After the 5 best guitarists thread, how about the 5 best rock and roll vocalists? As usual, in no particular order... Don Henley Paul Rodgers Tommy Shaw Brad Delp Robert Plant
Ann Wilson Freddie Mercury Robert Plant Sebastian Bach David Coverdale Voted on vocal ability and not as a frontman, though there would be some overlap if I were to list those.
Paul Rodgers Paul McCartney Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott David Bowie Janis Joplin (Mercury, Plant, Daltrey, Van Morrison, and Bob Marley round out my top ten)
Much harder for me because I don't know as many names. I'll toss out Burton Cummings (first guy to make me wish I was a singer) Robert Plant Freddie Mercury the Heart ladies (not sure which Wilson to credit for what) Janis Joplin I love Bowie's voice and how he uses it, but never really considered him rock & roll - maybe just because I liked him beyond whatever genre he might have been tagged with at the moment.
Chris Hamlet Thompson I don't know who else, I don't usually listen to vocals, but he's always been one of my favourite vocalists. Rush are my favourite Rock'n'roll band, so I'd probably have to add Geddy Lee Also the guys in Golden Earring and New Model Army. Ann sung lead vocals on 95% of the songs. I always had a crush on Nancy because musician, but in hindsight, Ann was a fantastic vocalist. I even tried to interview her (Nancy) at the impressionable, pheromone-laden age of 16. I have never heard anything louder than the audience in Capital Center in Landover, MD when I saw them. Nothing. So you'd probably be not too surprised to find out that I did not land said interview. They were at their absolute peak. I think it was the Dog & Butterfly tour.
Freddy Mercury. I could list 4 other of my favorite rock singers but they all sound like they're taking a **** compared to Freddie Mercury.
In no particular order: Freddy Mercury Grace Slick Robert Plant Rob Halford Steve Perry If I could add one more it would be Janis Joplin
^ Starting 6, and while I was listening to my music during my massage (yeah, life's a b*tch ) I picked the reserve squad: Robin Zander Pat Monahan Steve Walsh Glenn Hughes Chris Cornell David Coverdale And how the hell did I forget Myles Kennedy?!!
He hasn't got the history of a lot of the people mentioned, but Ian Thornley has a strong voice well suited to rock.
Yeah, I wanted to put in Myles, and Ann, and Coverdale, and Perry, but like the guitarist thread, you only get 5. Any one of the five I did mention could be replaced by these, but what ya gonna do?
Steve Perry Miles Kennedy Sebastian Bach Ozzy Osbourne Definitely - Robert Plant I really like Trevor Rabin of YES
No particular order.... Robert Plant Steven Tyler Glenn Hughes Axle Rose - Even if he is/was a complete diva (which is kinda rockstar anyway) Freddie Mercury I gotta throw out some 90's love, too.. Layne Staley Chris Cornell Eddie Vedder Scott Weiland Billy Corgan
Some of my favorites (yes, I'm a youngin') Miles Kennedy Spencer Sotelo (Periphery) Hayley Williams (Paramore) Chris Robertson (Black Stone Cherry) Schuylar Croom (He Is Legend)
But not in real life, not no way, not no how. That's one of my favourite things about music (and real life, for that matter) -- you don't really have to choose.
