Several Céline Dion fans joined Quebec TV host Julie Snyder outside the Rolling Stone office in New York City on Friday to protest the singer being snubbed on its list of “The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.”
The demonstration, which involved members of a Dion fan club called The Red Heads, was for a segment that will air Monday night on La semaine des 4 Julie on Noovo (part of Bell Media, owner of this website).
“This afternoon, with several fans of Céline Dion (The Red Heads), we went to demonstrate in front of the offices of Rolling Stone magazine in New York to kindly let them know our incomprehension at the absence of Céline in their list of the 200 best singers of all time,” Snyder wrote on Facebook, noting that several U.S. media outlets mentioned the protest on social media.
Snyder held up a speaker blasting Dion’s recordings of songs like “I Drove All Night” and “That’s the Way It Is” while protesters held up signs with messages like “How can you forget Céline” and “We want a recount.”
"We are here to express ourselves in the name of Celine because obviously you made a big mistake forgetting her name on the big list you published last week"
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) January 6, 2023
Celine Dion protesters pulled up to the Rolling Stone office pic.twitter.com/d5AoI8gq7r
Line Basbous of The Red Heads told Variety (part of the same parent company as Rolling Stone) that the list is “completely illegitimate” because Dion is not on it. “They’re clearly focused on American singers and we don’t understand,” she said. (In fact, there are many non-American singers on the list, including four Canadians.)
Rolling Stone’s ranking of “The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time” has been slammed on social media since it was published on Jan. 1.
“A lame system ‘ranking’ artists of any description— is not only tone deaf (see what I did there) but a desperate attempt to seem cool and more ‘in the know’ than the rest of us music lovers out here,” tweeted Canadian singer Jann Arden. “Pure s**te. These compilers need to be held down and farted on.
“Celine Dion should be on this list. Full stop.”
Songwriter Diane Warren opined: "One more reason these stupid ass lists don't mean s**t. Really??? A list of greatest singers @RollingStone and #CelineDion isn't on it??”
There has been no public comment from Dion or her reps.
MORE: Fans React To Céline Dion Snub On "Greatest Singers" List
Rolling Stone, anticipating criticism, explained it listed the greatest singers, not greatest voices. “Sure, many of the people here were born with massive pipes, perfect pitch, and boundless range. Others have rougher, stranger, or more delicate instruments,” it explained. “What mattered most to us was originality, influence, the depth of an artist’s catalogue, and the breadth of their musical legacy.
“A voice can be gorgeous like Mariah Carey’s, rugged like Toots Hibbert’s, understated like Willie Nelson’s, slippery and sumptuous like D’Angelo’s, or bracing like Bob Dylan’s. But in the end, the singers behind it are here for one reason: They can remake the world just by opening their mouths.”
Canada is represented on the list by Neil Young (No. 133), The Weeknd (No. 110), Leonard Cohen (No. 103) and Joni Mitchell (No. 50).
Rolling Stone ranked Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Sam Cooke, Billie Holiday and Mariah Carey as its top five singers. Taylor Swift (No. 102) is well ahead of Barbra Streisand (No. 147) and Michael Jackson (No. 86) ranked lower than Kurt Cobain (No. 36). BTS member Jung Kook is No. 191 on the list, three spots greater than Kelly Clarkson.