Le Dive originale
Le Dive originale translates to “the original divas” in English. The term diva is an italian word of latin extraction and connotes a distinguished female opera singer and prima donna (“first lady”) in her own right. The opera is traditionally an italian music form.
In Latin, a diva is perceived as divine, popular, glamorous and outstanding particularly in the branch of entertainment like opera, theatre, cinema and music performance. However, in popular culture, the word accrues an alterated meaning which encapsulates an inflammatory attitude. It is used to describe a temperemental and difficult woman who is hard to please. She is seen as self-important, stubborn, audacious and unapologetic.
According to seasoned music journalist Danyel Smith, a “Diva is an honorific often applied derisively to modern women pop stars. Sometimes, that title is taken on as an empowered self-identification…”. Shine Bright (24)
This post focuses on a favourite research pastime which centralizes American Women Musicianship and looks at 13 prominent divas operational within the Black musical traditions. Emphasis is restrained within the confines of the original understanding of the designation. It also highlights two of the author’s favourite songs from each artist, an onerous task if truth be told.
Leontyne Price: She was the original prima donna and the first black woman to gain international prominence as an opera singer. The lirico spinto soprano has won 13 Grammy Awards from a record twenty-five nominations. For thirty years (1955-1985), she entertained the middle and upper-class, as opera has somewhat been streamlined as an elitist music genre requiring a certain etiquette and pedigree for listenership qualification.
Watch Julia Robert in Pretty Woman and understand that this genre has awkwardly been reserved for the crème de la crème which necessitates an inquiry into music stratification.
Favourite Leontyne Price Song: Literally every rendition as received in mediated devices preserve the voice in its purest state devoid of technical augmentation.
2. Aretha Franklin: The “Queen of Soul” needs no introduction. One of the most outstanding and fantabulous singers ever, Aretha was a musical delight. With 18 Grammys out of 44 nominations, she thrilled with her distinctive voice for almost six decades (1956-2014). Apart from Soul music, she tranversed multiple genres including gospel, R&B, jazz and pop.
Aretha Franklin was a certified diva, an identity she owned in her 1979 album La Diva. The album cover was the culmination from a sultry sexualized Aretha imagery of the 1970s to a transformed and sophisticated bella donna in the 1980s which signaled her movement to Clive Davis’ Arista Records.
2 Favourite Aretha Franklin Songs: 1. “Jimmy Lee” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xg_C5CCbRk Aretha (1986). 2.“I Dreamed A Dream” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYt_orMqJas What You See Is What You Sweat (1991).
3. Tina Turner: Anna Mae Bullock was the “Queen of Rock n Roll” and mesmerised the world for 50 solid years. Her initial rendezvous with the limelight was as part of the husband-wife duo Ike and Tina Turner in 1960. The partnership ended in 1976, following innumerable episodes of domestic violence against her. Her story is enacted in the film What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993).
Her third solo album Private Dancer (1984) elevated her to music royalty status. She defied the odds of being the divorced wife of a blackman and the communal shaming that trails black women under such circumstance and society’s age restriction for creative aspirations. Tina proved that age was just a number. She sang with her usual raspiness and introduced the audience anew to her lovely musical legs, an instrument of wonder in every regard.
Tina recorded the theme song to the James Bond film Golden Eye (1995) and was a bestselling singer with about a hundred million records sold. She also won twelve Grammy Awards.
2 Favourite Tina Turner Songs: 1. “Better Be Good To Me” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fc5bqE8w1E Private Dancer (1984). 2. “Typical Male” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTkR_a3d8Eo Break Every Rule (1986).
4. Gladys Knight: She is known as the “Empress of Soul” music. She has recorded eleven solo albums and won eight Grammy Awards. However, the highlight of her career has been as part of the music group, The Pips which began making waves in 1960 and comprised her brother Bubba and two cousins. The group was named in honour of their cousin and manager, James Pip Woods.
She begins as the lead singer of the group and transitions into an intermittent solo career beginning with Miss Gladys Knight (1978) released under Buddah Records and Gladys Knight (1979) with Columbia. Following the disbandment of the group in the 1988, her solo work takes off in earnest with Good Woman (1991). She is one of the best singers to have graced the world stage and the two major landmarks of her career would be her collaborative performance of “That’s What Friends Are For” (1985) with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder and Elton John” and the theme song for the James Bond Film License to Kill (1989).
