Top 25 Favorite Singers countdown thread! (Top 2 Revealed!!!)

[coz]

Out of curiosity, did anyone else consider any rappers?  As for myself, I really dig the voices of MCA, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg.     With the first two almost making my list.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

It's hard enough ranking harsh vocalists alongside singers.  I have lists of favorite emcees from back when I was exploring hip-hop a lot more, but it's just too apples and oranges.  Treach from Naughty By Nature is my favorite of them though.  I guess it's really all just vocal performance of various kinds, my list has someone who sometimes does whole tracks of vocal percussion, and two others who've done jazz scatting.  And there are so many singing styles even in the rock field.  But my ear is pretty tuned to melody, so it's just very difficult to get on there if your style is exclusively non-melodic in nature. 

[Animal]

#2  James LaBrie #12

#1  Freddie Mercury #1

If you followed the Queen discography…well, you knew he’d be my #1, but…..I was just hoping he’d get mentioned in this countdown!  This is a diverse and mostly metal forum after all, and it often depends on who votes and who doesn’t.  It wasn’t until Steve Perry was listed that I was pretty certain that he would make the list, and still had my doubts until the final announcement.

Trivial, but you made me and my wife very happy at a time when we needed a smile.  ‘We thank you all!’
(and, once again, thanks Kev for all your efforts )



25   Diana Ross (the only vote…with twelve #1 Billboard hits of my preteen years)
24   Elton John
23   Kevin Cronin (the only vote)
22   Roger Taylor (Queen) (the only vote)
21   Ann Wilson  #13
20   Jon Anderson  #19
19   Brian May (the only vote…and tied with Taylor Swift )
18   Roger Daltrey
17   Michael Stipe
16   Bruce Springsteen
15   David Bowie
14   Geoff Tate (same as TAC)  #4
13   Sammy Hagar
12   James LaBrie #2
11   Ian Gillan
10   Geddy Lee #10
9   Billy Joel
8   Ian Anderson
7   Steve Perry  #5
6   Dennis DeYoung
5   Robert Plant  #15
4   Alice Cooper (again, the same as TAC!)
3   John Lennon
2   Paul McCartney  #23
1   Freddie Mercury #1

I am fairly new here but even I had no trouble guessing who the votes for Brian May and Roger Taylor were coming from. Queen is far from my n. 1 band but you have to give it to them - apart from having the greatest rock singer ever, they also had the other really good vocalist. If we were to rank bands based on their average vocal competence across all members, Queen would be easy winners...

[nick_z]

Forgot to post my full list the other day. Here is my entire shortlist I was working from.

2. Arno Menses

Oh, that's a good one I don't see mentioned often.

Wow Puppies had him at #2.  He's on my list and is a great singers. Live too.

Lethean, I didn't see that you had it too...

Yes, such a good singer. When he was in Sieges Even, I felt they had finally "fixed" their relatively weak spot (vocals)...pity they only had two albums with him before disbanding (?). But Subsignal is certainly not too shabby, so can't complain 

[Lethean]

25 Michelle Luppi

This guy is amazing!

Yeah!  I didn't care him on the rerecorded Secret Sphere album, but I love his stuff with Vision Divine.

Stream Of Consciousness is an incredible album. He used to be my pick in the old "Who would you replace JLB with if he left..?" threads.

And The Perfect Machine is awesome too.

I don't think he would fit DT but then I'd say that about any singer other than James.

[Lethean]

Forgot to post my full list the other day. Here is my entire shortlist I was working from.

2. Arno Menses

Oh, that's a good one I don't see mentioned often.

Wow Puppies had him at #2.  He's on my list and is a great singers. Live too.

Lethean, I didn't see that you had it too...

Yes, such a good singer. When he was in Sieges Even, I felt they had finally "fixed" their relatively weak spot (vocals)...pity they only had two albums with him before disbanding (?). But Subsignal is certainly not too shabby, so can't complain 

Agree with pretty much all of the above.  But he was already in Sieges Even when I started listening to them.  I listened to the older albums after The Art of Navigating and none of them were as good.  I liked the music though.

[Lethean]

Also - I'd participate in a list of lyricists.  But maybe we could rank just 10 instead of 25.  You could still do a countdown of the top 25 vote getters.

I'd also be up for instrumentalists.

[wolfking]

Top 25 guitarists! 

[Stadler]

Guitarists would be better; I can at least accept that Petrooch might be number one.  I don't know if I can maintain interest in a lyricist thread knowing that Neil Peart is number one from the get-go.  I love the guy, Mt. Rushmore of drummers, for sure, maybe even Mt. Rushmore of musicians in general, but while his lyrics are good, occasionally great, I find him very over-rated as a lyricist. 

[Lethean]

Geez dude.  Wouldn't it be interesting to know who #2 is? Or #3, etc. 

