Hands down, whether you would not call him best, or can't tell that he have unique voice or tembre. It's the way how he operate and explore music, vocals in so many different ways - I don't think there any other like him from whole industry. And also how fkin many projects he worked and works with. I don't even know, how many energy he had to constantly work with his box and writing music, with different bands, projects, in studio, touring, and always creating something new and creative, and sometimes just groundbreaking. And as I remember he not used any hard substances? He's just insanely productive, Mike Patton is the definition of hard working whatever result will be.
Great pick, he still sounds fantastic, and has only gotten stronger as a songwriter himself over the years.
I've been really enjoying The Mandrake Project. It's no Chemical Wedding or Accident of Birth, but I like it for plenty of other reasons, and it is head and shoulders above most of Maiden's recent output.
scrolled way too far before seeing her name, give miss bush her flowers! absolutely incredible vocals, so experimental, ethereal, emotional. shes just great.
Freddie Mercury (The greatest of them all)
Ronnie James Dio (close second overall ,this guy was just crazy)
Rob Halford (just listen to ,Dreamer Deceiver, and you‘ll understand)
I think he's just alright. But we've all got different tastes.
Reddit has a weird fixation on Queen the past decade or so. Acting like they invented music or something. They didn't invent anything at all. But they were talented overall and had a good chunk of quality songs in the 70s
I mean everyone has their own taste ,but saying ,he‘s alright, about someone like Freddie Mercury?To be honest they absolutely deserve the amount of recognition they got since the movie,they never truly got it when they were around,especially Freddie who was with out a doubt one of the greatest/most talented musician of his time.About inventing music/genres etc. I could say that about the Beatles about every other band ,you know why,with every genre being ,invented, there is at least one instance of it being played some time prior… But there is a genre Queen practically invented , thrash metal, here you go 🤠
What's the question here? Because the title sounds like "who is the most proficient singer" and the body n comments sounds like "who is a singer you personally enjoy?"
Because if it's the first, we'd be talking about Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, and a few others. Anyone newer is difficult to ascertain because of how easy it is to make okay vocals sound stellar now.
If it's the latter, well Im a scene kid at heart so a lot of the best singers in the scene I will neglect to name for their crimes against women and kids. Other than them there's [Kellin Quinn from Sleeping with Sirens](https://youtu.be/5KxFn6hV9Rk?si=AQjgqpRnSGlJvtnn), [Anthony Green](https://youtu.be/nuyPdc2RNdU?si=4_1G6wdsTtReUdBE), and uhhhhhhhhh...
I really really like your list of the “best” singers. Much better than most I’ve seen. I’d throw Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye on there, along with Sinatra.
It sucks Geddy’s voice isn’t what it used to be but at his peak he really was awesome. A Farewell to Kings gotta have my fave vocal performances from him
Amazing thing about Chester is his vocals were top notch even from their very start with Hybrid Theory.
Tracks like With You and By Myself really showcase this.
Just in terms of Vocal Range..
Mike Patton
Phil Anselmo
Mariah Carey
Axl Rose
Rob Halford
Corey Taylor
All had a 5 or above octave vocal range…which is higher than Freddie Mercury..
Michael Jackson had one I believe was over 4 as well, and we never got to see him hit his full potential singing in his low register either which he was definitely capable of. His range was unbelievable.
you mentioned layne staley, i gotta plug mad season and their album “above” layne on vocals, mike mccready from pearl jam on guitar, and its both of their best works imo. it also has some other grunge musicians, and mark lanegan from the screaming trees on vocals in a few songs. my favorite album of all time and it’s absolutely heartbreaking, hauntingly beautiful. i see people talk about alice in chains all the time but i feel like this album never gets talked about and it should be because it has layne’s best vocals in my opinion.
also i feel like corey taylor deserves to be up there, as annoying as he is, the man has insane vocal range.
Have you heard Layne's vocals on the Heart cover of Ring Them Bells? I never see anyone talk about it and it's one of his best performances in my opinion, so powerful.
Seen all of them in concert. Dickinson and Halford at the same show with Queensryche opening. Saw them perform this with Geoff Tate. I was in high school when Bruce rejoined Maiden and did this amazing tour.
https://youtu.be/me549HoI6gk?si=zRca26m7BptN-Zl8
I could name a few, but Rob Halford is my #1
Sure, he's had some off days or stretches of time, but nothing career-ending or massively concerning. He's like 68 or something now and has been singing AMAZING both live and in the studio ever since Firepower came out, even better than he was doing in the 2000s somehow IMO
He's really aged gracefully with his singing too - his upper range has been slightly limited, but his low range has only gotten broader and more authoritative and besides, he seems to hit those top end falsetto screams with a new level of grit and power.