2 Favourite Gladys Knight Songs: 1. Mr Love” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8lhaCGHy6U Good Woman (1991). 2. “I’ll Fall In Love If You Hang Around” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCQ448wH8U Just For You (1994).
5. Diana Ross: Ms. Ross was the lead singer of The Supremes, Motown Record’s leading act in the 1960s. The Group would become the yardstick and blueprint for the operationalization of Girl Bands in subsequent years. Ross would transition as is the tradition to a solo career in 1970.
She has released 26 studio albums in a span of fifty years, an attestation to her work ethic, perseverance, consistency and devotion to her craft. She has scored countless internationally recognised hits and made her mark as an actress in films like Lady Sings the Blues (1972), a depiction of Billie Holliday, Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz (1978). She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has also twice been conferred with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and 2023, a rarity in the music industry.
2 Favourite Diana Ross Songs: 1. “It’s My House” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDPYKteJY-E The Boss (1979). 2. “Muscles” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y5TTGhTFvQ Silk Electric (1982).
6. Dionne Warrick: Dionne whose surname was wrongly misspelt “Warwick” on her first single “Don’t Make Me Over”, defied categorizations. She was neither gospel, jazz nor Soul and had created a musical path that was strictly hers to define. Her phrasing and vocal timbre were clearly sans earthiness nor ethnic markers and positioned her comfortably as a cross over artist. With 40 Studio albums in her music arsenal, Whitney Houston and Leontyne Price’s cousin proves that the art of musicking is encoded in the family DNA.
The contralto has six Grammy Awards amongst other profoundly remarkable decorations. She is the most charted artist in music history with 56 singles in the Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998.
2 Favourite Dionne Warrick Songs: 1. “Heartbreaker” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KBfkDaOxEk Heartbreaker (1982). 2. “Whisper In The Dark” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us3cB8Abfgc Friends (1985).
7. Donna Summer : LaDonna Adrian Gaines gained prominence in the early 1970s as the face of disco music and the definitive royalty in that Queendom. She charted repeatedly with hit after hit to become an influential cultural icon of the era. And when disco was “murdered”, her versatility came to the rescue through a demonstrable navigation of new genres.
With “She Works Hard For The Money”, a pop-rock rendition, LaDonna displayed an awareness of current social transformations within the feminist space. When co-travellers in the disco route faded to oblivion, she persevered with immeasurable vibrancy scoring further hits like “State of Independence”, “Unconditional Love”, “Dinner With Gershwin”, etc.
She is credited with music innovations like the infusion of heavy metal into black music as seen in the album Bad Girls (1979), a feat that would be replicated by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson in Thriller. Her disco dynamism was the precursor to the electronic dance music genre which gained social currency in the 1980s. LaDonna, like her fellow Divas received innumerable awards and accolades for her immense contributions to music.
2 Favourite Donna Summer Songs: 1. “I’m Free” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ7LTvETINE Cats Without Claws (1984). 2. “Voices Cryin’ Out” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQuL31HCXRA All Systems Go (1987).
8. Janet Jackson : It is reductive and downright disrespectful (how dare you?) to recognize Janet Damita Jackson as just the kid sister of Michael “the great” Jackson. She is a brand in her own right and has proven this fact countlessly since 1982. She is no vocal powerhouse like Whitney or Mariah, but when it comes to dance choreography and stage performances, the aforementioned women do not come close.
Despite her Jackson Family music royalty background, Janet carved her own musical path and wrested self from the shadows of her elder brothers, particularly Michael. In 1986, she released her third album Control which was a testament to personal growth and self-actualization, in collaboration with the then unknown producers Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam. The album was certified five times platinum and elevated her to pop icon status. Her social consciousness lyricism in Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989) positioned her as a youth influencer of her time. She has sold over 100 million records worldwide and has to her credit five Grammy Awards, eleven American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, respectively.
2 Favourite Janet Jackson Songs: 1. “Someday Is Tonight” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHoP9UACqaQ Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). 2. “Together Again” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CHEqJgf7dw The Velvet Rope (1997).
