Barbra Streisand
Barbara “Barbra” Streisand is among the most iconic women figures in the music and film industry. In a career spanning 6 decades, she has been honored with accolades and awards in multiple fields of entertainment, including 9 Golden Globes, 2 Oscars, 10 Grammys, and 5 Emmys. She was even presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Barack Obama! Needless to say, she is nothing short of a legend.
As far as her music career goes, she’s sold more than 68.5 million albums in the U.S. and a total of 150 million albums and singles sold worldwide, some of which she has co-writing credits. She is among top-selling female artists recognized by the RIAA. Streisand holds the RIAA and Billboard record for the most top 10 albums of any female recording artist. Incredible!
Mariah Carey
The Guinness Book of World Records named Mariah Carey the "Songbird Supreme". This is due in part to her unbelievable five-octave vocal range, power, style, and use of whistle tones. She got her start to fame in 1990, when she was signed to Columbia Records. She then released her debut album, which topped the US Billboard 200 for 11 weeks. Carey became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the chart.
Carey became Sony’s highest-selling act, with the follow-up albums "Music Box" (1993), "Merry Christmas" (1994), and "Daydream" (1995). Billboard called her the most successful artist of the 1990s — at the same time the World Music Awards honored her as the world's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s.
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald is the woman who brought "Dream a Little Dream of Me" into this world, and that's more than enough in our book. But she has done a lot more than that over the course of her career.
Her career lasted for almost six decades and earned her several nicknames (Queen of Jazz, Lady Ella, and the First Lady of Song) and many accolades. Among these accolades you will find fourteen Grammys and presidential Medal of Freedom.
Christina Aguilera
This vocal powerhouse has always had a talent for singing. She won her first talent show when she was only eight years old. Like many other 90’s stars, she started her career in Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club. Christina truly became known after she sang "Reflection" for the movie "Mulan". The song reached #19 on the Billboard Charts, making her famous.
After she signed with RCA Records her career took off and Christina topped the billboards with her hit singles from her self-titled album, such as "Genie in a Bottle" and "What a Girl Wants". Now, she has 8 albums out, was awarded 5 Grammys, and is a coach on the show "The Voice". She definitely grew up well!
Karen Carpenter
Karen and Richard Carpenter grew up surrounded by music, spending hours in their New Haven, Connecticut home listening to their father’s extensive record collection. Karen majored in music at California State University, where she began experimenting with instruments like the flute, the glockenspiel, and finally, the drums. It was only natural for her to join the school band.
She collaborated with her brother to form the successful pop duo, "The Carpenters". The two were critically acclaimed and had numerous fans. Karen's musical career came to an unfortunate end when she dies from anorexia complications at the age of 32. Her voice and talent will be remembered by many.