try a vocalist survey

[mosin46]

"best",favorites whatever. no particular order. here are mine
grace slick
annie halsam
linda ronstadt
stevie nicks
beth hart
floor jensen
joan baez
janis joplin
tarja turunen
whitney huston
amy lee
edith piaf
a few guys: steve perry,steve walsh,ben e king,maurice williams,frank sinatra

 

[rtB]

The dude from Red Hot Chili Peppers. - That guy couldn't hit a note with a 12 gauge.
Bono - (ha - ever heard that wack job sing live?)
And
Geddy Lee (no serious this time - Temples of Syrinx bra)

 

[n2ishun]

Heh.
Hehe.
Umm, yea.....ok....sure fine.
Whitney gets a pass as does Janis.
Not one of the others is worth a flying fuck in a rainstorm.
Not even a mention of Burton Cummings ?
Robert Plant ?
(I hate the guy but..) David Lee Roth ?

Here, listen to this guy you have never heard of.
Listen to the whole song.
Understand what a vocalist is really capable of.

 

[Pharmseller]

The chick from The Sundays

 

[Aftermath]

John Moses Browning

 

[Moe Ron]

Ray Benson

 

[Moe Ron]

Junior Brown

 

[Moe Ron]

Dale Watson

 

[Maggot]

Lots of good ones, and 'best' is so subjective but there can be only one:

Eva Cassidy.

Its said there are 5 criteria to be judged in a vocalist. Most good/great singers are lucky to have 3 of them. Eva had all 5 in spades. Unfortunately she left us too soon, but when She walked through the pearly gates the Lord said "The rest of you angels can have the day off, Eva's home."

 

[Foul Mike]

Roy Orbison

 

[UKDslayer]

Reflecting my hardened days: Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan, Bruce Dickinson.
Steve Walsh before all the cocaine blew out his nasal cartilage.
Greg Lake, John Wetton (not the greatest ranges, but smooth and deep).
Paul Rodgers most of the time.
Female: Taya Smith.

 

[Merle]

Elvis!

 

[Ronws]

My favorite band was Led Zeppelin and my favorite singer was Robert Plant, even when he was nickel off pitch. Of course, now, he cannot do the high notes and I still can but man, that tone. The tone is more important than the range of the voice.

Ann Wilson. Brad Delp. Geoff Tate.

The widest range of sounds was Prince.

Female strength of voice, Lady Gaga has to be in there and I was happy to see her working with Tony Bennett.

Oddest dark hero, the best story of learning what you are actually good at is Michael Bolton. He called himself a rock singer, recorded 7 rock albums, went on 7 rock tours, all of which tanked.

He was working on album #8 and his producer talked him into a one-off. One of the songs in his live set was a cover of "Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. He convinced him to record and then the whole album was soul and R&B and then he became a household name.

Favorite entertainer purely for a fun show to watch? David Lee Roth. Van Halen has had great singers. Sammy Hagar is a solid rock singer with that high raspy voice.

Mitch Malloy was slated to be the next and he had the looks and the skills. The most skilled singer they had, who could sing opera if he wanted to, was Gary Cherone.

Sorry, Van Halen is always going to need pitchy old baritone Diamond Dave. Why? It's the tone, not the range.

 

[Llatikcuf]

Bruce Dickinson, Dio, Jim Morrison come to mind.

 

[JoshPutman]

What, no one has mentioned Bob Dylan or Neil Young? How about Yoko Ono?

Seriously though, Olivia Newton John had one of the sweetest voices.

 

[BCP]

Rob Halford, King Diamond, young Robert Plant, Gilliam, those guys can all hit a bunch of different notes

I'm a big Sinatra fan but I don't consider him a vocalist with lots of range, more like style and tone

Some of the pop bullshit singers like Christina Aguilera have talent/range but most are shitty

Lots of actual trained vocalists in Opera music since it's part of their business

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

Meatloaf

 

[TXAZ]

Peter Cetera

 

[BCP]

Meatloaf

He was an amazing singer.

This part was great because you have him and DIO singing back to back:

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

Aretha Franklin

 

[jrassy]

Lee Ann Rhymes
james Hatfield
anybody remember Shawn Phillips? Amazing vocal range

 

[Navy Gunner]

Male vocalists:
Chris Cornell
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Rodgers
Geoff Tate
Myles Kennedy
Robert Plant
Frank Sinatra
Smokey Robinson
Female vocalists:
Shirley Bassey
Whitney Houston (Didn’t particularly care for her songs but what a voice)
Ann Wilson
Karen Carpenter
Dionne Warwick
Pat Benatar

 

[Earnhardt]

Male:
Josh Kiszka
Robert Plant
Brent Smith (first 3 albums)
Brad Delp
Mickey Thomas


Female:
Ann Wilson
Pat Benatar
Whitney Houston
Celine Dion
Dorothy Martin

 

[BCP]

Whitney Houston (Didn’t particularly care for her songs but what a voice)

Yeah she definitely belongs on the list.

 

[UKDslayer]

Male vocalists:

Myles Kennedy

Thank you, I forgot Myles - last concert I went to!

 

[Int1968]

Merry Clayton

 

[rhsc]

The chick from The Sundays

That would be Harriet Wheeler, aka "The Angel Harriet". It didn't hurt that she was also cute as a button.

a few more:

Alison Krauss - her ability to hold perfect pitch without any vibrato is almost other-worldly. And she plays a mean fiddle.

