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Genre
classic soul
Parent Genre: R&B

Classic soul music is a genre that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, characterized by its smooth, emotive vocals and gospel-inspired melodies. The genre often deals with themes of love, heartbreak, and social justice. Classic soul music is known for its use of horns, strings, and other orchestral elements, as well as its incorporation of blues and R&B influences. It has been influential in shaping the sound of modern pop and R&B music.


Top artists of classic soul genre

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classic soul music timeline

Explore classic soul history by listening to songs from every decade. Click on the decade to view songs.

2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s

Similar Genres to classic soul

Discover more related genres to classic soul genre. This list is ordered by similarity from left to right.

soul motown funk quiet storm southern soul disco post-disco brill building pop rhythm and blues philly soul urban contemporary chicago soul souldies jazz funk memphis soul northern soul new jack swing electro soul blues doo-wop
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classic soul playlist created by Chosic

Enjoy this playlist of popular classic soul music. We made this playlist using an algorithm created by our team.

List of classic soul artists

Here is a list of classic soul artists on Spotify, ranked based on popularity, who exemplifies the classic soul genre. You can find out what classic soul genre sounds like where you can preview artists or sort them the way you want, just click the headers to sort.

#namePopularity instrumentalnessdanceabilityenergyacousticnessHappinesstempofollowers
1 74 7 60 61 36 70 121 5011116
2 71 0 58 46 53 58 115 3139518
3 70 0 62 38 48 65 128 2090715
4 68 0 52 48 69 65 113 1488659
5 68 6 51 36 76 55 118 2038177
6 67 0 57 75 43 69 97 163643
7 66 6 66 41 34 64 112 1801705
8 63 0 60 67 26 77 120 1031449
9 63 2 62 63 42 70 122 1682006
10 62 6 67 56 43 79 115 542460
11 61 0 65 57 42 71 128 838150
12 59 0 62 64 34 70 120 1138945
13 59 6 66 64 32 73 116 1027535
14 59 9 70 64 29 73 119 957727
15 59 2 58 57 35 62 117 1171921
16 58 1 58 62 52 76 113 419285
17 58 1 68 43 36 70 120 306520
18 58 2 59 58 41 68 113 663369
19 58 2 66 55 23 83 121 586346
20 57 74 68 39 48 63 117 269838
21 57 0 52 55 45 74 115 1118876
22 57 14 69 61 22 70 123 402912
23 56 4 48 40 65 44 102 537069
24 56 1 56 69 37 75 130 425248
25 55 2 60 51 50 66 122 1157991
26 54 0 60 62 32 63 110 540824
27 54 4 67 57 35 74 107 321061
28 54 0 51 33 38 44 107 468105
29 54 1 52 57 39 63 120 261819
30 53 1 82 57 15 86 113 214204
31 53 0 54 48 60 55 118 786324
32 53 4 61 60 47 71 110 286929
33 53 1 53 47 57 54 111 353049
34 52 0 47 60 28 62 115 77652
35 52 0 60 62 37 72 117 182275
36 52 2 70 63 19 77 113 609435
37 51 0 58 46 35 58 112 562826
38 51 17 55 56 15 67 118 642763
39 51 0 58 55 39 70 125 349265
40 51 0 61 75 52 80 140 120584
41 51 4 53 60 35 54 116 69603
42 51 0 69 54 31 67 112 439535
43 51 3 77 66 11 82 120 319570
44 50 1 69 57 37 65 111 152909
45 50 3 55 53 45 65 113 259767
46 50 0 67 65 47 83 118 327758
47 50 0 68 55 57 88 118 288955
48 50 5 50 57 61 60 117 497850
49 49 1 57 41 48 56 117 94001
50 49 10 69 67 20 83 117 148909
51 49 1 65 63 16 75 121 210451
52 49 6 66 57 20 65 112 423922
53 48 1 67 59 41 79 120 257890
54 48 4 60 65 22 72 116 637878
55 47 8 72 46 29 72 108 30693
56 47 5 56 64 50 66 115 367665
57 46 7 76 60 9 81 118 252154
58 46 0 56 57 34 63 121 535232
59 46 0 68 63 48 67 105 182055
60 45 0 59 59 56 65 112 84204
61 45 3 74 72 19 81 125 306156
62 45 2 70 58 37 72 117 111235
63 45 70 61 65 5 83 114 83851
64 44 1 48 37 75 54 114 97064
65 44 0 86 47 24 69 107 177406
66 44 6 61 64 44 69 121 68307
67 44 1 71 53 23 76 132 356500
68 44 0 65 72 12 80 120 47107
69 44 1 68 64 23 74 117 303039
70 44 5 66 61 13 73 105 125988