9. Whitney Houston: She is the greatest singer of all known times. Hers was a voice that was indisputably incomparable, an embodiment of subtlety, passion, clarity, melody, electricity, power and charm. The pristine divinity of Whitney’s vocals raised questions regarding its authenticity. It was too good to be true, but true it was! She became an inspiration and template for many aspiring singers across the world.
A singer extraordinaire, the list of her musical awards and honours is incredibly extensive. With a colourful and impactful career which began in 1985 and lasted till her premature demise in 2012, Houston’s peak would be witnessed at the mid-point of her journey. She would be widely celebrated and remembered more for her film soundtrack albums, namely The Bodyguard (1992), Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher’s Wife (1996), than studio album releases.
2 Favourite Whitney Houston Songs: 1. “Step by Step” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DplivUU9Wyc The Preacher’s Wife (1996). 2. “You’ll Never Stand Alone” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPVydMFVZoY My Love Is Your Love (1998).
10. Vanessa Williams: She is the most famous and memorable Miss America ever, period. In 1984, Williams’ reign was marred by an ignominous event involving the publication of unauthorized nude photos of her which compelled her resignation. The photos were made pre-Miss America contest.
Historically, she is the first black woman to have won the beauty pageant. Clearly, the publication was motivated by racism and a malicious intent to tarnish her image and ruin her reputation. But the Universe had other plans and weaponized her musical ability to render her visible and relevant.
She found solace through a rebound in music with her debut album The Right Stuff in 1988. It was followed by her most acclaimed and sophomoric album The Comfort Zone with its mesmeric and heartwarming ballad “Save The Best For Last” in 1991 and many more over the years. Williams is internationally recognized and has enjoyed a richly rewarding career experience in music, film, television and Broadway. And in 2025, she is still going on strong.
2 Favourite Vanessa Williams Songs: 1. “Save The Best For Last” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiF9cXI87Zg The Comfort Zone (1991). 2. “Betcha Never” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDu9p4wJOx8 The Sweetest Days (1994).
11. Toni Braxton: Braxton is one of the bestselling artists of all times having sold over 70 million records worldwide. She began her career as part of The Braxtons, an R&B group which comprised her sisters in the late 1980s. However, she would transition as a solo artist under the guidance of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Antonio L.A Reid, the co-founders of LaFace Records.
Her eponymous debut album Toni Braxton garnered three Grammy Awards in 1993. Subsequent albums solidified her reputation on the music landscape as one to be taken seriously. The sultry singer has won a total of seven Grammys, seven American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, amongst others.
2 Favourite Toni Braxton Songs: 1. “Let It Flow” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ_EOCxPotY Secrets (1996). 2. “Just Be A Man About It” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn5rx1i5uh8 The Heat (2000).
12. Mariah Carey: When Mariah Carey came on the scene with “Vision of Love” in 1990 with her whistle register and melismatic signature, it was clear that the 1990s held lots of musical promise. She would progress to become an International success with Mariah Carey (1990), Emotions (1991), Music Box (1993) and many more albums. She would also carve a niche for herself in the Holiday songs branch with “All I Want for Christmas” from her Merry Christmas (1994).
In the late 90s, her career would deviate from her signature midtempo ballady melodies and jeans-wearing modesty to Hip-Hop inflected sounds accompanied by a revamp in personal style with a raunchy and sexy imagery. She has sold 220 million records worldwide and received six Grammy Awards and ten American Music Awards. She remains an influential music icon, till date.
2 Favourite Mariah Carey Songs: 1. “All In Your Mind” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STA2zy-hqRM Mariah Carey (1990). 2. “Music Box” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvI8GwqKYhs Music Box (1993).
13. Mary J Blige: MJB is fondly known as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul and has been professionally active since 1988. MJB’s fifteen Studio Albums bear credence to her consistency, discipline and resilience. Her song “Be Without You” is reportedly the most successful R&B song ever having spent a total of 15 weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart.
MJB finds cultural relevance and resonance in her transposition of personal experiences into song. For her excellence, she has received a plethora of Awards and accolades including nine Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards and four American Music Awards.
2 Favourite MJB Songs: 1. “All That I Can Say” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCgnkEPreiA Mary (1999). 2.“Stay Down” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OXHAQMx5ME Growing Pains (2007).
