Celine Dion excluded from 'Rolling Stone's greatest singers; fans protest
Rolling Stone recently released its "200 Greatest Singers of All Time" list and has since been receiving flak from music lovers across the globe as several popular artists have been excluded. The prestigious magazine had also reportedly left out pop icon Celine Dion, which has led to protests against Rolling Stone by her fans both in person and on social media.
Fans traveled from Montreal to NYC to protest
Numerous fans of Dion reportedly staged a protest outside Rolling Stone's New York City office on Friday, holding placards slamming the magazine. Variety reported that members of a Facebook group of a Dion fan club—called The Red Heads—traveled from Montreal to New York City for the protest. They termed the list "ridiculous," and one of their placards read, "Rolling Stone, you've hit an iceberg."
Madonna also not included in list
Line Basbous, the founder of The Red Heads, said the reason for their protest was to make Rolling Stone hear fans' voices. Basbous also stated that the list focused primarily on American singers and pointed out that even Madonna has not been included in the coveted list. Kiss co-lead Gene Simmons and Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman also slammed the list curated by Rolling Stone.
'Should be taken with a grain of salt'
Friedman tweeted, "If a media outlet uses 'sui generis' to describe the most influential singer of all time, said media outlet's assessment should be taken with a grain of salt the size of Iceland. Nothing to see here." Simmons pointed out the list is more about popularity than it is about singing. On the list, Bob Dylan was ranked higher than Elvis Presley.
MJ fans are also protesting
Michael Jackson's fans are also protesting as they are upset about the pop icon's ranking on the Rolling Stone list at 86. A netizen posted, "@RollingStone Michael Jackson at 86. Eighty. Six. Delete your account. Destroy your servers... Leave the planet for good (sic)." Meanwhile, another social media user slammed the media house for not including the Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the list.
Top 10 artists on the list
However, the Rolling Stone list includes some worthy names like Lata Mangeshkar, John Lennon, Alicia Keys, Burna Boy, and Lana Del Rey, but the exclusion of several musical stalwarts has not gone down well with fans. The top 10 artists on the list include Al Green, Otis Redding, Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Mariah Carey, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin.
