Yet at the center of all the hybrids is Khaled's voice, gutsy and immediate, using Arabic inflections to convey direct passions.

Since the 1970's she has chronicled cheating hearts and straying bodies with a gutsy voice and a no-nonsense perspective.

Syd Straw has a big, gutsy, country-tinged voice that sounds just right in songs about wounded but feisty lovers.

Angelique Kidjo, from Benin, has a raw, gutsy voice and the determination to reach the world.

The singer is Celia Cruz, whose gutsy voice and onstage energy are the envy of singers half her age.

Shemekia Copeland sings in a gutsy but girlish voice about men and their many flaws, from indifference to infidelity.

"And it's a loud voice and a gutsy voice."

Her weathered, gutsy voice brings out all the drama in her songs about romantic ups and downs.

For Annie Lennox, love can just as easily lead toward sorrow, but her deep, gutsy voice carries her through.

Ms. Keys reveled in her voice, which could be sassy or tearful, thoughtful or gutsy.