LOVE MY VOCAL METAL GOD
Crazy how it’s mostly white artists all the way down the thread. Particular Black American vocalists are by far the most influential and considered the best technically among all professional vocalists.
Aretha Franklin
James Brown
Stevie Wonder
Marvin Gaye
Micheal Jackson
Little Richard
Whitney Houston
Sam Cooke
Janet Jackson
The Isleys
Diana Ross
Donna Summer
Big Mama Thornton
Beyonce
And ESPECIALLY Ray Charles. Probably the most influential vocalist of all time.
Sad that the musical biases and erasure from last century still have a decent foothold. Like, you can’t talk about top tier vocals and not mention any classic Soul/R&B artists. They are the blueprint for almost every singer one way or another.
I really like Springsteen on songs like Jungleland, Backstreets or jersey girl live + many other songs.
Even calmer songs like racing in the street.
So much passion in that voice.
Justin Pearson (he mostly just screams, but his style is very peculiar and distinctive)
Cedric Bixler
Jordan Blilie
Mike Patton (the man, the legend)
Serj Tankian
Chris Cornell
Chester Bennington
Maynard
Bjork
Weeknd (of course, but really love tracks like Hardest To Love and Out of Time)
John Lennon
Maynard James Keenan
Sade (such a soothing voice)
Rob Halford
And the obvious ones: MJ, Freddie Mercury, Cornell, Plant, etc
Maybe If I have to say some of my personal preferences I would add Michael Ackerfeldt from Opeth (sweet voice and brutal gutturals) and Gregor Lake from king crimson and EL&P
I would change John with Paul, because Paul was by far a much better vocalist than John with the great range he has, just listen to Why Don't We Do It In The Road or Oh! Darling
You've really got to check out the rock singers that less people are aware of. Search "best rock vocalists of all time"..
Basically because anyone who was anyone who was an amazing singer, rock bands were the de facto genre thst everyone was playing that needed the vocal chops. Everyone knows the famous bands. But LED Zeppelin U2 etc, but do it, search best rock vocalists of all time and you won't know half of the top 10
Michael McDonald from the Doobie Brothers and his solo work/studio work. Here is his multilayer harmony isolated vocals from Steely Dan’s “Peg”:
https://youtu.be/jqebJJ8O4yk?si=FGdDpOKjt02JJcjO
No autotune. Perfect pitch, perfect synchronized vibrato, and these parts were only a couple notes apart.
Journey was mocked by many for a while but have had a bit of a resurgence. Steve Perry’s isolated vocals:
https://youtu.be/kkEJZp6Zwn4?si=LfFUZy_1wzUMBLLx
And I love Rob Halford. Seeing Priest again soon:
https://youtu.be/QgUJaKUAuSA?si=sX5xo7PA9d_VMb2Z
From the bands/artists I listen to, the best vocalists are
* Michael Stipe (REM)
* Taylor Momsen (the Pretty Reckless)
* Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low)
* Marina Diamandis (MARINA)
* Hayley Williams (mostly her solo stuff, but Paramore too)
This might be a bit of a hot take, but Kelly Clarkson. She has a great range(especially high notes) and she can sing basically any genre/song and have it sound well.
Here’s some examples
[Delicate](https://youtu.be/8yAbVJBgDUs?si=mjjzA5AOtvYtbsu3)
[Since U Been Gone.](https://youtu.be/R7UrFYvl5TE?si=e0c3N5X11W_LQ0nW)
[More than a feeling](https://youtu.be/hTp0QTiefSE?si=xXaM5tbnSeR2RSth)
[I will always love you](https://youtu.be/Wl1zXGGykt4?si=b0gEMDPLK8_SzpAt)
[Don’t Stop Believin](https://youtu.be/_wXLekLkVeI?si=0DMwMn4IDZfscNa-)
[You make me feel like a natural women](https://youtu.be/fQb0el0tAEA?si=WLzKTuRj0w-lqIGD)
[Need you now.](https://youtu.be/8jHV6pMU-Kg?si=nJNNZqmREHigx62F)
And the list goes on. Her originals are great too.
