Ian Gillan
Ian Anderson
Robert Plant
David Coverdale
Ozzy
R.D.Dio
Nanacy Wilson
Freddy Mercury
Dan McCafferty
David Gilmour
Ian Anderson
Robert Plant
David Coverdale
Ozzy
R.D.Dio
Nanacy Wilson
Freddy Mercury
Dan McCafferty
David Gilmour
Top Ten Rock Vocalists
Ok, for this thtead we are talking about Rock, Hard Rock, Metal and Progressive rock. (male or female)
Try not to think too hard, it can hurt your brain!
I will post mine later today😎
Try not to think too hard, it can hurt your brain!
I will post mine later today😎
112 responses Add your response
I always find these rock lists kind of strange, because if you ask this question of other genres you will get what most people, including vocal coaches, consider "good" - like phrasing, range, pitch, smoothness, etc. But in rock I see all kinds of names on these lists who are far from good in most of these categories. As Stephen Tyler proved, most of these singers couldn't sing The Star-Spangled Banner if their lives depended upon it. They might fit their style of music, and I like a lot of them, but they don't have classically good voices. That said, I prefer the classically good voice that does satisfy these attributes. Geoff Tate Bruce Dickinson Rob Halford Messiah Marcolin Steve Grimmett Steve Perry Bonnie Raitt David Draiman Ann Wilson Ronnie James Dio |
fourwinds:, I think it all depends upon how one perceives the OP's question? Is it from the entire recorded history? Is it just from one's own generation? Is it from a technical standpoint? Is it from one's own fascination w/an artist at a particular point in time? There's no correct answer unless this is approached from one specific angle. Cheers! |
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bdp241,294 posts06-01-2016 10:12amBrian Johnson was fine by me. But AR (I won’t even speak his name)?! Don't speak. One pronunciation of such makes me sick(burp). ACDC is definitely out of my list now just like GnR. |
Peter Gabriel, Van Morrison, Robert Plant, David Bowie Rickie Lee Jones, Chrissie Hynde It's funny but most of favorite female vocalists all seem to lean towards jazz and mellower rock/folk (e.g. Joni Mitchell) I could list names here all day and my exclusions would still make my head explode. Cheers, Spencer |
Oh, well, with Van Morrison you're talking about something completely different from what I thought the topic was. Van Morrison---a Rock/Hard Rock/Metal/Progressive singer? I think of him as a Soul or R & B singer, one of a handful of Brits (okay, and Scots/Irish/Welsh) who sounds like he comes by it naturally, not in a forced, self-consciously "gotta-try-to-sound-soulful" kind of way. For a real good example of Van's whiteboy soul, listen to the incredible trading of lines with Richard Manual in The Band's bitchin' song on their Cahoots album, 4% Pantomime. Really, really great. Richard Manual, another white brother who can be mentioned in the same sentence as Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters, and (almost) Howlin' Wolf (NOBODY comes close to Wolf in my book). Richard (R.I.P.) was one of Eric Clapton's favorite singers, and probably his favorite white one. Another UK singer with the same gravitas is Little Stevie Winwood ;-). |
Several that have not been mentioned are: Glenn Shorrock Brad Delp David Pack Chrissie Hynde Steve Walsh The lead singer for Heart is Ann Wilson, not Nancy. Nancy is a good singer, Ann is an outstanding singer and is very high on my list. Many great singers have been mentioned on this list and a top ten would be difficult to come up with. |
@slaw, I’ve always loved that quote, but I don’t know it’s origin. It may have come from one of the Blues shouters, perhaps Big Joe Turner himself. I got to see & hear Joe live, shortly before his death in ’85. It was at Club Lingerie on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, where he was backed by The Blasters, whose tenor sax player was Lee Allen (the bands of Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, and Little Richard). I can’t put into words what a joy that night of music was! Joe was by then in his mid-70’s, but his voice was still huge. Not just one of my Top 10 Rock ’n’ Roll singers, but Top 3, the other two being Little Richard and early Elvis. Joe was dressed in a suit and tie (with tie pin and cufflinks), and sat on a wooden table chair (he WAS quite big, well over 300 lbs. I’d say) onstage. At a table above the dance floor sat a group of Joe’s family and friends, each with a cocktail. They looked like extras from a 1940’s movie---the men dressed just as was Joe (one in a double-breasted suit coat), the women in velvet dresses and one of those hats with an attached veil that came down over their heavily-made up eyes (I myself love eyeliner and smoke-colored mascara. On a woman, I mean ;-), and one or two a rabbit stole across her shoulders. What a trip back in time! |
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