The Groove

The greatest soul artists of all time

16 artists ranked by the Groove — music.nw’s own measure of renown. Not an opinion, a fact computed from the record. Why?

No. 1

Amy Winehouse

United Kingdom · 1983–2011 · soul

37.872

Why this number?

The full board

Stevie Wonder

United States of America · 1950– · soul 37.560

Sade

United Kingdom · 1982– · smooth soul 26.702

Marvin Gaye

United States of America · 1939–1984 · soul 23.190

5 Isaac Hayes

United States of America · 1942–2008 · soul 8.000

6 Blues Brothers

United States of America · 1976– · soul 7.560

7 Curtis Mayfield

United States of America · 1942–1999 · soul 6.800

8 Dusty Springfield

United Kingdom · 1939–1999 · blue-eyed soul 5.840

9 D’Angelo

United States of America · 1974–2025 · neo soul 5.400

10 Erykah Badu

United States of America · 1971– · neo soul 5.220

11 Aretha Franklin

United States of America · 1942–2018 · soul 4.970

12 Al Green

United States of America · 1946– · soul 4.600

13 Bill Withers

United States of America · 1938–2020 · soul 4.200

14 Ray Charles

United States of America · 1930–2004 · soul 3.400

15 The Isley Brothers

United States of America · 1954– · soul 3.200

16 Simply Red

United Kingdom · 1985– · blue-eyed soul 3.000