Jeff Lynne - incredible range, absolutely amazing musician, song-writer and arranger. Should have been the 5th (or 6th?) Beatle in a more perfect universe.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore - this choice is admittedly a bit out of left field, but I really love the nostalgic, traditional character of his voice. No, he doesn't sing with beautiful, silky-smooth baritone notes, but there's something deeply authentic about his "high lonesome" sound. Fight me.

Johnny Cash - specifically his cover of Trent Reznor's "Hurt". Arguably the most powerful, honest performance ever given in popular music. Once you get older and start to reflect on your life, you'll truly begin to understand.

 

[acudaowner]

Charles Bronson , Charlton Heston , Barry White ,
this guy

 

[101st]

Barbara Streisand
Loui Armstrong
Chester Bennington

 

[rhsc]

Norah Jones at her very best -

 

[Maser]

Brotha Lynch Hung

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

Cyndi Lauper

 

[gunjunkie45]

David Draiman. I don't like Disturbed 's music otherwise, but the cover of "Sound of Silence " showed me that guy can really sing.

 

[hankpac]

Timi Yuro (What's A Matter, Baby), Toni Fisher (The Big Hurt), Mary Ford (of Les Paul and Mary Ford), Louis Prima, especially when he was clowning around (almost always), Janice Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), Susan Tedeschi (It Hurts So Bad), Peter Cetera during his Chicago period, Janis, Aretha on "Respect", Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac), Otis Redding, Roy Orbison, Elvis, Jackie Wilson, Jerry Butler, Hell, way too many to list.
The OP asked for Favorites, not "Best" although there's some monsters on my list.

 

[gunjunkie45]

Timi Yuro (What's A Matter, Baby), Toni Fisher (The Big Hurt), Mary Ford (of Les Paul and Mary Ford), Louis Prima, especially when he was clowning around (almost always), Janice Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), Susan Tedeschi (It Hurts So Bad), Peter Cetera during his Chicago period, Janis, Aretha on "Respect", Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac), Otis Redding, Roy Orbison, Elvis, Jackie Wilson, Jerry Butler, Hell, way too many to list.
The OP asked for Favorites, not "Best" although there's some monsters on my list.

I gave you the like for Louis Prima. One of my all time favorites. Keely Smith had a beautiful voice as well.

 

[Atomic_Lobster]

Jack Bruce

 

[gunjunkie45]

 

[gunjunkie45]

 

[gunjunkie45]

 

[Oryx]

Heh.
Hehe.
Umm, yea.....ok....sure fine.
Whitney gets a pass as does Janis.
Not one of the others is worth a flying fuck in a rainstorm.
Not even a mention of Burton Cummings ?
Robert Plant ?
(I hate the guy but..) David Lee Roth ?

You can't be serious with David Lee Roth ... he may be one of the Worst vocalists. Love Van Halen, but if you have ever seen DLR live (and somewhat sober), you couldn't seriously place him in a best category.

 

[SanPatHogger]

Lemmy

 

[Ronws]

You can't be serious with David Lee Roth ... he may be one of the Worst vocalists. Love Van Halen, but if you have ever seen DLR live (and somewhat sober), you couldn't seriously place him in a best category.

It's the show. Every other singer they had was better than he is. He describes his own voice as 4 flat tires on a muddy road. From his memoirs "Crazy From the Heat."

 

[SanPatHogger]

Sammy Hagar. Pound cake

 

[91Eunozs]

I can’t stand them and their shit-for-brains politics, but the Dixie Chicks cover of Landslide is simply amazing.




But for an archetype of pure talent and a great set of pipes, it’s KD Lang‘s constant craving for me:

 

[91Eunozs]

Probably the best version ever sung…. Still get goose bumps when I hear this.

 

[91Eunozs]

The chick from The Sundays

She makes me moist…

 

[91Eunozs]

Sweet Jeebus…tonight starts my ‘weekend’ and I find myself running deep down this rabbit hole. Not even drunk (yet), but man these songs and videos are bringing back some memories.

Remember hearing this one for the first time in a dive bar in Spain…God, I burned for Sarah back then…

 

[91Eunozs]

…and if you couldn’t get laid with this on the radio, you just weren’t tryin’

Saw her live and couldn’t get past her fucked up teeth, LOL, but what a voice:

 

[n2ishun]

You can't be serious with David Lee Roth ... he may be one of the Worst vocalists. Love Van Halen, but if you have ever seen DLR live (and somewhat sober), you couldn't seriously place him in a best category.

Did I NOT mention that I hate the guy ?
Oh wait, yes, I prefaced it with I hate the guy.

My example of a untouchable vocalist was Milijenko from Steelheart.
I'll do it again so you get it thru your obviously thick ass skull.

This is PURE perfection in vocals.
Freddy Mercury could learn from this guy......and he STILL sounds this good after what.....30+ years ?
He goes both lower, and higher than Freddy.
Yes, he did the soundtrack for this movie, obviously Marky Mark couldn't handle the vocals.
BTW, Myles Kennedy that some people were raving about up above, sounds like a total newb next to Milijenko when they sang next to each other in this same movie. I do have to admit though, they harmonized well together.


Here he is 30 some years later, maybe 2-3 years ago at a very small venue.
Name a single singer, male or female, that has the nads to go out into the audience and sing within the crowd ?

 

[Pharmseller]

The guy who posted about Geddy was right. Amazing voice.




P