1. Maria Callas (1923-1977)
2. Joan Sutherland (1926-2010)
3. Renata Tebaldi (1922-2004)
4. Montserrat Caballé (1933-2018)
5. Leontyne Price (b. 1927)
6. Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005)
7. Régine Crespin (1927-2007)
8. Teresa Berganza (b. 1933)
9. Kiri Te Kanawa (b. 1944)
10. Jessye Norman (1945-2019)
11. Edita Gruberová (b. 1946)
12. Eva Marton (b. 1943)
13. June Anderson (b. 1952)
14. Karita Mattila (b. 1960)
15. Christine Brewer (b. 1955)
16. Deborah Voigt (b. 1960)
17. Sondra Radvanovsky (b. 1974)
18. Diana Damrau (b. 1974)
19. Pretty Yende (b. 1985)
20. Lisette Oropesa (b. 1983)
Here are some additional noteworthy opera sopranos:
- Ainhoa Arteta
- Nadine Sierra
- Golda Schultz
- Julie Fuchs
- Erin Morley
- Rachel Willis-Sørensen
- Lianna Haroutounian
- Hei-Kyung Hong
- Lise Davidsen
- Angel Blue
- Ermonela Jaho
- Anna Netrebko
- Yulianna Avdeeva
- Marina Rebeka