Famous contraltos
30 cited ranges on one keyboard — the lowest female category, prized for weight and darkness in the low middle.
What a contralto is
A contralto's value is in the bottom third of the range, where the tone stays full instead of thinning out. Many singers filed here in popular music are really low mezzos with a distinctive dark colour, since true contralto is rare.
The category is chronically over-assigned to any woman with a low speaking voice, so treat contralto labels in circulation with more caution than the notes themselves.
What the 30 contraltos here show
- Widest cited span: Cher at F2–A5 (3.3 octaves); narrowest is Norah Jones at F3–C5.
- The group bottoms out at F2 (Cher) and tops out at C#6 (Anita Baker) — 44 semitones from the floor of the category to its ceiling.
- Prominence spans 1933 to 2018, and the median cited span is 25 semitones against F3–F5 for the conventional contralto band.
Voice categories are guides borrowed from choral and operatic practice, not boxes. Plenty of these singers are filed differently by different sources, and a category says more about where a voice is comfortable than about the notes it can reach.
- Amy WinehouseC3–D#5C3–D#52.3 oct
- Anita BakerC#3–C#6C#3–C#63.0 oct
- Annie LennoxG2–A5G2–A53.2 oct
- ANOHNIA2–F5A2–F52.7 oct
- Billie HolidayF3–C5F3–C51.6 oct
- Celia CruzE3–G5E3–G52.3 oct
- Cesária ÉvoraD3–A#4D3–A#41.7 oct
- CherF2–A5F2–A53.3 oct
- Diana KrallE3–C5E3–C51.7 oct
- Etta JamesG#2–B5G#2–B53.3 oct
- Fiona AppleC3–A5C3–A52.8 oct
- Grace JonesD3–A#4D3–A#41.7 oct
- Grace SlickE3–D5E3–D51.8 oct
- Joan JettE3–C5E3–C51.7 oct
- Judy GarlandF3–D#5F3–D#51.8 oct
- Karen CarpenterD3–D#5D3–D#52.1 oct
- Mahalia JacksonE3–F5E3–F52.1 oct
- Mercedes SosaE3–E5E3–E52.0 oct
- Nina SimoneG2–F5G2–F52.8 oct
- Norah JonesF3–C5F3–C51.6 oct
- Patsy ClineE3–D5E3–D51.8 oct
- Sade AduE3–D5E3–D51.8 oct
- Sarah VaughanD#3–C6D#3–C62.8 oct
- Shirley MansonF3–A5F3–A52.3 oct
- Stevie NicksE3–D5E3–D51.8 oct
- Tasha Cobbs LeonardD3–A5D3–A52.6 oct
- TemsD3–D5D3–D52.0 oct
- Tina TurnerG2–D#5G2–D#52.7 oct
- Toni BraxtonA#2–A#5A#2–A#53.0 oct
- Tracy ChapmanD3–D5D3–D52.0 oct