71 44 26 73 52 25 77 120 15976
72 43 10 68 64 21 77 113 442798
73 43 2 53 53 33 60 132 197820
74 43 28 64 67 29 80 122 46958
75 43 0 46 52 46 64 134 211955
76 43 18 57 32 75 55 111 37296
77 43 5 48 55 61 63 129 201590
78 43 20 71 69 6 76 111 128143
79 43 0 57 39 54 77 111 67490
80 43 30 78 67 15 88 121 264599
81 42 2 57 61 35 75 115 289338
82 42 7 60 47 74 83 124 29092
83 42 0 57 60 33 87 116 21058
84 41 1 53 45 55 50 128 223772
85 41 0 54 50 51 66 113 78085
86 41 0 64 55 30 60 120 312064
87 41 12 76 75 9 89 115 156800
88 41 1 59 52 39 66 123 110449
89 41 0 59 52 39 67 120 48473
90 41 1 67 58 6 81 131 52926
91 41 7 58 65 35 78 123 80523
92 40 53 64 68 20 72 114 75748
93 40 0 64 46 45 70 124 47295
94 40 8 48 53 44 64 123 99220
95 40 9 76 69 10 79 106 61128
96 40 0 52 70 41 73 122 26260
97 40 0 61 47 42 73 130 24697
98 40 0 56 52 35 68 108 215330
99 40 0 75 66 19 81 118 142451
100 39 0 67 76 33 85 109 134904
101 39 0 49 48 42 62 120 256640
102 39 8 49 33 84 64 109 9564
103 39 0 57 62 26 74 96 25999
104 39 2 61 64 29 74 122 85779
105 39 0 51 29 53 45 123 95998
106 39 0 51 42 63 58 118 23436
107 39 7 70 58 12 76 113 222520
108 38 12 61 61 56 59 115 14881
109 38 0 54 44 67 60 119 84991
110 38 5 64 63 34 72 120 49770
111 38 0 47 49 48 74 100 4746
112 37 0 60 82 26 72 116 14521
113 37 0 66 77 37 88 125 26978
114 37 2 58 58 28 62 115 62839
115 37 2 74 67 10 76 117 151361
116 37 0 47 51 58 61 112 152771
117 37 0 43 57 53 50 123 47741
118 37 0 66 60 38 64 91 58240
119 36 0 60 35 62 55 111 7851
120 36 4 74 59 40 92 103 13804
121 36 4 59 61 27 71 110 34599
122 36 2 43 45 47 52 124 28604
123 35 1 53 61 29 64 119 54607
124 35 0 66 64 37 78 113 8606
125 35 0 55 49 48 67 103 9005
126 35 4 40 61 34 65 116 16934
127 35 0 52 52 32 52 127 153078
128 35 1 66 76 33 76 121 6548
129 34 0 61 59 34 78 133 33159
130 34 0 66 38 57 62 126 6965
131 34 17 73 81 16 88 114 42223
132 34 2 37 45 58 48 151 5507
133 34 0 63 63 27 71 113 46148
134 34 13 70 33 33 44 113 3033
135 33 5 63 67 30 73 108 79095
136 33 2 59 61 24 50 105 61436
137 33 7 52 53 35 58 137 16717
138 33 0 57 56 58 60 98 12301
139 33 10 57 58 38 69 121 132746
140 33 75 75 53 43 87 122 15238
141 33 0 49 53 63 53 98 14035
142 33 0 55 57 49 59 132 4192
143 33 0 67 52 17 70 110 79365
144 32 0 45 55 50 55 153 21689
145 32 0 68 56 18 77 99 2843
146 32 0 52 61 43 70 105 23247
147 32 0 64 44 51 57 127 21146
148 32 22 72 70 11 78 120 25663
149 32 0 63 64 18 60 125 25236
150 32 0 39 46 71 59 112 4884
151 31 5 47 53 44 62 87 16103
152 31 8 73 77 8 83 119 119755
153 31 4 64 68 18 83 114 8978
154 31 19 71 73 11 73 110 122413
155 31 11 55 68 25 67 120 54918
156 30 1 63 38 52 73 115 21163
157 30 0 56 51 50 67 126 15613
158 30 0 51 61 41 77 126 4219
159 29 3 55 59 42 59 123 3513
160 29 0 68 63 19 91 125 34511
161 29 5 52 44 50 57 112 24263
162 29 2 58 46 70 57 123 66060
163 28 0 48 51 44 72 132 13792
164 28 0 50 44 59 57 134 42835
165 27 1 70 69 23 79 127 7028
166 27 0 52 55 45 61 135 42305
167 27 0 30 35 5 54 178 22591
168 27 20 68 82 5 74 120 25381
169 27 1 56 54 58 69 113 11688
170 27 1 50 50 54 51 134 2727
171 26 1 57 33 62 63 105 11882
172 26 8 66 58 25 76 117 53106
173 26 0 57 56 21 75 135 5135
174 26 0 62 48 56 94 100 1570
175 26 1 68 46 61 77 121 6061
176 25 0 52 59 27 67 108 4510
177 25 0 59 54 37 72 99 3614
178 25 0 68 43 49 60 125 6605
179 25 0 65 81 33 93 190 8380
180 24 0 50 60 54 61 127 36980
181 24 1 59 46 42 65 121 12398
182 23 0 57 54 46 71 113 10593
183 23 1 59 60 44 74 119 4464
184 23 0 57 45 19 76 110 19298
185 22 0 54 47 39 62 139 2869
186 22 0 65 54 48 73 139 935
187 21 81 51 48 89 96 107 2238
188 21 9 35 44 58 46 150 4897
189 21 0 45 48 71 56 143 5214
190 21 0 74 62 24 75 114 11932
191 21 0 55 56 41 69 97 1667
192 21 4 59 58 55 68 115 2630
193 20 0 80 68 11 83 114 5164
194 20 1 60 72 7 72 99 2819
195 19 0 54 49 52 61 108 5053
196 19 0 70 45 54 92 92 872
197 19 3 48 59 24 53 124 24316
198 19 37 43 37 62 42 118 5489
199 19 0 45 45 67 72 131 10594
200 19 0 52 56 51 66 107 1730