What’s your New Year’s resolution?

Extend this year’s ‘walk to work every morning’ plan to the third week of January before ditching it? Read more books? Read a book?

There’s one that’s guaranteed to improve your wellbeing which most people don’t seem to have considered, at least if social media is anything to go by. 

So, what’s the resolution?

Don’t get angry about articles which are specifically designed to make you angry. 

Such as?

It’s a rule that should be applied to cranky opinion pieces from writers who believe society should revert to some supposed halcyon days which never really existed but just happened to coincide with a time in the writer’s life when they were young, happy and had a full head of hair. 

In this instance, however, it’s a list of singers that has got people’s backs up. 

Singers?

The 200 best of all time, as ranked by American outlet Rolling Stone. 

READ MORE: Rod Stewart beats Lady Gaga to be named in top 50 singers

What’s the issue?

Celine Dion’s not in it.

As in the five-time Grammy winner with the powerhouse five-octave vocal range?

That’s the one. The 54-year-old Canadian’s omission sparked fury online, with pundits joining fans in their indignation. 

Journalist Ashton Pittman tweeted: “Rolling Stone omitting Celine Dion from its list of the greatest singers of all time is a crime against humanity.”

In a nod to her French-language output, he added: “Je téléfone à la police.”

Who topped the list?

Aretha Franklin was named the greatest singer of all time, with Whitney Houston in second and Sam Cooke third. 

READ MORE: 10 Sam Cooke songs that tell the story of a soul music legend

That’s not particularly controversial. 

No-one’s taking issue with that one. Dion being excluded entirely while Taylor Swift features at number 102, Rihanna makes it to number 68 and 15th-place is awarded to the exquisite, awe-inspiring vocals of Bob Dylan is a different story. 

Few have made a greater contribution to popular music than the man behind Like A Rolling Stone, but it’s hard to imagine someone hearing Marvin Gaye sing Let’s Get It On and thinking ‘this would be far better if Dylan was singing it’. 

Will the Celine Dion backlash cause Rolling Stone to think twice?

Unlikely. Every time the piece is shared with an angry ‘this is a terrible article’ remark or receives a negative reply, those high levels of engagement are seen as a positive and incentivise them to produce more controversial articles.

READ MORE: Arctic Monkeys, Taylor Swift and 70 classic number two hits

Is this not the exact same part of the paper in which you ranted about how angry a Jeremy Clarkson article made you less than a fortnight ago?

Another good New Year’s resolution is ‘do as I say, not as I do’.