Is Stevie responsible for the greatest songs by a female artist of all time?
 

Seriously. Who, other than Aretha, compares?

Rhiannon http://bit.ly/oEFgs
Landslide http://bit.ly/bOwEgd
Silver Springs http://bit.ly/dgpUiC
Sisters of the Moon http://bit.ly/fsCUV
Beautiful Child http://bit.ly/Ctu2J
Edge of Seventeen http://bit.ly/16IYnl
Gypsy http://bit.ly/dP5eDR

Rock songs yes. Sheryl Crow cannot touch her. The closest person to her is Carly Simon at this point.

Madonna
Dolly Parton
Diane Warren
Mariah Carey

Not really sure what you mean by "greatest songs," but those women could certainly surpass Stevie in terms of overall contribution to popular music, I think.

Mariah Carey? I don't care how many hits she had, the only song I like from her is the Christmas song.

I won't even go there about Madonna ..does Mariah even write her own material?Diane Warren is a commercial hack..just thinking about that Aerosmith Armageddon song makes me want to hurl.Dolly on the other hand would be a serious contender if we're including all genres.

"Greatest songs by a female artist of all time"?

I love Stevie, don't get me wrong, but that's kinda ridiculous. She's good for a pop/rock singer-songwriter, but Edith Piaf or Billie Holiday, she is not.

Yes, Mariah Carey writes her own songs and she has a great voice, but I cannot stand her music. Madonna is a mixture. Lots of her songs were written by other people. She is influential in the dance scene, but time will tell how classic her songs are. Diane Warren is a great songwriter. She is not a performer but has written so many songs that she is considered great.

Yes, I was not very clear on what I mean.

I'm specifically referring to that collection of 7 songs.

If I were to name the greatest song by a female artist I'd have to start with that list of Stevie's or a list of by Aretha Franklin (coincidentally 7: I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You); Respect; Do Right Woman - Do Right Man; Baby, I Love You; (You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman; Chain of Fools; Think).

Even Kate Bush, whose body of work I may esteem higher than Stevie's, I can't name a single song I'd rank in that group of 7.

Well the others I would mention in the pop realm (so Piaf and Billie don't quite count) would be, some of whom have songs maybe in that level:

Aretha Franklin
Diana Ross
Donna Summer (I Feel Love might be the greatest song of all time by a female artist, as it happens, but does she have 7 at that level?)
Kate Bush
Dolly Parton
Iris Dement
Christine McVie

I hate the fact that people think Natural Woman is a total Arethra song, when it's Carole Kings song and is on Tapestry.

Well Aretha does a lot of covers, so I don't assume/think anything. But I know what's the definitive version (Carole King would agree with me lol).

As far as contribution as a writer goes, my winner is Carole King.

That was my whole point...tastes vary, and there's really no way of determining what constitutes "greatest" anything. Grammy wins? Size of fan base? Hit songs? Money made?

Stevie's best songs:
Dreams
Rhiannon

Other classic hit songs written by women:
Talk of the Town
Chuck E.'s in Love
Both Sides Now
So Far Away
Stoned Soul Picnic

These songs are as masterfully crafted, heartfelt, lyrical, & charismatic as Stevie's best work.

As much as I love Stevie's Tusk songs, I am not sure that "Sisters of the Moon" or "Beautiful Child" are classic songs. They are great *Stevie* songs, yes. I think the Stevie songs that truly are classics in and of themselves are:

Rhiannon
Landslide
Dreams
Gold Dust Woman
Silver Springs (Live)
Sara
Gypsy
Stop Dragging My Heart Around - arguably
Edge of Seventeen
Stand Back - arguably

Play any of the above songs and most likely someone around you will say "Oh I like that song", even if they don't know Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks per se. Somehow those songs have hung on beyond their initial release era (for example, although "Leather & Lace" was a bigger hit than "Landslide", "Gold Dust Woman", "Sara", "Gypsy" or "Edge of Seventeen", and its a good song, it just hasn't reached that established "everyone-knows-the-song" level that the above have.

Joni Mitchell as far as writer but love Carole King.