stage presence/aura/style was as important as singing ability.
That's what puts the likes of Iggy Pop on the list. It's what puts most of them on the list.
In that regard, it's really a random subjective list.
I love Johnny Cash, but he's not much of a singer, nor is he much to watch on stage. Songwriting was meh for a top of the charts guy. He just had an 'it' factor. I wouldn't have put him on the list, though.
I mean, how do you compare singers of totally different styles and genres in order to rank them? Your subjective preference for the type of music comes heavily into play.
That said, I think everyone can agree as to Dylan. I mean he's a genius, but he wasn't a great singer even in his younger days. Him over Freddie, Plant, etc. is a joke.
stage presence/aura/style was as important as singing ability.
That's what puts the likes of Iggy Pop on the list. It's what puts most of them on the list.
In that regard, it's really a random subjective list.
I love Johnny Cash, but he's not much of a singer, nor is he much to watch on stage. Songwriting was meh for a top of the charts guy. He just had an 'it' factor. I wouldn't have put him on the list, though.
I listened to a cover of a Johnny Cash song. It was just wrong.
Young Plant is one of the greatest singers ever. It's top 'singers' not best 'voices'. Hence Plant, Dylan and others high on this list. As they should be.
LOL - there is no Robert Plant if not for him aping Steve Marriott. (Link related)
Any great singer; Paul Rodgers, winwood, etc., etc., m would tell you that Marriott was THE MAN.
What a joke list. Link - ( New Window )
Talk about taking an extreme view. Did Zep play fast and loose with some copyrights? Yep. That doesn't account for 7 albums that range from epic to really good. As a vocalist plant doesn't need to validate anything. His tracks and live performances speak for themselves. Eloquently.
Talk about taking an extreme view. Did Zep play fast and loose with some copyrights? Yep. That doesn't account for 7 albums that range from epic to really good. As a vocalist plant doesn't need to validate anything. His tracks and live performances speak for themselves. Eloquently.
Yes yes you’re right, sorry to piss off any Zep lovers. Plant is great, but the point is thatZep’s “whole lotta love “ is blatant theft of “You need lovin”, by the Small Faces - a band that Plant was a big fan of and followed closely as a youngster.
Page has said that when he was forming LZ he was looking for a Marriott-style singer, and he certainly found one in Plant.
But Steve Marriott was the original article. He was the standard that many emulated but no one duplicated.
He was a vocal stylist that voiced ( and I think the only one who could have voiced) some great songs ( and many he wrote can be done better than others) that I don't see the light of day without his version of them out there.
Same holds true of Rap and many Blues singers. Did they sound conventionally like "singers"? not at all. Look at the write ups for Willie Nelson's line readings and syntax and look at the write ups for Lou Reed. That's where on the list Dylan belongs as a singer. If there at all. What he taught songwriters is the freedom to write what you want and not what sounds good...if the package of delivery and lyrics works it will work.
One other thing: Dylan eventually became a great arranger of music. Singing his and other songs to blends of bluegrass, sing, jazz, gospel, several forms of country
So can Howlin Wolf or Son House or Eminem or RunDMC's lead singer or JayZ be considered a great American Singer? Probably not. Did they voice things we now agree should have been said? yep
So I can see some rationale for including him or excluding him from a list of singers.
As an American songwriter its hard to compare his total output and great peaks with many others. Cole Porter? Porter wrote many fewer songs at a time where many fewer songs were written. Stephen Foster? Was he a songwriter or a compiler of what had been written at the time? ( I don't know). Rogers and Hammerstein? I don't know.
Holland Dozier Holland? I could see them in the top 3 or 4
and it looks surprisingly good. About right, I'd say.
Newsflash folks, our musical opinions, no matter how well-founded, are not going to be reflected by a Rolling Stone top 100 list. Blues and Jazz always get screwed. Sinatra and Bessie Smith definitely belong near the top, but they always leave out those artists that don't bleed directly into that greater Pop Rock, Beatles and on-centered catalog.
Dylan definitely belongs up there. I opened it and said Sam Cooke has to be near the top. Elvis, yup. Marvin and JB in the top ten. All correct. Aretha is not my favorite ever but I get it.
I really can’t begin to understand Aretha. A legend obviously.
But over the last few years I’ve listened to a surprising amount of Tina and all I can say is she was perfect. I know about the Mariah comps. Mariah had more range than anyone.
But Tina was better to hear. I’ve just been mesmerized by how good of a singer she is. The SB anthem was recorded, that’s the nature of the game. But her voice was just something else. Mercury for men, Tina for Women.
