Violet Grohl Names Her Five Favorite Vocalists of All Time

Consequence Vocalist Week continues with Violet Grohl and her five favorite vocalists of all time. Be sure to check out the 100 Best Vocalists of All Time, and stay tuned for more throughout the week.

Violet Grohl is hustling through the year, determined that when you hear her name, it doesn’t conjure up anyone else named Grohl. Our 2026 Artists to Watch has her first album coming out next month, Be Sweet to Me, as well as her recently-announced debut tour. She spoke to Consequence about her five favorite vocalists of all time, including a jazz legend, a pair of contemporary female powerhouses, and a grunge icon — but probably not the first one that comes to mind.

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Björk

Björk is just one of one, force of nature. I don’t think anyone will ever be able to sound like her, and it won’t ever sound good if you try to replicate it. Her range is so incredible, and the way she uses her voice like an instrument is so special. The way she uses it within her production and in her songwriter is just so magnetic, and there’s something so earthy about it at the same time. I just feels like nature. I absolutely adore Björk and I’ve been a massive fan of Björk since I was a little kid.

Fiona Apple

There’s something about the grit in her voice. It doesn’t show up all the time, but it’s there in some songs, and you know when she sings live and it gets really emotional and raw, it just feels like you can really feel the emotion coming through her voice and coming out of her. I think there are so many beautiful examples of it on When the Pawn…, and there’s also some really good ones on Extraordinary Machine. She’s just so spectacular.

Layne Staley

I think he’s honestly an underrated vocalist. I don’t think people give him enough credit for how like truly talented he was and how insane his range was. Again, it’s that raw human emotion that comes out and it’s so guttural and it can make you feel so much anger and sadness and pain. Just so, so special. I don’t think anyone will ever be able to really have that sound and also have that deep of an emotional undertone.

Jeff Buckley

It’s hard to even put into words and it’s hard for me to talk about it without getting emotional because he was just so spectacular. He had the craziest range ever and used his voice to its full potential, like never shied away from pushing himself and doing really beautiful, unique things with his voice that are just so human.

Billie Holiday

She’s just so classic and timeless at the same time. I love how husky her voice got in her later years, I think it’s so beautiful. I love hearing vocalists’ voices age and change over time, and I think that it’s something that should be celebrated or appreciated more than, you know, like, “Oh this person doesn’t sound like how they used to.” It’s a beautiful thing that they are still singing, and you can hear that age and the life that’s been lived. I think Billie Holiday was just such a deep, emotional singer, and I love jazz music so much and I love vocal standards. I grew up listening to Billie Holiday with my grandma and on my own, and it’s just so intimate.