Gregory Porter's Popular Voices

In the first episode Gregory explores popular music's most magnificent voices, the show-stoppers. These are the singers who defy vocal gravity, voices that set the bar. With sublime technique and the power to move us to tears, their heart stopping vocal gymnastics have the power to take our breath away. Starting with the world's first pop star, the legendary Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, Gregory explores the sound and work of his favourite vocal showstoppers: the genius of Ella Fitzgerald, the soul of Mahalia Jackson, the power and stagecraft of Freddie Mercury, the artistry and extravagance of Prince, and the modern melisma of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

Soul and jazz star Gregory Porter explores the soft, intimate art of crooning. Born with the arrival of the microphone in the 1930s, crooning was initially about men seducing women and thrived through signaturestars like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. But far from disappearing with the advent of rock 'n' roll, the art of crooning gained a new existential edge and was transformed by the likes of Roy Orbison, David Bowie and even Lana Del Rey into a haunting and abiding strain of contemporary pop. With Iggy Pop, Joshua Homme, George Benson and Beck.

In this final episode of the series, Gregory examines how early 20th century blues growlers like Bessie Smith paved the way for the rhyme and flow of hip-hop; how truth became a quest of rock'n'roll's greatest poets, from Woody Guthrie and Gil Scott-Heron to Lou Reed and Suzanne Vega; and why great popular voices including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Kurt Cobain don't have to be technically perfect to resonate so deeply and stir our souls. Everybody loves a magnificent voice but not all great singing is about vocal perfection. For 100 years, fantastic singers have moaned, groaned, shouted and even talked their way to the top. At times the most important thing about the voice is the lyric and message it conveys, the truth that it tells and the style with which it tells it. Contributors discussing this musical lineage with Gregory include Dave Grohl, Rufus Wainwright, Suzanne Vega, Barb Jungr, Annie Ross, Miche Braden, Lenny Kaye, Brian Jackson, Nelson George and KRS-One.