Don't have any of her albums or any of her recorded music at all but, Patti Labelle should be about 50 - 60 slots higher.
PL has one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard. Only Aretha was better.
"And after all these years of singing, she's hitting notes that some opera stars can't hit."
Bob Dylan is a better singer than Patti LaBelle? I am pretty sure no one ever described Dylan's voice like that previous camparison.
I am not sure who put together this list but, obviously they were going for the controversial angle or mis-named this list to get discussions going and more clicks.
One could easily make the case that Sinatra was the most influential true technical singer of the last 100 years who influenced what we think singing really is
Additionally, Billie Holiday would be close to booth Ella and Aretha for Sinatra said she was his biggest influence outside of trying to be like an instrument in a band
Lastly, like it or not, Bing Crosby's style of crooning widened what we thought singing was and enabled acceptance of a wider group of Country, Western, Swing and Pop voices.
Sinatra has a public persona as a playboy but he had a legendary work ethic and attention to detail. For example, he did an enormous amount of underwater breadth control exercises per day, a lot of vocal exercises used by opera singers and spent a lot of time trying to accompany different musical instruments so he could "duet" with instruments. Matching the singer as if it was another ( but fronting) instrument in the band ( Dorsey, Basie, Ellington, etc. etc.) as opposed to a separate element of the entertainment was a unique contribution of Sinatra among others. Jazz players and band leaders and later pop/swing band leaders considered him a terrific musician
Hard for me to understand how he wouldn't be first as contributor who changed how a lot of music is heard
I haven't seen the list, but I can justify placing Dylan over several more technically gifted singers based on the fact that when I hear him sing, it actually has an effect on me.
for this list that they have not made clear.
I LOVE Aretha, Brother Ray and Elvis!
But the best male singer of all time is Frank Sinatra.
The best female singer of all time is Ella Fitzgerald.
Game, Set, Match!
I think it's a very safe assumption that when it comes from rolling stone, anything outside the pop/rock realm is largely irrelevant. That's why Jimi Hendrix is a great guitarist, but Andreas Segovia is unimportant. It's always the same crap with those lists. They are pretty much a quasi-random assortment of popular music artists.
Greg Lake
Lowell George
George Harrison
Richard Manual
David Gilmour
Pete Townshend
and a bunch of others who maybe just weren't popular enough for this list.
That's what puts the likes of Iggy Pop on the list. It's what puts most of them on the list.
In that regard, it's really a random subjective list.
I love Johnny Cash, but he's not much of a singer, nor is he much to watch on stage. Songwriting was meh for a top of the charts guy. He just had an 'it' factor. I wouldn't have put him on the list, though.
gregg allman (not even listed in top 100)
freddie mercury
gregg allman (not even listed in top 100)
freddie mercury
well, maybe bowie 3 and mercury 4.
bob dylan should be around 9,000
That said, I think everyone can agree as to Dylan. I mean he's a genius, but he wasn't a great singer even in his younger days. Him over Freddie, Plant, etc. is a joke.
No Sinatra - he is an icon and a fantastic singer
Mercury should be top 10
Van Morrison, Mick Jagger (See Dylan)
awful
Mercury and Steve Perry should be up there.
That's what puts the likes of Iggy Pop on the list. It's what puts most of them on the list.
In that regard, it's really a random subjective list.
I love Johnny Cash, but he's not much of a singer, nor is he much to watch on stage. Songwriting was meh for a top of the charts guy. He just had an 'it' factor. I wouldn't have put him on the list, though.
I listened to a cover of a Johnny Cash song. It was just wrong.
Is Rolling Stone Mag still relevant ??
Any great singer; Paul Rodgers, winwood, etc., etc., m would tell you that Marriott was THE MAN.
What a joke list.
Link - ( New Window )
Yes yes you’re right, sorry to piss off any Zep lovers. Plant is great, but the point is thatZep’s “whole lotta love “ is blatant theft of “You need lovin”, by the Small Faces - a band that Plant was a big fan of and followed closely as a youngster.
Page has said that when he was forming LZ he was looking for a Marriott-style singer, and he certainly found one in Plant.
But Steve Marriott was the original article. He was the standard that many emulated but no one duplicated.
not really concerned with the order of those selected- splitting hairs in some cases.Some that were left off stand out.
Bob Dylan is the 8th greatest "singer"? Seriously?
The list goes on
Thom Yorke?
Dylan?
He was a vocal stylist that voiced ( and I think the only one who could have voiced) some great songs ( and many he wrote can be done better than others) that I don't see the light of day without his version of them out there.