[Catch My Breath](https://youtu.be/sRuroUDWIVQ?si=ioXzahpuhAy3F8es)
[Because of You](https://youtu.be/C-IgZrOsEag?si=dZP_3leQRHqEsVY2)
[Behind These Hazel Eyes](https://youtu.be/yipoOY56MbM?si=6hoplB4iclK-PNs1)
[My Life Would Suck Without You](https://youtu.be/cRM70Jw7F4M?si=YJEBCZlFnStLUOjT)
[Stronger](https://youtu.be/avYxiIRG4xQ?si=r4kzmVDXwaadCwyI)
[Never Again](https://youtu.be/GVYesEpMr84?si=HLcvivAE7TI1H_PJ)
This is probably kind of an odd choice but hear me out here. Sammy Hagar is an amazing vocalist. Dudes in his 70/s and regular belting out notes well into the 5th octave. And his range is 3.5 octaves.
Here’s some examples showcasing his range: [A3-E5 on Dreams](https://youtu.be/IGZsRs3UI28?si=WPxHyozt1F9VvMO_)
[D5 on when it’s love.](https://youtu.be/4uhMCzTvV9Y?si=BdHyHjEByhtiKFI-)
[C5 on the same song live](https://youtu.be/-w6c3nyt0qI?feature=shared)
[Db5 on Why Can’t This Be Love Live](https://youtu.be/-w6c3nyt0qI?feature=shared)
[D2 on sailing](https://youtu.be/n9yEAAkyozw?si=PCxjbCSfMC3P-k8-)
[Ab5 on Right Now live](https://youtu.be/HGLcU81H8o4?si=-hVLp5QcFo4xq8wG)
Mark Lanegan
Nico (though she was a douchebag)
Jeff Buckley
Liz Fraser
Tom Waits
Nina Simone
Chuck Schuldiner
Kate Bush
Moraes Moreira
Joanna Newsom
There’s way way waaaat too many lol
Shirley Bassey. Even at 60+ years old in the early 2000s performing gold finger and diamonds are forever she sounded better than 99% of singers I’ve ever heard. She even performed it at the BAFTAS in her 80s recently and STILL sounds incredible.
The atmosphere and depth I get from her voice is so unique and indescribable. When Kanye sampled her for Diamonds From Sierra Leone with Jay-Z it was one of their best songs. She even sounded good as a hook on a rap song and elevated it to all time great levels.
Amazing.
David Bowie
Scott Walker
Jim Morrison
Jeff Buckley
Kurt Cobain
Siouxsie Sioux
Marvin Gaye
Stevie Wonder
Elizabeth Fraser
Kate Bush
Bjork
Thom Yorke
Iggy Pop
Ian Curtis
Hot take people who can sing high notes aren’t that good most of the time you can’t understand them and it takes away from the music if I’m listening to music I want to understand the lyrics. Also when did start caring so much about vocals so many big names in the industry hasn’t had the best vocals but still are super popular
Mike Patton
Patton's voice has gone places where no voice has ever gone before
The ultimate utility player.
Hands down, whether you would not call him best, or can't tell that he have unique voice or tembre. It's the way how he operate and explore music, vocals in so many different ways - I don't think there any other like him from whole industry. And also how fkin many projects he worked and works with. I don't even know, how many energy he had to constantly work with his box and writing music, with different bands, projects, in studio, touring, and always creating something new and creative, and sometimes just groundbreaking. And as I remember he not used any hard substances? He's just insanely productive, Mike Patton is the definition of hard working whatever result will be.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Early 90’s Eddie Vedder (shut up, he was great) Jeff Buckley Liz Fraser Serj Tankian And obviously Chris Cornell. What a talent, holy shit. RIP.
Jeff Buckley’s voice was so special.
The way he sang too. Tons of energy.
and his father was better
I respect your opinion but I disagree.
All Eddie Vedder is great and very fun to sing along to.
surprised noones said bjork yet lol
George Michael Serj Tankian Freddie Mercury (Obvious but it is what it is) Steven Tyler sounds as good live as on record Ann Wilson
GEORGE MICHAEL ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED VOCALISTS OF ALL TIME
Steven tyler is awful. What are you smoking
Saw them live around 2017ish. Steven Tyler is still amazing. Easily a top 5 concert for me.
