of over 75 million records.

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald was an American black jazz singer. She was mostly known for her purity of tone dictation timing and improvisation skills on the mic. She was called many names such as the first lady of song Queen of jazz lady Ela and much more. In her career, she has 13 Grammy awards and received the Grammy lifetime of achievement award in 1967 she was also the first American African female to win at the inaugural show in 1958.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey is in black American singer-songwriter actress in record producer who is known for her great vocal range singing style songwriting and signature use of whistle register. Her rise to fame started in the year 1990 with her debut album which received a lot of praise around the world. Born on March 27th, 1969, the New York-based singer and songwriter has won 5 Grammy awards, 19 World Music Awards, 10 American Music Awards, and more. Making her one of the most popular black female singer.

Etta James

Jamsita Hawkins, or Etta James, was an American black female music artist born on January 25, 1938, and died on January 20, 2011. She was known to work on many different genres including Blue jazz RnB Rock and roll soul and more. She started her career in the year 1954 and gained a huge amount of fame with hits such as the Wallflower, Last Tell Mama, and Name of You. She has received more than 30 awards and accolades from various different organizations and was considered one of the best black female singers who worked in various other genres.

Diana Ross

Diana Ross is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born on March 26, 1944, the black female singer’s reign started as the lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes, which became one of the best girl groups of all time and also dominated the charts in the 60s. After her departure from The Supreme, she went solo for her projects, and her debut solo album was a successful hit in the United States. Later, she gave multiple hits that received appreciation around the world. And, On November 16, 2016, Ross was announced as one of the 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is termed the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston, real name Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer and actress. She was also known as “The voice.” She is one of the best-selling artists with over 200 million worldwide sales. She has given multiple hits from “Saving All My Love for You” in 1985 to “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” in 1988. She has received accolades like Grammy Awards, Billboard Awards, Emmy Awards, and more. Houston started her singing journey by singing in church and became a vocalist in high school.

Mary J Bilge, real name Maru Jane Bilje is a black American, Singer & Songwriter, and actress. She made her debut in the year 1988. During her career, she released 14 studio albums and went on to give hits like “Real Love”, “Not Gon’ Cry”, “Be Without You” and more. In her career, she has received a lot of awards like nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Awards, and ten Billboard Music Awards.

Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan, real name Yvette Marie Stevens is a black American singer and songwriter. She is also known as the queen of funk. She started her journey in music with the funk band Rufus. Khan has also made 70 million record sales worldwide. With her band Rufus, she has achieved four gold singles, four gold albums, and two platinum albums. And, in her solo career, she has received three gold singles, three gold albums, and one platinum album. She has received 10 Grammy Awards and also received 22 grammy nominations.

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday real name Eleanora Fagan was a black American jazz and swing music singer. She began her singing journey in the nightclubs of Harlem. Holiday was also called Lady Day by her friends and close ones. She has given multiple Jazz hits like “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and more. And was signed to labels such as Columbia and Decca. Posthumously, she won 4 Grammys and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight, real name Gladys Maria Knight is a black American singer ad actress. She is known for singing tracks like “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia” which got inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for “historical, artistic and significant” value. Knight is a seven-time Grammy Award winner and has won multiple music awards in her career.

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was a black American singer popularly known for her work in Jazz music. She is referred to as one of the most popular singers of her era in the 1930s and was a huge inspiration for artists In the blues and jazz music. Though she had a rough childhood her dedication got her multiple music wards and also got her inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Smith for best known for hits like “Downhearted Blues”, “Careless Love Blues” and more.

Donna Summer

Donna Summer, real name LaDonna Adrian Gaines, was a black American singer and songwriter. She was known as the queen of disco in the 70s. Summer was popularly known for her tracks like “Love to Love You Baby” and “I Feel Love.” She has received 5 Grammy Awards from 13 nominations and other multiple music awards to her name. She was also one of the few artists to rule the Billboard Top 100 consecutively for a few years.

Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu, real name Erica Abi Wright is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress. She is known as the “Queen of Neo Soul.” Badu gained an impressive amount of attention after she opened for D’Angelo in the year 1994. She has given tracks like “On & On”, “Appletree”, “Next Lifetime” and “Otherside of the Game” which went platinum in multiple locations around the world. She has received multiple awards for her music, such as American Music Awards; Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and many more.

Minnie Riperton

Minnie Riperton, real name Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph, is a black American singer-songwriter. She is also referred to as Queen of the Whistle Register. Tracks like “Lovin You” made Riperton famous. She also has some world-famous numbers such as Minnie, love forever, and more. She has received 2 Grammy Awards in her musical career. She was also appreciated by artists such as s Etta James, Fontella Bass, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. And, also did backing vocals for them.

Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton, real name Toni Michele Braxton is a black American singer and songwriter who dominated the R&B charts at her time. She is one of the best-selling female artists of all time selling over 70 million records. Baxton has produced multiple hit albums that became chart topper year after year. Some of her best albums are Secrets, the Heat, Libra, and more, to name a few. In her musical career, she has received seven Grammy Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and numerous other accolades.

Tina Turner

Tina Turner, real name Anna Mae Bullock is an American-born Swiss singer and performer. She was called the Queen of Rock n’ Roll, and before the launch of her solo career, she was already famous as the lead singer of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. She has given multiple hits like “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, “Better Be Good to Me”, “Private Dancer”, “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)”, “Typical Male” and more. She has won 12 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in the year 2012.

Jill Scott

Jill Scott, real name Jill Heather Scott is a black American singer, songwriter, poet & actress who made her debut in the year 2000 with Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1 which went platinum and made her famous around the world. Scott also made follow-up albums to her debut album which went on to achieve her gold status. She has received 3 Grammy and other awards like MTV Music Awards, Vibe Awards, and more.

Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson, real name Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and performer who is best known for breaking the barriers of society and portraying the same in her music. She is famous for albums like Janet Jackson (1982), Dream Street (1984), Control (1986), and more. She has worked with multiple genres like R&B, pop, and hip hop to name a few. Jackson also garnered a great amount of name and fame because of the same.

Brandy Norwood

Brandy Norwood, real name Brandy Rayana Norwood is a black American singer-songwriter and record producer. She started her career as a backing vocalist for a teen music group and later went on to release her debut album in the year 1993 called Brandy. She is well-known for her unique style of singing and albums like Never Say Never, Full Moon and more. For her work in music she has received many awards and accolades, a Grammy and an American Music Award to mention in detail.

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson, real name Jennifer Kate Hudson, is an American singer-songwriter and talk show host who has received multiple awards and recognition for her work in the entertainment industry. Husdon released her debut album in the year 2008, named Jennifer Hudson, which received a lot of love around the world and was also gold-certified in the US and UK. She has received multiple awards in her career such as 2 Grammy Awards, 1 Hollywood Music in Media Award, BET Awards, and more.

Nina Simone

Nina Simone, real name Eunice Kathleen Waymon, was an American singer-songwriter, civil rights activist, and pianist. She was known to be one of the best singers because of her ability to work with different genres of music. The singer initially started as a pianist, and later to accompany the instrumental, she started singing jazz music. She released her Little Girl Blue debut album in 1958. In her career, she has received multiple awards and recognition. She was nominated 4 times for Grammy Awards and was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for some of her songs.

Anita Baker

Anita Baker, real name Anita Denise Baker, is one of the most popular ballad singers on the list. The American singer-songwriter. Baker released her debut album The Songstress, in 1983 and achieved the highest heights within 3 years, when her album Rapture went platinum. In her career, she has produced and released albums like The Songstress, Rapture, Giving You the Best That I Got (1988), Compositions (1990), and more. She also has won eight Grammy Awards and is one of those artists to have platinum and gold albums.

Patti LaBelle

Patti LaBelle, real name Patricia Louise Holte, is a black American singer, songwriter, actress, and businessperson. LaBelle started her solo career after her musical group got split and it turned out to be a successful one for her. Her debut album Patti LaBelle was released in the year 1977, garnering her worldwide attention and also setting her as one of the mainstream solo artists. In her music career, Patti Labelle has released successful albums like Patti LaBelle (1977), I’m in Love Again (1983), Winner in You (1986), and more. The singer and songwriter also holds a lot of awards and accolades and was also nominated for many categories.

Natalie Cole (1956-2015)

Natalie Cole, real name Natalie Maria Cole, was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. The American singer-songwriter and actress saw a huge rise in her career in the mid-1970s. The R&B singer has given hits like “This Will Be”, “Inseparable” (1975), “Our Love” (1977), and more. After being with R&B for years she returned to pop music in the year 1987 with her album Everlasting. Cole has multiple awards and accolades to her name, she has won 7 Grammy awards from 21 nominations and has also received awards like the American Music Awards, Songwriters Hall of Fame, Society of Singers, and more.

Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson, real name Mahala Jackson was a gospel singer who was also considered one of the most influential personalities in the 20s. The singer in her prime sold more than 22 million records and also performed various shows across different venues around the world. She holds 3 Grammy Awards and also recorded some of the best well-known songs like “God’s Gonna Separate the Wheat From the Tares”, “Oh My Lord”, “Walking to Jerusalem” and more.

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman is a black American singer and songwriter, who started writing and singing music at a very early age. After getting to Elecktra, she released her debut album, Tracy Chapman, which showered her with a lot of praise around the world. She also went on to receive 6× Platinum from the Recording Industry Association of America for the album. Some of the best well-known songs by Chapman are “Fast Car”, “Give Me One Reason” and more. The singer and songwriter has received multiple awards and accolades including Billboard Music Awards, Danish Music Awards, BRIT Awards, and more.

Sarah Vaughan

Sarah Vaughan, real name Sarah Lois Vaughan is an American Jazz singer and songwriter. She was also known as “Sassy” and “The Divine One.” She had a great love for music from an early age which made her pursue music. Her career has many different angles but her solo career began in the year 1945. The singer has won 4 Grammys and various other music awards. In her career she has released tracks like Close to You, I Love Brazil!, In the City of Lights and more.

Ashanti

Ashanti, real name Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas is an American singer and songwriter. She started her singing career at a very early age. Her debut album ‘Ashanti’ was released in the year 2002 and it sold over 505,000 copies throughout the United States. She also went on to receive a lot of awards for the same album and it also broke all the existing records for her. Some of her well-known studio albums are Ashanti (2002), Chapter II (2003), Ashanti’s Christmas (2003), Concrete Rose (2004) and more.

Ma Rainey

Ma Rainey, real name Gertrude “Ma” Rainey was an American singer and songwrtier who worked with Blues genre of music. She was also well-known as “Mother of the Blues.” The Blues music prodigy recorded her first song in the year 1923. And, then went on to record more than 100 records such as “Bo-Weevil Blues” (1923), “Moonshine Blues” (1923), “See See Rider Blues” (1925), “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (1927), and more. Rainey has inspired a number of different Blues singers and artists because the genre required a lot of talent.

Kandi Burruss

Kandi Burruss, real name Kandi Lenice Burruss Tucker is a black American producer, television personality, singer, songwriter, actress, and model. She was part of a female music group “Xscape” which made her get noticed. After the disbanding of Xscape, Kandi went solo to produce and write songs that shaped her career. Her debut album was released in the year 2000 called “Hey Kandi.” The three major tracks which blew up from the album were “Don’t Think I’m Not”, “Cheatin’ on Me” and “Don’t Think I’m Not.” The multitalented artist only produced 3 studio albums in her career and then moved ahead to Television and had a successful career.

Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj, real name Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, and songwriter based in the United States. Minaj has been a big name in the music industry and has garnered attention for her looks, controversies, and music. Her Debut album ‘Pink Friday’ was released in the year 2010 and put her into the industry as a promising artist. The album peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. And, the fifth single from the album, “Super Bass,” debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and received a diamond certification from the RIAA. Also, her last album was released in the year 2018 and was called Queen.

Kelly Rowland

Kelly Rowland, real name Kelendria Trene Rowland is a black American singer, actress, and tv personality. She became famous in the 1990s as she was a part of the world best selling girls’ group ‘Destiny’s Child.’ After the group got split Rowland went solo to work on her debut album Simply Deep (2002), which debuted at the no.1 spot on the UK Charts, selling over 3 million copies. Some of the most well-known songs by Rowland are “Dilemma”, “Stole” and “Can’t Nobody.”

Jhené Aiko

Jhene Aiko, real name Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo is a black American singer-songwriter and musician. She was popularly known for her style of music R&B and also because she was part of a boy band called B2K. She was heavily marketed as B2K member Lil’ Fizz’s cousin which is not true because she is not related to Lil’ Fizz. Aiko had all the resources to release her debut album “My Name Is Jhené” in 2003. But, she took a break to continue her education. In 2011 she returned with a new album “Sailing Soul(s)” and she continued releasing more singles and albums later. She currently has 3 studio albums to her name Souled Out (2014), Trip (2017), and Chilombo (2020).

Tionne Watkins

Another black female singer and performer on the list is Tionne Watkins. Popular known as T-Boz, she’s an American singer and actress. She started gaining momentum in the 1990s as a part of the TLC. Later, she went full solo to release her own projects. She has multiple singles to her name and also has been featured in a lot of tracks by other well-known artists. Watkins also appeared on a lot of TV shows and series and has a fanbase that appreciates her versatility.