Who are the great female singers alive today?

There was a controversy over the recent Grammy Awards, when singer Adele took home some big awards over Beyoncé. Musician Carlos Santana stoked the fires of the controversy when he said (from Radio.com):

“I think that Adele won because she can sing, sing,” Santana told the Australian Associated Press (via New Zealand Herald).

To make matters worse, he also tried to qualify the difference between Adele’s talent and Beyoncé’s. “With all respect to our sister Beyoncé,” he said, “Beyoncé is very beautiful to look at and it’s more like modeling kind of music—music to model a dress—she’s not a singer, singer, with all respect to her.”

I won't delve into this controversy, except to say Santana was correct.

No, I bring this up to ask: Who are the greatest living lady singers alive today? To be honest, I don't even consider Adele worthy for this list. She is an excellent singer, but there are better out there.

In no particular order, here are my choices:

--TINA TURNER--

Although in retirement, Turner's pipes are legendary, and wholly unique. There is nobody who can sing with the sheer power of Tina Turner.

--ARETHA FRANKLIN--

The "queen of soul" is about to go into retirement, but her musical brilliance will never be forgotten.

--SARAH BRIGHTMAN--

Brightman's voice is extremely versatile, but always beautiful. She is arguably one of the great living sopranos.

--LEANN RIMES--

In spite of her controversial personal life, Rimes remains at the top of country music in terms of singing ability, in my opinion. In fact, I would rate her among the all-time great country singers.