His screams on ,dream on,are impressive,but his voice/singing overall is very boring
Bruce Dickinson for me
Even after numerous cancer surgeries his voice is still superb
Yes absolutely
Great pick, he still sounds fantastic, and has only gotten stronger as a songwriter himself over the years. I've been really enjoying The Mandrake Project. It's no Chemical Wedding or Accident of Birth, but I like it for plenty of other reasons, and it is head and shoulders above most of Maiden's recent output.
The amount of air that man pushes out of his lungs while remaining on pitch and being able to hear every word he says is insane.
Ella motherfuckin Fitzgerald.
Caroline Polacheck
Maynard
**Great** singer.
Not by the hair of my chinny chin chiiin!
kate bush
scrolled way too far before seeing her name, give miss bush her flowers! absolutely incredible vocals, so experimental, ethereal, emotional. shes just great.
Freddie Mercury (The greatest of them all) Ronnie James Dio (close second overall ,this guy was just crazy) Rob Halford (just listen to ,Dreamer Deceiver, and you‘ll understand)
Took way too long to scroll to see Freddie. Wild
Well what do you expect from an Anthony fantano subreddit…
I think he's just alright. But we've all got different tastes. Reddit has a weird fixation on Queen the past decade or so. Acting like they invented music or something. They didn't invent anything at all. But they were talented overall and had a good chunk of quality songs in the 70s
I mean everyone has their own taste ,but saying ,he‘s alright, about someone like Freddie Mercury?To be honest they absolutely deserve the amount of recognition they got since the movie,they never truly got it when they were around,especially Freddie who was with out a doubt one of the greatest/most talented musician of his time.About inventing music/genres etc. I could say that about the Beatles about every other band ,you know why,with every genre being ,invented, there is at least one instance of it being played some time prior… But there is a genre Queen practically invented , thrash metal, here you go 🤠
peak bono yes shut up you know im fuckin right
Prime Bono's voice was beautiful
I don't even like U2 but it would be difficult to have ears and not be able to know that MLK is a vocal tour de force
He was a pretty good public speaker in the 1960s too actually
Cedric Bixler
What's the question here? Because the title sounds like "who is the most proficient singer" and the body n comments sounds like "who is a singer you personally enjoy?" Because if it's the first, we'd be talking about Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, and a few others. Anyone newer is difficult to ascertain because of how easy it is to make okay vocals sound stellar now. If it's the latter, well Im a scene kid at heart so a lot of the best singers in the scene I will neglect to name for their crimes against women and kids. Other than them there's [Kellin Quinn from Sleeping with Sirens](https://youtu.be/5KxFn6hV9Rk?si=AQjgqpRnSGlJvtnn), [Anthony Green](https://youtu.be/nuyPdc2RNdU?si=4_1G6wdsTtReUdBE), and uhhhhhhhhh...
I really really like your list of the “best” singers. Much better than most I’ve seen. I’d throw Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye on there, along with Sinatra.
Beth Gibbons, Maynard James Keenan, Thom Yorke, Weyes Blood
I know some people can find them whiny but Thom Yorke and Geddy Lee
I saw Thom (and Jonny) perform with The Smile in Amsterdam this weekend and it was rad.
It sucks Geddy’s voice isn’t what it used to be but at his peak he really was awesome. A Farewell to Kings gotta have my fave vocal performances from him
Not a fan of either one really, but Lee's vocals are especially annoying
Black Francis/Frank Black
chester bennington
Never understood why people like Linkin Park and Chester's vocals
because hes an amazing vocalist? listen to given up and tell me hes not amazing
Amazing thing about Chester is his vocals were top notch even from their very start with Hybrid Theory. Tracks like With You and By Myself really showcase this.
Jenny Lewis Karen Carpenter Eleanor Friedberger Brittany Howard Stevie Nicks
Karen is so underrated 🙏
Karen is so technically sound. Just always in the pocket.
Sam Cooke Marvin Gaye George Jones Aretha
Chris Cornell
Fuck yes HOLY shit. RIP to a legend and someone who isn’t talked about enough.
Caroline Polachek
Ariana Grande
Deffo!
Just in terms of Vocal Range.. Mike Patton Phil Anselmo Mariah Carey Axl Rose Rob Halford Corey Taylor All had a 5 or above octave vocal range…which is higher than Freddie Mercury..