You really should look at this as favorite artists, not some objective best, which is impossible.  And it's favorite artists of the ones we listen to.  I don't like Bob Dylan's voice, thus I don't listen to him, thus he wouldn't be on my lyrics list even if I might find his lyrics "better." I do like Paul Simon's voice and recall some good lyrics, but I don't listen to it enough so won't be on my list either.  I listen to tons of Rush, so of course Neil will be. (But not actually my #1).

There were singers I found overrated/disliked and maybe rolled my eyes a little, but in reality my feelings aren't more right than the people who voted for them.  It's still fun.

Having said all that - I'm fine with doing guitars next and would be fine doing all the instruments after that.  Just wanted to let Kev know that I'd participate for lyrics if/when he wants to do it.

[hefdaddy42]

This was a lot of fun.  More of mine showed up on the final list than I would have thought, but I still had plenty that didn't get a sniff.

Thanks for running this, Kev!

Here's my list.

1 Freddie Mercury
2 Jeff Buckley
3 Steve Perry
4 Roy Orbison
5 Marvin Gaye
6 Aretha Franklin
7 Brad Delp
8 John Hiatt
9 Pat Benatar
10 Whitney Houston
11 Elvis Presley
12 Art Garfunkel
13 Bing Crosby
14 Grace Cummings
15 Alison Krauss
16 Morgan James
17 Prince
18 Ann Wilson
19 Layne  Staley
20 Dean Martin
21 Patsy Cline
22 Johnny Cash
23 Greg Allman
24 Chris Cornell
25 Warren Haynes

[Stadler]

Love the shout outs to Roy Orbison (I forgot him; he would have made mine) and Big John Cash.

[hefdaddy42]

Love the shout outs to Roy Orbison (I forgot him; he would have made mine) and Big John Cash.

Simply no one like either one of them.  Roy Orbison's "Crying" is one of the greatest examples of male pop/rock singing ever recorded, and if you don't think so, YOU try singing it lol.

[nick_z]

Yes, such a good singer. When he was in Sieges Even, I felt they had finally "fixed" their relatively weak spot (vocals)...pity they only had two albums with him before disbanding (?). But Subsignal is certainly not too shabby, so can't complain 

Agree with pretty much all of the above.  But he was already in Sieges Even when I started listening to them.  I listened to the older albums after The Art of Navigating and none of them were as good.  I liked the music though.

My favorite Sieges Even album is probably A Sense of Change…it’s just lovely, and the most Rush-influenced in their catalog. Sophisticated is great too, with some insanely good guitar work (in addition to the rhythm section, but nothing new there of course )

But yes, as a whole package, their last two records are excellent.

[TAC]

Love the shout outs to Roy Orbison (I forgot him; he would have made mine) and Big John Cash.

I find Roy Orbison absolutely brutal to listen to.

[Lethean]

Yes, such a good singer. When he was in Sieges Even, I felt they had finally "fixed" their relatively weak spot (vocals)...pity they only had two albums with him before disbanding (?). But Subsignal is certainly not too shabby, so can't complain 

Agree with pretty much all of the above.  But he was already in Sieges Even when I started listening to them.  I listened to the older albums after The Art of Navigating and none of them were as good.  I liked the music though.

My favorite Sieges Even album is probably A Sense of Change…it’s just lovely, and the most Rush-influenced in their catalog. Sophisticated is great too, with some insanely good guitar work (in addition to the rhythm section, but nothing new there of course )

But yes, as a whole package, their last two records are excellent.

Poor writing on my part.  I knew what I meant in my head so I guess I just skipped some words. "None of them were as good" should have been "none of the singers on those albums were as good." I do like A Sense of Change a lot, but the vocals are just ok imo.

[Glasser]

I wish Sieges Even re-recorded "Steps". It would have been a total classic with a different singer. I guess the same would be true with Lifecycle but Sophisticated is my favorite.

[Kram]

I didn't do this one or really follow along - but no David Longdon?  I know I'm a bit partial but the dude was awesome!

[HOF]

I didn't do this one or really follow along - but no David Longdon?  I know I'm a bit partial but the dude was awesome!

My number 4 singer! Could have used your vote!

[hefdaddy42]

Love the shout outs to Roy Orbison (I forgot him; he would have made mine) and Big John Cash.

I find Roy Orbison absolutely brutal to listen to.

SMH

[Kram]

I didn't do this one or really follow along - but no David Longdon?  I know I'm a bit partial but the dude was awesome!

My number 4 singer! Could have used your vote!

Sorry I don't always have time to participate in these things.  He would've been in my top 5 as well no doubt!

[HOF]

I didn't do this one or really follow along - but no David Longdon?  I know I'm a bit partial but the dude was awesome!

My number 4 singer! Could have used your vote!

Sorry I don't always have time to participate in these things.  He would've been in my top 5 as well no doubt!

No worries, this one was a pretty big commitment. I don't think many of the BBT fans participated, otherwise I imagine he would have had a shot to make the list. He did get a few votes besides mine though.

[Samsara]

Kev - thank you, as always, for running these. 

