I couldn't justly say he's better then Celine, though the quality of his voice is more beautiful. I will say though that he's better then Whitney, much better. Based on all of the elements I've listed, range, control, style, versatility, and quality, he's better then Whitney. I don't want to make anyone angry by telling them they're wrong. I'm just stating what I think and what I know. Whitney is fairly limited in her range and style. When she sings outside of her comfort zone, she has a very difficult time controling her voice, and she's limited in the type of music she's able to wrap her voice around. Her quality is beautiful, but one dimensional. She sounds the same on every note.
I find Aretha to be great, but just slightly overrated. She has great range and control, but she's boring to me and I don't find her voice to be beautiful at all.
Michael is vastly underrated, because he isn't a belter, he doesn't sing big, though bet you're life on it he could. Range equals power, and Michael's got a huge range. And because he isn't often percieved as just a pure vocalist, he doesn't get the credit he deserves. But his range equals any of those woman you've listed, and is actually better then most, his ability to adapt and adjust his voice to any genre and style is practically unmatched, his styling and timing is the best I've ever heard, down to his phrasing, and of course, the quality of his voice is so pure, so rich with dimension and so clean that it's impossible to say anyone has better quality. So overall, yes, I would put Michael at the top. I would tie him with Barbra Streisand I think, just in terms of pure voice. In terms of pure voice combined with being a great singer, Michael is tops though.
