Mariah Carey, Brandy and Patti LaBelle

The day is almost over and it’s already Thursday in some parts of the world but come hell or high water Way Back Wednesday will happen! For today’s late special, we will take a look at perhaps the most difficult type of singing – a cappella!

Can your favourite artist stand in front of a microphone and belt out a tune without the assistance of a band or a backtrack? Well, in today’s world of auto-tune and other technological tricks, that marker of true talent is rarely observed so let’s take a journey through time to see some of the best a cappella performances from the top vocalists in the industry.

Watch some of the top a cappella performances below:

Brandy

Destiny’s Child

En Vogue

Mariah Carey

Patti LaBelle

Whitney Houston & Cissy Houston

If an artist can really sing then going a cappella is more of a thrill than something to fear. Handling a song live while constructing a melody almost extemporaneously is a sign that performers understand their voices and have the talent to basically imagine the structure of the music in their minds.

Of course, none of that matters if the vocalists aren’t naturally gifted with the type of voices that sound pleasant without the aid of music but the more talented the singers, the better they compensate for their shortcomings. Sadly, Rihanna tone is far from pleasant to the average listener and she doesn’t have the skill to control her pitch or breathing. Watch her perform a cappella below and let me know if I’m wrong:

Thoughts?