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Top 20 R&B ActsOriginally posted 6/22/2021. January 22, 2019 marked the 10-year anniversary of the DMDB blog! To honor that, Dave’s Music Database announced its own Hall of Fame. This tenth class of music maker inductees focuses on the top R&B acts of all time (see the full top 100 list here). These are the top 20 from that list, minus previous inductees, which included Mariah Carey, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Stevie Wonder. |
Mary J. Blige (1971-)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| Blige was born in the Bronx in 1971. She reached the R&B chart 75 times from 1992 to 2021, hitting #1 six times – most notably with “Family Affair,” which also topped the Hot 100. She is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and ranks as one of the top 100 singers of all time according to the DMDB. VH1 ranked her as one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Read more. |  |
James Brown (1933-2006)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| R&B/funk singer and dancer born in Toccoa, GA. Nicknamed “The Godfather of Soul.” Inducted into the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “Papa's Got a Brand New Bag” and “I Got You (I Feel Good)” are in the DMDB’s the top 1% of all time. His Live at the Apollo Volume 1 is in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time and rates #1 on the DMDB list of the top live albums of all time. He is also an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and R&B Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . Read more. |  |
Sam Cooke (1931-1964)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| R&B singer/songwriter born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Inducted into the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “You Send Me” and “A Change Is Gonna Come” are the top 1% of all time. His compilation, The Man and His Music, ranks as one of the top 1000 of all time. He is also an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and R&B Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . Read more. |  |
Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| R&B singer born in Washington, D.C. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” is a DMDB Hall of Fame inductee. That song and “What's Going On” are both in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era. Those two, as well as “Let’s Get It On” and “Sexual Healing” rank in the top 1% of all time. What's Going On and Let's Get It On rank in the top 1000 albums of all time; the former is in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time and is a DMDB Hall of Fame inductee. Gaye is also an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and R&B Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . Read more. |  |
Al Green (1946-)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| Green was born in Arkansas in 1946. He landed 32 hits on the R&B charts, six of which went to #1. “Let’s Stay Together” also topped the Hot 100 and is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era. His album Call Me ranks as one of the top 1000 of all time. Green is an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . He is also a Kennedy Center Honoree and ranks as one of the top 100 singers of all time and one of the top 100 songwriters of the rock era. Read more. |  |
Etta James (1938-2012)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| R&B/blues singer born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, CA. She has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the R&B Hall of Fame, and the Blues Hall of Fame. She is also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award .. “At Last” ranks in the top 1% of all time. It is also in the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry and in the DMDB lists of the top blues songs, jazz songs, love songs, and R&B songs. Her album Tell Mama is one of the top R&B albums and is in the Blues Hall of Fame. Read more. |  |
R. Kelly (1967-)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| R&B singer and executive Robert Sylvester Kelly was born in Chicago in 1967. He charted 82 songs on the R&B charts from 1991 to 2014, including ten #1 songs – most notably “I Believe I Can Fly” (a Grammy winner for R&B Song of the Year and one of the top 100 movie songs of all time) and “Ignition (remix)” (BMI R&B Song of the Year). Kelly is a recipient of the Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more. |  |
Gladys Knight (1944-) & the Pips (active 1961-1988)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| Gladys Knight was born in 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia. eached the R&B chart 66 times from 1961 to 1996 as a solo act and with the group The Pips. She hit #1 ten times, most notably with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia.” The latter ranks as the top 1% of all time in the DMDB song database. Knight ranks as one of the top 100 singers of all time according to the DMDB. She is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and R&B Hall of Fame. She is a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award and the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . She is also a Kennedy Center Honoree. Read more. |  |
Patti LaBelle (1944-)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| R&B singer Patti LaBelle was born in 1944 in Philadelphia. She reached the R&B chart 53 times, first with the girl group Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles, then with the female disco trio LaBelle, and then as a solo act. The song “Lady Marmalade” was one of three #1 R&B hits for her; it also topped the Billboard Hot 100 and ranks as one of the top 100 disco songs and one of the top 50 songs by girl groups. “On My Own” was also an R&B and Hot 100 chart topper. She is a recipient of the Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award and the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . Read more. |  |
Smokey Robinson (1940-)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| R&B singer/songwriter and music executive born William Robinson, Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. This Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee makes the DMDB’s lists of top executives, R&B acts, singers, and rock-era songwriters. “The Tracks of My Tears” and “The Tears of a Clown,” both recorded with the Miracles rank in the top 1% of all time. Robinson is also an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and R&B Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . Read more. |  |
The Temptations (active 1960-)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| This R&B group from Detroit, Michigan, has existed in different incarnations for decades, but its best known members from their ‘60s heyday include Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, and Paul Williams. “My Girl” is in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era. That song, as well as “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Just My Imagination Running Away with Me,” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” rank in the top 1% of all time. The Temptations are also inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and R&B Hall of Fame. They are also recipients of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . Read more. |  |
Luther Vandross (1951-2005)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| R&B singer Luther Vandross was born in 1951 in New York City. He reached the R&B charts sixty times from 1976 to 2006, including seven #1 hits. One of those, “Here and Now,” ranks as one of the top 100 love songs of all time according to the DMDB. “Dance with My Father” won a Grammy for Song of the Year. The DMDB also ranks Vandross as one of the top 100 singers of all time. He is also a recipient of the Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award, the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award , and an R&B Hall of Fame inductee. Read more. |  |
Barry White (1944-2003)Inducted June 2021 as a “Top 20 R&B Act” |
| This R&B singer and producer was born Barry Eugene Carter in Galveston, Texas, in 1944. He was known for his deep bass voice and romantic persona. He reached the R&B chart 43 times from 1973 to 1999, including six #1 songs – most notably with “Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,” a pop #1 as well. White is a recipient of the Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award, the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award , and an R&B Hall of Fame inductee. Read more. |  |
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