Divas are huge, huge presences. And, most important, divas have survived the tests of age. To be blunt, not so well. D'Angelo has the body. The Backstreet Boys have the blind adulation of fans.
Sting has the singular name.
And Tom Jones has the age and real career longevity, complete with dark years of playing Vegas. But none of them has anything like the roller-coaster private and public lives of Cher, Ross, Turner and Houston. For women on the diva track, there are obstacles every step of the way. Carey discovered her own voice and the pleasures of riding bareback through videos only after splitting with husband-manager Tommy Mottola. I would go so far as to argue that this declaration of independence represents the essence of divahood.