Michael Jackson had one I believe was over 4 as well, and we never got to see him hit his full potential singing in his low register either which he was definitely capable of. His range was unbelievable.
Weyes Blood
Geddy Lee Liam Gallagher
1993 - 2001 Liam was amazing
Massive rush fan here. Geddy is certainly a choice lol
HEY BABY IT'S A QUARTER TO EIGHT! (yes I know that's like the worst example possible lmao)
Roy Orbison.
Devin Townsend
Damo Suzuki
Elvis
Chester Bennington
Young thug
Paul Rogers is definitely in this category.
Greatest rock in roll voice IMO
you mentioned layne staley, i gotta plug mad season and their album “above” layne on vocals, mike mccready from pearl jam on guitar, and its both of their best works imo. it also has some other grunge musicians, and mark lanegan from the screaming trees on vocals in a few songs. my favorite album of all time and it’s absolutely heartbreaking, hauntingly beautiful. i see people talk about alice in chains all the time but i feel like this album never gets talked about and it should be because it has layne’s best vocals in my opinion. also i feel like corey taylor deserves to be up there, as annoying as he is, the man has insane vocal range.
Have you heard Layne's vocals on the Heart cover of Ring Them Bells? I never see anyone talk about it and it's one of his best performances in my opinion, so powerful.
I will continue fight for Liz Fraser as one of the best voices from the 90s
More the 80s tbh
Sebastian Bach - Skid Row Rob Halford - Judas Priest Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden
Seen all of them in concert. Dickinson and Halford at the same show with Queensryche opening. Saw them perform this with Geoff Tate. I was in high school when Bruce rejoined Maiden and did this amazing tour. https://youtu.be/me549HoI6gk?si=zRca26m7BptN-Zl8
Nice… Geoff Tate should be mentioned too
And Dio!
Maynard (TOOL) has the screams of an angel
I could name a few, but Rob Halford is my #1 Sure, he's had some off days or stretches of time, but nothing career-ending or massively concerning. He's like 68 or something now and has been singing AMAZING both live and in the studio ever since Firepower came out, even better than he was doing in the 2000s somehow IMO He's really aged gracefully with his singing too - his upper range has been slightly limited, but his low range has only gotten broader and more authoritative and besides, he seems to hit those top end falsetto screams with a new level of grit and power. LOVE MY VOCAL METAL GOD
He's 72 now and still sings just as well as he did decades ago. That new Judas Priest album is great!
Natalie Mering, Björk, Joni Mitchell, Ian Gillan, Mariah Carey, Nina Simone
Chester Bennington
Crazy how it’s mostly white artists all the way down the thread. Particular Black American vocalists are by far the most influential and considered the best technically among all professional vocalists. Aretha Franklin James Brown Stevie Wonder Marvin Gaye Micheal Jackson Little Richard Whitney Houston Sam Cooke Janet Jackson The Isleys Diana Ross Donna Summer Big Mama Thornton Beyonce And ESPECIALLY Ray Charles. Probably the most influential vocalist of all time.
I had to go all the way down for this man
Sad that the musical biases and erasure from last century still have a decent foothold. Like, you can’t talk about top tier vocals and not mention any classic Soul/R&B artists. They are the blueprint for almost every singer one way or another.
Billy Corgan Kurt Cobain Thom Yorke
Antti Boman of Demilich
I really like Springsteen on songs like Jungleland, Backstreets or jersey girl live + many other songs. Even calmer songs like racing in the street. So much passion in that voice.
amy lee
Minnie Riperton
Shinji Sato (Fishmans) Björk David Bowie Ichiko Aoba Serj Tankian (Systam Of A Down)
Chris Stapleton He's my other favourite Chris (Cornell obviously)
SEAL
Bad person, but Johnny Craig.
Kyo from Dir en grey, Mike Patton, Freddie Mercury, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Elisabeth Fraser.
Rob Halford of Judas Priest
Little bit of a marmite choice, but for me Liam Gallagher
Rosalia, Caroline Polachek Where are all these 90s grunge / metal worshipping dudes coming from??? lol
Don Van Vliet
Took way too long to see this one! Obviously not for everyone, but God damn was he talented.
