Best vocalist(s)

[Guest godthedog]

my favorite vocalist ever is lennon, solely for the reason of 'plastic ono band'.  the sheer emotion in his voice for those 40 minutes are untouched by anything, as far as i'm concerned.  and nobody can unleash a good guttural scream like he can.

 

runners-up are eddie vedder, jeff buckley, maynard, robert plant, tori amos, & beth gibbons (portishead).

 

bonus--worst vocalists that i still love: liz phair, lou reed, bob dylan, neil young.

[Guest Anorak]

Emmylou Harris

Robert Cray

Mark Lanegan

Michael Stipe

Lucinda Williams

[Guest Wonderboy]

NEIL DIAMOND

Chris Cornell

Dave Grohl

Eddie Vedder

Scott Weiland

Lemmy

Steven Tyler(I agree about the old stuff thing)

Johnny Cash

James Brown(does he count? HEH!)

[Guest snuffbox]

Bon Scott - original AC/DC frontman

W. Axl Rose

Layne Staley

Shannon Hoon

Eddie Vedder

Kurt Cobain

Neil Young

Ronnie Van Zant

Perry Ferrell

Freddie Mercury

Nick Drake

Rod Stewart

Syd Barrett

Van Morrison

Lou Reed

Roger Daltrey

Chris Cornell

Maynard James Keenan

Bono

Michael Stipe

[Guest thevertex]

Marilyn Manson is a terrific vocalist, unfortunately so many people are biased against him. A lot of people listed are kind of mediocre, and some people are confusing being a good lyricist with vocalist.

[Guest Mark4steamboat]

i have been thinking the same thing. IMO, Cobain was a great lyricist, not vocalist.

[Guest ZGangsta]

Bono and Axl Rose.

[Guest Kinetic]

It's obviously all a matter of opinion.  If you're going to get all technical about it, almost no one in this thread is a good singer in the traditional sense of the word, so it's kind of a moot point.  As I noted earlier, I tend to judge someone's ability as a singer by the emotion they convey and how well it suits the music.  In that sense, Kurt Cobain was a good vocalist.  It doesn't matter to me that he couldn't hit a lot of notes---the important thing is that the notes he could hit actually meant something.  Same with Dylan.  His voice is not pretty in any sense, but it gives me shivers every time I listen to "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" or countless other songs.  That's what makes a good vocalist.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Good thing you added "almost" before "no one," Kinetic, because Bruce Dickinson has been mentioned several times, and he's a former opera singer before he got into Maiden.

 

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Elvis Presley...

[Guest redbaron51]

Freddie Mercury was better than Bruce, and I'm a big Maiden fan.

[Guest HellSpawn]

My picks are...

 

Metal:

Michael Kiske (Helloween)

Rob Halford (Judas Priest/Halford)

Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)

Lemmy K (Motorhead)

Sebastian Bach (Skid Row)

 

Hard Rock:

Ian Gillan (Deep Purple)

David Coverdale (Deep Purple/Whitesnake)

Paul Stanley (Kiss)

Kory Clarke (Warrior Soul)

Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)

Ozzy (Black Sabath)

 

Rock:

Freddie Mercury (Queen)

Bono

 

And a few more but Im in a hurry.

[Guest HellSpawn]

And of course...   Stephanie McMahon

 

Her amazing "Wind Beneath my Ring" peformance on Austin Appreciattion Night really Inspire Me.

[Guest]

Tim & Jeff Buckley: Just amazing vocalists and they're lyrics are also beautiful.

 

Maynard James Keenan: Great singer in my opinion and can belt it out.

[Guest Matt]

ahhh heck why not...

 

Pick any of the seattle boys

 

Cornell

Vedder

Staley

Cantrell (as a backup to Layne)

 

Since we are going on pleasing vocal sound, i will leave cobain off but I will say that James Hetfield of any era is the best vocalist for a live performer. I used to bestow that crown upon Eddie Vedder for the unplugged stuff. But anything live by Metallica, vocally, just captures me for some reason.

 

Also, James LaBrie for the Scenes From New York album. I could loop "Beyond This Life" for a week

[Guest alkeiper]

Roger Waters.  Listen to "Go Fishing" for evidence.  As for one not mentioned as of yet, how about Nina Simone?

[Guest Clyde Rockwell]

Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahwak, Lovage)

 

The man can sing anything, rock, metal, lounge, rap, R&B, polka, anything!

 

Honarable mention to Freddie Mercury, Queen rocks my socks yo.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

These are just some of the vocalists I like

 

Beth Gibbons "Portishead"

Chris Cornell "Soundgarden"

Bradley Novell(sp?) "Sublime"

Freddie Mercury "Queen"

Brandon Boyd "Incubus"

Mick Jagger "Rolling Stones"

Robert Plant "Led Zepplin"

Eddie Vedder "Pearl Jam"

 

 

There are many more, but these are the ones that I can recite off the top of my head.

[Guest shlidgn90]

here are mine in no particular order:

sarah mclachlan

tori amos

aretha franklin

aimee mann

james maynard keenan

michael jackson(before the bad album)

john lennon

lead singer from mettalica

prince

dido

mahilia jackson

[Guest goodhelmet]

my favorite vocalist ever is lennon, solely for the reason of 'plastic ono band'.  the sheer emotion in his voice for those 40 minutes are untouched by anything, as far as i'm concerned.  and nobody can unleash a good guttural scream like he can.

 

runners-up are eddie vedder, jeff buckley, maynard, robert plant, tori amos, & beth gibbons (portishead).

 

bonus--worst vocalists that i still love: liz phair, lou reed, bob dylan, neil young.

Mother Don't GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

 

Yes, that album is probably one of the top 5 albums ever surpassing many of the Beatles albums.

 

No vocalis comes close to Freddy Mercury though in my mind.

[Guest Nevermortal]

Davey Havok (AFI)

Nick 13 (Tiger Army)

Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth)

Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir)

Joey Ramone (The Ramones)

James LaBrie (Dream Theater) HIGH METAL VOICES FOREVER!

Phil Anselmo (Pantera, Down)

Dead (Mayhem)