[DragonAttack]

I am fairly new here but even I had no trouble guessing who the votes for Brian May and Roger Taylor were coming from. Queen is far from my n. 1 band but you have to give it to them - apart from having the greatest rock singer ever, they also had the other really good vocalist. If we were to rank bands based on their average vocal competence across all members, Queen would be easy winners...

 

I had a list of 40 or so, with Sinatra, Collins, Bono, Steven Tyler etc, but, as others pointed out, this was a ‘favorites list’.  Brian and Roger LVs added to my enjoyment of Queen LPs FIVE decades ago.  I sorely missed that after ‘The Game’, and it's probably why 'Let Me Live' is one of my ten favorites, because they are ALL featured.


Those two did provide me enough on their own releases to give me three really good and very often  listened to ‘best ofs’.

Off the top of my head regarding multiple lead vocalists:
The Beatles had Paul, John, and George (yeah, there was Ringo, too). 

Styx with DeYoung, Shaw, and Young (I really enjoy JY's ‘Midnight Ride’, ‘Miss America’, ‘Great White Hope’, and  ‘Snowblind’)

Chicago with Robert Lamm, Peter Cetera and Terry Kath.
 
Supertramp with Roger Hodson and Rick Davies.   

Journey hit the big time with Steve Perry, but the duets with Greg Rollie on ‘Feeling That Way’ / ‘Anytime’ and ‘Just The Same Way’ took the songs to another level (how petty of the band not include those songs on their ‘Greatest Hits’ to keep Rollie from receiving additional royalties! It’s not their ‘Greatest Hits’ without those tunes ).

The Eagles:  Frey, Henley, and Meisner and Leadon. Oh, and then there was Walsh and Schmidt

Fleetwood Mac with  Buckingham, Nicks, McVie

KISS  Stanley, Simmons, (Criss and Frehley to an extent)

REM   Mike Miles had some good offerings with ‘Texarkana’ and ‘Love Is All Around’

A shame DeGarmo wasn’t used for changes of pace with Queensryche.  I really enjoy ‘All I Want’.   Variety can be a benefit.

[crazy climber dude]

I am fairly new here but even I had no trouble guessing who the votes for Brian May and Roger Taylor were coming from. Queen is far from my n. 1 band but you have to give it to them - apart from having the greatest rock singer ever, they also had the other really good vocalist. If we were to rank bands based on their average vocal competence across all members, Queen would be easy winners...

 

I had a list of 40 or so, with Sinatra, Collins, Bono, Steven Tyler etc, but, as others pointed out, this was a ‘favorites list’.  Brian and Roger LVs added to my enjoyment of Queen LPs FIVE decades ago.  I sorely missed that after ‘The Game’, and it's probably why 'Let Me Live' is one of my ten favorites, because they are ALL featured.


Those two did provide me enough on their own releases to give me three really good and very often  listened to ‘best ofs’.

Off the top of my head regarding multiple lead vocalists:
The Beatles had Paul, John, and George (yeah, there was Ringo, too). 

Styx with DeYoung, Shaw, and Young (I really enjoy JY's ‘Midnight Ride’, ‘Miss America’, ‘Great White Hope’, and  ‘Snowblind’)

Chicago with Robert Lamm, Peter Cetera and Terry Kath.
 
Supertramp with Roger Hodson and Rick Davies.   

Journey hit the big time with Steve Perry, but the duets with Greg Rollie on ‘Feeling That Way’ / ‘Anytime’ and ‘Just The Same Way’ took the songs to another level (how petty of the band not include those songs on their ‘Greatest Hits’ to keep Rollie from receiving additional royalties! It’s not their ‘Greatest Hits’ without those tunes ).

The Eagles:  Frey, Henley, and Meisner and Leadon. Oh, and then there was Walsh and Schmidt

Fleetwood Mac with  Buckingham, Nicks, McVie

KISS  Stanley, Simmons, (Criss and Frehley to an extent)

REM   Mike Miles had some good offerings with ‘Texarkana’ and ‘Love Is All Around’

A shame DeGarmo wasn’t used for changes of pace with Queensryche.  I really enjoy ‘All I Want’.   Variety can be a benefit.

Triumph - Rik Emmitt, Gil Moore

Blue Oyster Cult  - Eric Bloom, Donald Roeser (aka Buck Dharma)....and even Joe Bouchard on some songs.

Kansas - Steve Walsh, Robbie Steinhardt

Deep Purple - Glenn Hughes, David Coverdale

The Who - Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend

Ted Nugent - Ted, Derek St. Holmes

Pink Floyd - David Gilmour, Roger Waters

Interesting all of these (as well as most of the ones listed by DragonAttack) are classic, mainly hard rock bands originating from an earlier era. 

[ZirconBlue]

Love the shout outs to Roy Orbison (I forgot him; he would have made mine) and Big John Cash.

I find Roy Orbison absolutely brutal to listen to.

SMH

Orbison has a very distinctive voice. . . that I do not enjoy the sound of.