10 great 20th century duets, ranked

In the absence of (many) modern masters of the duet form, we’ve gone ahead and put together a list of ten duets that you should listen to instead. Some are popular and always will be; others are versions of existing songs, but they’re ones that sound really good. Actually, they all sound really good. Housekeeping: no “features” (an artist can be listed as a featured artist, but must, in my estimation, still have an equal importance to the track), no in-band duets (otherwise the Human League and Ike & Tina Turner would be running away with it, naturally), no standards (well, maybe some standards, but as exceptions). As a follow-up to my feature from last week, I’ve chosen ten duets that you should listen to instead of “I Had Some Help” and “Señorita.” 

10. Peter Gabriel feat. Kate Bush: “Don’t Give Up” (1986)

An irresistible attempt at Americana from a boy who grew up in Surrey, this is Gabriel at his best, singing with brooding simplicity of unemployment and loneliness. When Kate Bush pierces his synth-laden despair, it hits like a thunderbolt. Gabriel initially asked Dolly Parton to sing it with him, but it’s impossible to imagine anyone but Bush on the mic, at once melancholy and tender. When she sings “rest your head / you worry too much” over Richard Tee’s gospel-like piano part in the bridge, it is a springboard for the rest of the song, pulling it up to exceptional heights.

9. Chet Atkins & Dolly Parton: “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind” (1982)

This is the first of two Dolly Parton appearances on this list, but what can I say, she’s a consummate collaborator. A rare example of a song that was first featured as a duet, then re-recorded as a solo (the B-side to Parton’s 1982 release of “I Will Always Love You”), it is a thing of delicate beauty. Atkins and Parton’s guitar parts overlap with such audible warmth you want to dive right in and cover yourself in them. They hum and harmonize over Parton’s lyrics with all the loose joy of a singalong on the porch. Best of all is the audible affection on this track; the two tease, cajole, and never lose their impeccable synchronicity. “I love you,” Parton can be heard saying to Atkins at its close with a laugh.

8. Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer: “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” (1979)

A diva-off par excellence. Rather than launching into vocal acrobatics that are just as exhausting for the listener as they likely are for the singer, Summer and Streisand lean on their own strengths and put out a pulsing, booming disco—8.5 minutes of pure ecstasy. As always, Streisand’s sincerity is the clincher (when she sings that she always dreamed she’d find the perfect lover, you really believe it); but Summer isn’t to be overlooked either. In the face of Streisand’s vocal prowess, she more than holds her own, and the two trade verses like heavyweight boxers.

7. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood: “Summer Wine” (1967)

“Some Velvet Morning” recently appeared on our list of top songs of the 1960s, but I would pay good money to go back in time and hear “Summer Wine” for the first time. A sinister, dreamlike paean to getting swindled and not being that mad about it, its lilting rhythm pairs ridiculously well with Sinatra’s vocals, which come to you from far away, floating above folksy strings. The entire song eschews any dominant chords, leaving it almost rudderless, rocking through Hazlewood’s baritone and cascading brass parts. “Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time,” Sinatra croons irresistibly. The song ends leaving you feeling just as dazed as its protagonist, hit over the head with a hammer of real beauty.

6. (tie) Brandy & Monica: “The Boy is Mine” (1998)

Ariana Grande and the cast of Glee’s attempts notwithstanding, there really is nothing like this nineties catfight. Initially intended to combat rumors of a feud between the two singers, management of both were nervous about getting them on a track that could in fact exacerbate allegations of a rivalry. What resulted was a thing of sleek, R&B beauty, and whilst it in fact exacerbated tensions between the two singers (they reportedly came to blows during a rehearsal for a performance at the 1998 VMAs), that doesn’t change the perfection of this song. Its quality comes from its restraint; producer Darkchild puts together a harp-tone motif and pacy drum-n-bass patterns that rightfully step back and let the song’s vocalists do the work.

6. (tie) Pet Shop Boys feat. Dusty Springfield: “What Have I Done To Deserve This?” (1987)

Probably the track that most betrays my distinctly British sensibilities, the sheer unlikeliness of this pairing already makes it stand out; that they went ahead and made a verified banger is nothing less than astonishing. Lead singer Neil Tennant was already a fan of Springfield, though getting her on the track was an uphill battle—her last entry on the UK Singles chart had been almost twenty years prior. Eventually, though, it came through. “The brilliant thing about the Pet Shop Boys,” Vici McDonald wrote when the song first came out, “is that they get everything right”. I am inclined to agree. Springfield’s voice is the perfect foil to the backdrop of springy, elastic production synth-pop she is singing against. That she sings with such emotion in response to Tennant’s deadpan chant seals the track as one of the high points of eighties pop.

5. David Bowie & Queen: “Under Pressure” (1981)

Don’t shoot! I love this list-topping, life-altering duet as much as the next person, but what’s life without a little variety? There’s little to say about this song that hasn’t already been said, but its magic comes from the distinct feeling you get of listening to two very different songs at the same time. Such shapeshifting, mercurial work could only have been pulled off by two masters of their age, and they’re more than up to the challenge of each other: the final, earth-shaking two minutes will have you staring at the ceiling, mystified by the universe and the human race. Why can’t we give love that one more chance?

4. Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton: “Islands in the Stream” (1983)

A ridiculously catchy piece of country pop, “Islands in the Stream” was initially penned by the Gibb brothers as an R&B song, either for Marvin Gaye or Diana Ross. Naturally, it is the country inflections that make this duet so indisputably good, turning a song that might sound a little square in the wrong hands into one of perfect symmetry. The modulation for Parton’s verse is a stroke of genius: when she sings that she “will hurt you never” over the only chromatic chord of the song, it hits you like a glorious knife to the heart.

3. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong: “Dream a Little Dream of Me” (1950)

Of course the best part of Ella and Louis’s partnership is that it is as much a duet between a voice and a trumpet as between two voices. Only one of many duets between the two, it features them in fine form, scatting and humming their way through one of music’s loveliest ballads. The warmth of Fitzgerald’s voice in counterpoint with Armstrong’s bright, warm trumpet is irresistible; when he comes in, with his unmistakable growl, the song shimmers and shines with magic.

2. Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack: “Where Is the Love?” (1972)

Often mistaken for the far inferior Black Eyed Peas song of the same name, this is the standout song on Hathaway and Flack’s 1972 duets album. Conceived to elevate the popularity of both, the partnership that resulted was a pairing of voices so intuitively complementary you could hardly believe your ears. For the chorus, the two sing, despairingly, in call and response, as though neither of them can find the answer to their question. Over glorious strings and a dancing bassline, they mourn falling “in love with someone else’s love / Now all I can do is wait.” Unrequited love never sounded so good.

1. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (1967)

Still one of the best pairings in music history, there’s nothing quite like the growl-infused tenor of Marvin Gaye when it pairs with Tammi Terrell’s vocal exuberance. Though it is a close-run thing (their versions of “You’re All I Need to Get By” and “California Soul” are also era-defining), “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” is still the two at their most euphoric. The chord progression of the verse builds ferociously to a transcendent chorus. Just when you think it can’t get any better, they hit you with that key change, bringing home an already blockbuster song with electrifying soul. We are yet to have a collaboration that reaches the same dizzying heights.

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