My 6 year old daughter posed this question. I thought it was great. She also said that she knew her favorites were not the best. Here are my choices, which are not necessarily my favorites:
No particular order:
Robert Plant Freddie Mercury Axl Rose Janis Joplin Paul Rodgers
more...colin blunstone(who's your daddy?)...steve winwood (peaked in his teens)...billy stewart(if general johnson was jesus, billy was john the baptist)....russell tompkins jr (makes smokey robinson sound like a baritone)...sandi shaw/lulu(underrated always)....lou rawls(too much!)....teddy pendergrass('even the president said he's givin' it up)....paul jones(doo wah diddy-amazing career)....that guy in the statler bros who sings bass(like to see a showdown between him and the guy from the oakridge boys).....david ruffin(tragic soul but maybe the greatest of all/walk away from love)....ronnie dyson( a singer's singer)....annie golden and cathie chamberlain(new york's finest)....just calling out those who should not be missed if you love music.
The ability for a singer to produce a large variety of engaging musical sounds is really what I like hearing. I'd put the front vocalist for Yes, Beatles' Lennon & McCartney, both together and independently, Creedences' Fogerty strength and simplicity, Dylan's very involving and unique variety of vocal sounds, and Zep's Plant, minus the "sick bird syndrome" noise effects - screeching noises like a bird being strangled slowly to death. I felt it was over-used on too many live tracks, and to me, blurred or diluted Zep's great musical definition between their songs way too much.
Plant's new tracks with Cross sound very cool - much more relaxed and very musical.
There's so many - early Elton...huge musical variety and fabulous voicing. I saw him this year with Billy Joel and Elton was exceptionally good, even singing Joels' (they traded off back and forth) numbers solo.
Jaybo picked a favorite "sleeper"of mine - "General" Johnson. Great vocals w/ Chairmen of The Board ("Give Me Just a Little More Time")and The Showmen who Allen Toussaint shepherded from doo-wop toward something like rock n roll. The General also gets bonus points for penning "Patches", a frequent resident on "Worst Song Ever" lists but a favorite of mine. Of course, if you pick Johnson, you should consider many of the great doo-wop singers who deserve mention, but there are too many to list.
So many great singers listed so far but I'm surprised that one hasn't been mentioned yet: Brad Delp (Boston). What a voice! Too bad he's no longer with us.
blindjim's outstanding picks reminded me of two of my favorites who also had the 'imediately identifiable' thing in spades..rick nelson and gene pitney.
in order... Roy Orbison & Elvis Presley have the greatest range Robert Plant ... comes close Janis Joplin for sheer emotive content. Freddy Mercury... tone and excitement Jim Morrison... darkly expressive and involving ... and several of the Eagles, of course.
Adam Lambert. He can mimic most of the singers mentioned and maybe sound better. If he developes his own style he may really be something. Yes, I do blow valuable listening time in front of the TV watching American Idol.
I also like Theo's choice of Annie Haslam... she's awesome. David Byron was incredible when he could be serious. John Wetton is still great today, as is Paul McCartney. #5 is a toss up to me between, Ann Wilson and Robert Plant.
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