15. El Desierto - Lhasa de Sela (La Llorona, 1998)

Ms. de Sela passed away last year at the age of 37 from breast cancer. I didn’t find out about it until recently, because I haven’t heard anything from her in long while and didn’t think to check if she was kicking around still. Artists would release albums and go on hiatus all the time, and the sheer volume of music I’ve heard over the years means that I don’t assume death whenever I don’t hear from somebody for some time. It’s sad that I didn’t hear about it in the news at the time though, because she was one true international artist of note that should be present on every music lover’s playlist. She could sing in English, French, and Spanish, with a soulful voice that packed power, nuances, and a deep well of emotions. This was such a great loss - everyone dies, but it was just a tad too soon in her case. She had a lot more music in her, but we’ll never know now.

{My 50 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FEMALE VOCALISTS list continues (tagged Female Vocalists)! The criteria are simple: they are female of the species, I love their voice, and they have attempted to sing in English at one point in their career. The present list is focused mostly on the quality/uniqueness of their tone (voice box), and their ability to emote the hell out of the songs.}