Same holds true of Rap and many Blues singers. Did they sound conventionally like "singers"? not at all. Look at the write ups for Willie Nelson's line readings and syntax and look at the write ups for Lou Reed. That's where on the list Dylan belongs as a singer. If there at all. What he taught songwriters is the freedom to write what you want and not what sounds good...if the package of delivery and lyrics works it will work.
One other thing: Dylan eventually became a great arranger of music. Singing his and other songs to blends of bluegrass, sing, jazz, gospel, several forms of country
So can Howlin Wolf or Son House or Eminem or RunDMC's lead singer or JayZ be considered a great American Singer? Probably not. Did they voice things we now agree should have been said? yep
So I can see some rationale for including him or excluding him from a list of singers.
As an American songwriter its hard to compare his total output and great peaks with many others. Cole Porter? Porter wrote many fewer songs at a time where many fewer songs were written. Stephen Foster? Was he a songwriter or a compiler of what had been written at the time? ( I don't know). Rogers and Hammerstein? I don't know.
Holland Dozier Holland? I could see them in the top 3 or 4
Newsflash folks, our musical opinions, no matter how well-founded, are not going to be reflected by a Rolling Stone top 100 list. Blues and Jazz always get screwed. Sinatra and Bessie Smith definitely belong near the top, but they always leave out those artists that don't bleed directly into that greater Pop Rock, Beatles and on-centered catalog.
Dylan definitely belongs up there. I opened it and said Sam Cooke has to be near the top. Elvis, yup. Marvin and JB in the top ten. All correct. Aretha is not my favorite ever but I get it.
Freddy Fender would make my list.
I love Jagger, but he and Dylan ahead of Van Morrison, Freddie Mercury and Steve Winwood is a huge embarrassment.
If he was not on it, this list is merely to provoke not to sincerely make a best singers list.
I really can’t begin to understand Aretha. A legend obviously.
But over the last few years I’ve listened to a surprising amount of Tina and all I can say is she was perfect. I know about the Mariah comps. Mariah had more range than anyone.
But Tina was better to hear. I’ve just been mesmerized by how good of a singer she is. The SB anthem was recorded, that’s the nature of the game. But her voice was just something else. Mercury for men, Tina for Women.
Patti Smith doesn't even sing.
.
Don't have any of her albums or any of her recorded music at all but, Patti Labelle should be about 50 - 60 slots higher.
PL has one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard. Only Aretha was better.
"And after all these years of singing, she's hitting notes that some opera stars can't hit."
Bob Dylan is a better singer than Patti LaBelle? I am pretty sure no one ever described Dylan's voice like that previous camparison.
I am not sure who put together this list but, obviously they were going for the controversial angle or mis-named this list to get discussions going and more clicks.
But are we talking about voices? If so, #9? WTF?
I LOVE Aretha, Brother Ray and Elvis!
But the best male singer of all time is Frank Sinatra.
The best female singer of all time is Ella Fitzgerald.
Game, Set, Match!
not really concerned with the order of those selected- splitting hairs in some cases.Some that were left off stand out.
+1 Very Good list of great voices left off the count!
Additionally, Billie Holiday would be close to booth Ella and Aretha for Sinatra said she was his biggest influence outside of trying to be like an instrument in a band
Lastly, like it or not, Bing Crosby's style of crooning widened what we thought singing was and enabled acceptance of a wider group of Country, Western, Swing and Pop voices.
Sinatra has a public persona as a playboy but he had a legendary work ethic and attention to detail. For example, he did an enormous amount of underwater breadth control exercises per day, a lot of vocal exercises used by opera singers and spent a lot of time trying to accompany different musical instruments so he could "duet" with instruments. Matching the singer as if it was another ( but fronting) instrument in the band ( Dorsey, Basie, Ellington, etc. etc.) as opposed to a separate element of the entertainment was a unique contribution of Sinatra among others. Jazz players and band leaders and later pop/swing band leaders considered him a terrific musician
Hard for me to understand how he wouldn't be first as contributor who changed how a lot of music is heard
I LOVE Aretha, Brother Ray and Elvis!
But the best male singer of all time is Frank Sinatra.
The best female singer of all time is Ella Fitzgerald.
Game, Set, Match!
I think it's a very safe assumption that when it comes from rolling stone, anything outside the pop/rock realm is largely irrelevant. That's why Jimi Hendrix is a great guitarist, but Andreas Segovia is unimportant. It's always the same crap with those lists. They are pretty much a quasi-random assortment of popular music artists.