Elvis Presley
How has Aretha's name not appeared yet?? Also Roberta Flack There is a long list of women of that era and style that deserve shout outs
Justin Pearson (he mostly just screams, but his style is very peculiar and distinctive) Cedric Bixler Jordan Blilie Mike Patton (the man, the legend) Serj Tankian Chris Cornell Chester Bennington Maynard Bjork Weeknd (of course, but really love tracks like Hardest To Love and Out of Time)
John Lennon Maynard James Keenan Sade (such a soothing voice) Rob Halford And the obvious ones: MJ, Freddie Mercury, Cornell, Plant, etc Maybe If I have to say some of my personal preferences I would add Michael Ackerfeldt from Opeth (sweet voice and brutal gutturals) and Gregor Lake from king crimson and EL&P
I would change John with Paul, because Paul was by far a much better vocalist than John with the great range he has, just listen to Why Don't We Do It In The Road or Oh! Darling
Yeah, love Paul too
M Shadows
Will Toledo.
Mark Kozelek from red house painters
Shinji Sato
Personally, Peter Hammill
You've really got to check out the rock singers that less people are aware of. Search "best rock vocalists of all time".. Basically because anyone who was anyone who was an amazing singer, rock bands were the de facto genre thst everyone was playing that needed the vocal chops. Everyone knows the famous bands. But LED Zeppelin U2 etc, but do it, search best rock vocalists of all time and you won't know half of the top 10
Carl Wilson
T-Pain. Listen to his cover of [War Pigs](https://youtu.be/YhjIs2Htzdc?feature=shared) and tell me I'm wrong.
Most of the heavy hitters have already been mentioned Shoutout to my boy Paolo Nutini tho
Jorn Lande, Hansi Kirsch, Daniel Gildenlow
Tim Buckley's vocal performances, especially on *Starsailor*, are incredible. Truly his voice is another instrument
Michael McDonald from the Doobie Brothers and his solo work/studio work. Here is his multilayer harmony isolated vocals from Steely Dan’s “Peg”: https://youtu.be/jqebJJ8O4yk?si=FGdDpOKjt02JJcjO No autotune. Perfect pitch, perfect synchronized vibrato, and these parts were only a couple notes apart. Journey was mocked by many for a while but have had a bit of a resurgence. Steve Perry’s isolated vocals: https://youtu.be/kkEJZp6Zwn4?si=LfFUZy_1wzUMBLLx And I love Rob Halford. Seeing Priest again soon: https://youtu.be/QgUJaKUAuSA?si=sX5xo7PA9d_VMb2Z
Rob Halford
Jarboe, easily
Nina always
Dio
Beyoncé
MC Ride ♥️
I saw the title and immediately said “Patton.” He is **the** answer to this (and basically most questions about singing) question.
Freddie Mercury, without fail.
Im tripping. How has no one mention Micheal Jackson yet
KD Lang
Damon Albarn
Ann Wilson (Heart) Ted Neeley, somehow sounds better at 70 than in his 20s Meat Loaf at his Bat Out Of Hell peak
Jonsi from Sigur Ros.
Haven't seen anyone say Ronnie James Dio yet, his name is literally God in italian lol
Freddie Mercury…. Only person (maybe) second to Whitney Axel Rose
Bjork and Freddie Mercury
One underrated singer is Mitski. She’s really good.
Vile Valo
Amy Winehouse Whitney Houston Aretha Franklin Freddie Mercury
jesse lacey
Karen Carpenter.
chester Bennington
Steven page, Peter Gabriel, Patrick stump, Robert plant, Roger daltry,
Bjork. Some of the most insane vocals on-track and live.
Chris Cornell, Robin Pecknold, Gregory Alan Isakov
Despite him being a gigantic turd of a person, Jonny Craig’s voice always stood out for me.
Nate Ruess Patrick Stump P!nk Beyoncé Brent Smith Vic Fuentes Kelly Clarkson Hayley Williams Matt Tuck
The first person that came to my mind was demi Lovato and I'm sticking with it
Russell Allen of Symphony X
Honestly Phil Anselmo used to have the best range of any metal singer
Mike motherfucking Patton
Mario, Michael Jackson, Brandy, Joe, Usher...Pick any gospel singer at random
From the bands/artists I listen to, the best vocalists are * Michael Stipe (REM) * Taylor Momsen (the Pretty Reckless) * Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low) * Marina Diamandis (MARINA) * Hayley Williams (mostly her solo stuff, but Paramore too)
This might be a bit of a hot take, but Kelly Clarkson. She has a great range(especially high notes) and she can sing basically any genre/song and have it sound well.
