Celine Dion Fans Protesting In The Street For An Insane Reason
Celine Dion fans, upset the over the singer not appearing on Rolling Stones Top 200 Greatest Singers of All Time list, took to the streets outside the magazine's office to protest.
Rolling Stone is at it again with the controversial lists that have fans coming out of the woodwork to ridicule, cajole, and protest their choices until the cows come home. This time, they took a stab at the greatest singers of all time, with a list released last week that compiled the industry’s most talented singers. While the magazine certainly put together a list of great singers and definitely sparked a lot of conversations, most of those conversations center around the snubbing of Celine Dion, a fact which TMZ is reporting has her fans in the street protesting the list outside Rolling Stone’s Headquarters.
Rolling Stone began as a magazine about the music industry; they have always been known for their in-depth reporting and interviews surrounding the music industry, so when a list of the greatest singers of all time came out, the expectation was that they would know what they were doing. Instead, fans of the Canadian legend are up in arms about the fact that she wasn’t only not in the top ten or twenty but that she didn’t even land on the list. A group of devoted Dionites (is that what we call them?), led by Montreal-based TV personality Julie Snyder, assembled outside the headquarters for an explanation.
Celine Dion fans got a little explanation from Rolling Stone as editor Steven Pearl came out to address their grievance and offer some more profound insight. While they all listened with not a small amount of tension, the editor explained that their lists are a group effort, a compilation of many different people coming together to offer their picks and then rating them. While that may sound like a reasonable explanation, the implication is that there are dozens of editors, writers, and staffers at the magazine that don’t think the singer belongs in the top 200.
Celine Dion not being in the top 200 isn’t the only issue being taken with Rolling Stone’s list, with other people taking issue with the order of the artists. For instance, Freddie Mercury leading Queen with one of the most incredible sets of pipes in all of rock at number 14 feels like a travesty behind that of John Lennon. Elvis Pressley, at number 17, and Frank Sinatra, at number 19, feel like they are incredibly high when put up against powerful and impressive voices like Adele. And someone like Beyonce, who has some of the highest commercial value on the list, while talented, feels extremely high at number 8.
Of course, if you read the opening of the article, the magazine states that it is the list of greatest singers, not greatest voices, so it is about more than talent; it is about originality, influence, depth of catalog, and musical legacy. Of course, that doesn’t excuse all of the missteps the article makes; it would be hard to convince some people that Elvis Pressley had less influence than Freddie Mercury, but it is at least a legitimate conversation. In any case, even with all of that considered, Celine Dion not being on Rolling Stone’s top 200 is an inexplicable mistake for the massive fanbase going to bat for her.
