During the late 1960s and into the very early 1970s, Riley ranked among the most popular female vocalists in the country music industry.

He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s.

At the time, it was common for popular vocalists to record songs from Broadway shows especially those in which a recording company had a financial interest.

He became one of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the British Invasion.

He is considered one of the most popular male vocalists in house music.

By 1935, a listeners' poll voted her radio's most popular female vocalist.

She was voted the most popular female vocalist by Billboard magazine.

Billboard named her the most popular female vocalist for 1955, 1956, and 1957.

She was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century".

By the end of the 1930s, he had also become a popular vocalist with a warm, deep, vocal delivery.