Singers Who Are/Were Amazing

[Shawn@PRS]

As a yin to the "Bands who would be better with a different singer" thread's yang. Which singers do you think are amazing in their craft or who are terrific as a frontperson?

 

[Rockmark]

Obviously Jagger has perfected the front man business and should have after what, 5 decades. Then Sir Paul has not done a bad job at being great at both too. Had to mention Geddy. Who can jump around like that while singing and playing great bass and keyboards and making 3 players sound like 6. On the last tour I could not believe the number of huge artists that came to see Rush. Almost a worship kind of thing. Grohl, Hawkins and all kinds showed up especially when they played w/in striking distance of L.A.

 

[dmatthews]

Gord Downie (RIP) The Tragically Hip.
Some people are not a fan of his vocal style. I am. But he was a front man's front man. A poet, an actor, and a storyteller.

 

[11top]

To me, it's about the voice.

Myles Kennedy
Steve Perry
Freddie Mercury
Eric Martin
Lou Gramm
Joe Lynn Turner
Paul Rodgers
Sammy H
Patrick Monahan
Chris Cornell
Ritchie Kotzen
Steven Tyler
Glenn Hughes
David Coverdale
Adam Gontier
Chris Daughtry
David Draiman
Warren Haynes
Steve Isaacs
Steve Walsh
Richard Page
Jay Buchannon
Alex Ligertwood
Tommy Shaw
Steve Augeri
Brent Smith
Don Barnes
Bobby Kimball
Jimi Jamison

Obviously, I have WAY too much time on my hands.

 

[jxe]

russell mael
meat loaf
little richard

 

[walrus]

John Lennon with The Beatles, not necessarily solo. Raw power.

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

Freddie Mercury

 

[QuiltTop319]

Freddie Mercury, Ann Wilson

 

[Lister]

To me, it's about the voice.

Myles Kennedy
Steve Perry
Freddie Mercury
Eric Martin
Lou Gramm
Joe Lynn Turner
Paul Rodgers
Sammy H
Patrick Monahan
Chris Cornell
Ritchie Kotzen
Steven Tyler
Glenn Hughes
David Coverdale
Adam Gontier
Chris Daughtry
David Draiman
Warren Haynes
Steve Isaacs
Steve Walsh
Richard Page
Jay Buchannon
Alex Ligertwood
Tommy Shaw
Steve Augeri
Brent Smith
Don Barnes
Bobby Kimball

Obviously, I have WAY too much time on my hands.

Great list! I would add :
Ann Wilson
Dio
Black Sabbath years Ozzy
Jim Morrison
Roy Orbison
Gregg Allman
Brad Delp
Tina Turner
George Michael- if for nothing else, his version of Somebody to Love at the Freddie Mercury Tribute qualifies him IMO.
Freddie King
Steve Marriott
Phil Lynott

 

[Antmax]

Freddie Mercury - Queen Doesn't need much introduction.
Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden
Tarja Turunen - Nightwish
Geoff Tate - Queensrych (Always felt his voice was better than the songs unfortunately).
Rob Halford - Judas Priest

If you haven't noticed, I like singers with a broad dynamic almost operatic vocals and melodic guitar. So these stand out for me.

 

[veinbuster]

Lots of good names to far. I will suggest
Burton Cummings
Michael Jackson

 

[Ovibos]

I agree with most of these, and will add:

Corey Glover (Living Colour)
Dave Grohl
Luke Spiller (The Struts)
Floor Jansen (Nightwish)
Steven Wilson
Ray Gillen (Badlands)
Charlotte Wessels (Delain)
Glenn Hughes
Jack Bruce
David Lee Roth
Devin Townshend
Shirley Manson (Garbage)
Lzzy Hale
John Mayer
dUg Pinnick (King's X)
Lenny Kravitz
Henry Rollins
Sarah McLachlan
David St. Hubbins
Stevie Ray Vaughan

 

[11top]

Lots of good names to far. I will suggest
Burton Cummings
Michael Jackson

Burton Cummings could really sing. I saw him with the Guess Who at IU in the early 70s performing in a gym (SRO). He was more “under the influence” than any musician I’ve ever seen. He had trouble staying on his feet.

 

[Wakester]

To me, it's about the voice.

Myles Kennedy
Steve Perry
Freddie Mercury
Eric Martin
Lou Gramm
Joe Lynn Turner
Paul Rodgers
Sammy H
Patrick Monahan
Chris Cornell
Ritchie Kotzen
Steven Tyler
Glenn Hughes
David Coverdale
Adam Gontier
Chris Daughtry
David Draiman
Warren Haynes
Steve Isaacs
Steve Walsh
Richard Page
Jay Buchannon
Alex Ligertwood
Tommy Shaw
Steve Augeri
Brent Smith
Don Barnes
Bobby Kimball
Jimi Jamison

Obviously, I have WAY too much time on my hands.

+1 for Steve Perry, Steve Augeri, Tommy Shaw and Freddie. I would add Scott Stapp and Fish (Marillion), Tori Amos, Nancy Wilson, Graham Nash, Kate Bush and Pat Benetar.

 

[walrus]

Nice to see some love for Steve Perry. The vocals on his new album are like he never left...

 

[Rider1260]

Just some to add
James Dewar ( Robin Trower )
Prince
Joe Cocker
Rod Stewart ( with Jeff Beck )

 

[alantig]

Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble. Dude never met a room he couldn’t own.
Roger Daltrey.
Paul Stanley.
Robert Martin (Frank Zappa’s latter bands).

 

[11top]

P

Nice to see some love for Steve Perry. The vocals on his new album are like he never left...

Interesting. I wasn’t excited about the songs or his vocals.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Stevie Wonder
Billy Joel
Mel Torme
Donald Fagen
James Taylor
Bryan Adams
Harry Connick
Adam Duritz
Rob Thomas

 

[jxe]

bing crosby? frank sinatra? marc bolan?