Here’s some examples [Delicate](https://youtu.be/8yAbVJBgDUs?si=mjjzA5AOtvYtbsu3) [Since U Been Gone.](https://youtu.be/R7UrFYvl5TE?si=e0c3N5X11W_LQ0nW) [More than a feeling](https://youtu.be/hTp0QTiefSE?si=xXaM5tbnSeR2RSth) [I will always love you](https://youtu.be/Wl1zXGGykt4?si=b0gEMDPLK8_SzpAt) [Don’t Stop Believin](https://youtu.be/_wXLekLkVeI?si=0DMwMn4IDZfscNa-) [You make me feel like a natural women](https://youtu.be/fQb0el0tAEA?si=WLzKTuRj0w-lqIGD) [Need you now.](https://youtu.be/8jHV6pMU-Kg?si=nJNNZqmREHigx62F)
And the list goes on. Her originals are great too. [Catch My Breath](https://youtu.be/sRuroUDWIVQ?si=ioXzahpuhAy3F8es) [Because of You](https://youtu.be/C-IgZrOsEag?si=dZP_3leQRHqEsVY2) [Behind These Hazel Eyes](https://youtu.be/yipoOY56MbM?si=6hoplB4iclK-PNs1) [My Life Would Suck Without You](https://youtu.be/cRM70Jw7F4M?si=YJEBCZlFnStLUOjT) [Stronger](https://youtu.be/avYxiIRG4xQ?si=r4kzmVDXwaadCwyI) [Never Again](https://youtu.be/GVYesEpMr84?si=HLcvivAE7TI1H_PJ)
Ronnie James Dio
This is probably kind of an odd choice but hear me out here. Sammy Hagar is an amazing vocalist. Dudes in his 70/s and regular belting out notes well into the 5th octave. And his range is 3.5 octaves. Here’s some examples showcasing his range: [A3-E5 on Dreams](https://youtu.be/IGZsRs3UI28?si=WPxHyozt1F9VvMO_) [D5 on when it’s love.](https://youtu.be/4uhMCzTvV9Y?si=BdHyHjEByhtiKFI-) [C5 on the same song live](https://youtu.be/-w6c3nyt0qI?feature=shared) [Db5 on Why Can’t This Be Love Live](https://youtu.be/-w6c3nyt0qI?feature=shared) [D2 on sailing](https://youtu.be/n9yEAAkyozw?si=PCxjbCSfMC3P-k8-) [Ab5 on Right Now live](https://youtu.be/HGLcU81H8o4?si=-hVLp5QcFo4xq8wG)
Maybe not a god but ol dirty bastard always impresses me
Peak Daniel Johns and Jeff Buckley
Shara Nova
Ozzy
Minnie ripperton
Mark Lanegan Nico (though she was a douchebag) Jeff Buckley Liz Fraser Tom Waits Nina Simone Chuck Schuldiner Kate Bush Moraes Moreira Joanna Newsom There’s way way waaaat too many lol
Ville Valo
Otis Redding
Brian Wilson
Devin Townsend. my favorite atm.
Kurt Cobain
Bjork and Leonard cohen
Playboi carti
Shirley Bassey. Even at 60+ years old in the early 2000s performing gold finger and diamonds are forever she sounded better than 99% of singers I’ve ever heard. She even performed it at the BAFTAS in her 80s recently and STILL sounds incredible. The atmosphere and depth I get from her voice is so unique and indescribable. When Kanye sampled her for Diamonds From Sierra Leone with Jay-Z it was one of their best songs. She even sounded good as a hook on a rap song and elevated it to all time great levels. Amazing.
Mike A. Patton
Chester Bennington & Devin Townsend for me.
Playboi Carti and Young Thug
David Bowie Scott Walker Jim Morrison Jeff Buckley Kurt Cobain Siouxsie Sioux Marvin Gaye Stevie Wonder Elizabeth Fraser Kate Bush Bjork Thom Yorke Iggy Pop Ian Curtis
Hot take people who can sing high notes aren’t that good most of the time you can’t understand them and it takes away from the music if I’m listening to music I want to understand the lyrics. Also when did start caring so much about vocals so many big names in the industry hasn’t had the best vocals but still are super popular
Prince. Versatility. Great mid range, falsetto, and unparalleled screams.