looking for nominations for best rock voice, NOT best vocal performance.......looking for the rock-quality of the voice itself........my first obvious choice is the ORIGINAL Rod Stewart
Lots of great voices listed so far. But, if I could wake up tomorrow and sing like anyone I wished to, it would be the late, great, and under appreciated Chris Whitley. Man, if there ever was a more expressive and soulful anglo singer than Chris, I've never heard them. Rest in peace Chris.
You guys are overlooking SAMMY HAGAR, perhaps the greatest rock voice ever. Sure a lot of his songs are cheesy, but that voice... ! Roger Daltry certainly is up there but not as consistant ... Steven Tyler.
Robert Plant Freddie Mercury Van Morrison (Van the Man...maybe not really rock, though) David Lee Roth (the REAL mouth of Van Halen) Roger Daltrey the lead singer for Boston (can't recall his name) the dude that sang for Starship in their later commercial incarnations (he could hit the stratosphere... neither my wife or I can remember his name either). Mick Jagger - I add him not so much because of vocal talent in a conventional sense but more due to a distinctive sound and style McCartney (Hey Jude...how could I forget that voice)
No doubt others... I haven't read the other posts. Apologies for duplications or coming across like I was the only one to think of these.
What a neat thread...so many great singers. I also messed up my previous post and wanted to list as my #1, Paul Rogers (especially, as someone else mentioned, singing All Right Now with Free).
Names posted by others that I forgot but completely agree with Steven Tyler Rod Stewart Steve Winwood Jack Bruce
I've seen it's been noted before. What could ever come close to Ian Gillan, Deep Purple. First I heard his voice in 1974. And even today, I play rock rarely now, every time I hear Child In Time, it's just so good.
Yeah,lead singer for Humble Pie and the one of the vocalists on the The Small Faces only hit in the US Itchy Coo Park. He also gigged around in Blues bands in England before that. I believe he passed away last year.
>>Freddie Mecury - he had a range of four octaves - nobody else comes close<<
Ian Gillan of Deep Purple probably had a bigger range. Listen to Child In Time from their Made In Japan album. Having a great range helps but it doesn't translate into a great singer... Freddie Mercury and Rod Stewart are great singers. They not only have the voice but also connected with the audience in magical ways! I don't know how you can seperate the voice from the performance. Some voices work "just right" for a particular song but won't sound great with other songs. For example, Janis Joplin and Joe Cocker have great voices - but for their genre only. David Coverdale (also from Deep Purple) doesn't have a great range but I can't imagine a better voice for Soldier Of Fortune. Then you have the "screamers" at a dime a dozen. Great range but for the most part no music. So is that great singing?! How about memorable rock voices? I already mentioned David Coverdale in Soldier Of Fortune. Add Janis Joplin in Summertime, Rod Stewart in Sailing (live), Robert Plant in Stairway To Heaven, Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Raphsody, Margo Timmins in Helpless and many more...
terry reid....first choice of jimmy page for led zepplin. more famous for turning down that gig, but his recordings confirm his legend. makes plant sound like debbie boone.
Well, there are quite a few, aren't there... I'd go for: Robert Plant, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, Roger Chapman, Patti Smith, David Bowie, Chris Farlowe, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, George Thorogood, Bobby Womack, Mavis Staples, Eric Burdon, Joe Cocker, Steve Tyler, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Eugene Hütz, Gölä, etc. There are more, but this is my spontaneous choice of voices :)
Freddy Mercury, Roy Orbison, & Elvis Presley are the first names that come to mind, but I'd also suggest that General Johnson (Showmen, Chairmen of The Board), Cornelius Harp (Marcels), Tony Williams (Platters) and a handful of other Doo Wop singers deserve consideration. The best of those guys - and there were quite a few - could really sing!
Robert Plant or Freddie Mercury come to mind first.
That fella Sabastian Bach from Skid Row amazed the hell out of me. His voice has a sound that I've never been able to forget. It sounds pure but gritty, controlled yet wild and serene yet lively. Always singing with a sense of passion it seems like the words were just leaping from his mouth. And when he went into those tight jean screams, man. A voice maybe overlooked by the quality of music, the band or whatever but he sure had a rock god voice to me. One of the very very few who could make a vocal on the record have the energy and fever pitch like a live concert performance in full throttle.
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