Best male singing voice ever...who has it?!

[Phil Taylor]

I have to vote for Todd Rundgren - a versatile voice, versatile performer, multi-talented musician that can play nearly any instrument, master recording technician and great composer all in one timeless package for over 40 years. Todd can wail on Blues or Rock both vocally and instrumentally. His voice can range from a mellow soul and blues to wailing rock - he's my favorite performer of alllllll tiiiiimme and highly underrated IMHO.

 

[asspadtycoon]

Best Voice

Freddy Mercury and Steve Perry have terribly thin voices. They're good voices, but their range is very limited at best. To be considered with the best, you must have amazing range. As a male vocalist, you must have serious balls but also be able to belt out the highs as well. Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Robert Plant (in his prime), and Van Morrison come to mind, but there are many others. Versatility is another major consideration... being able to single a mellow ballad as well as belting out a powerful song is important when considering the greatest male voice. Come to think of it, Elvis could cover most of these criteria as well, but his voice was a tad thin.

 

[asspadtycoon]

Phil Taylor is right about Todd....probably the most talented all around contributor to rock 'n roll. But his voice doesn't meet all of my criteria for being THE best. Don't get me wrong, I love his voice, but it's just not up there with the very best.

 

[Phil Taylor]

Phil Taylor is right about Todd....probably the most talented all around contributor to rock 'n roll. But his voice doesn't meet all of my criteria for being THE best. Don't get me wrong, I love his voice, but it's just not up there with the very best.

Thanks for your appreciation of Todd's multi-talents - but I have to respectfully disagree about his voice. He has one of the best vocal instruments ever - but of course that's just my "humble opinion". Take a listen to Weakness off his new album Arena which is a soulful, mellow ballad and then he comes right back with Strike and belts out out a gravelly AC/DC tribute. BTW - Arena is one of his better albums ever - released at a young 60 years of age and once again he did everything by himself - all instruments, vocals, writing, recording and production - he's once again "A Wizard A True Star".

 

[haraldo]

Freddy Mercury and Steve Perry have terribly thin voices. They're good voices, but their range is very limited at best. To be considered with the best, you must have amazing range. As a male vocalist, you must have serious balls but also be able to belt out the highs as well. Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Robert Plant (in his prime), and Van Morrison come to mind, but there are many others. Versatility is another major consideration... being able to single a mellow ballad as well as belting out a powerful song is important when considering the greatest male voice. Come to think of it, Elvis could cover most of these criteria as well, but his voice was a tad thin.

Can't understand why you say this about Freddy Mercury, don't think there was anyone with a wider range and incredible voice..... and thin voice, what ?????
His voiced was incredibly powerful and strong

 

[lau'chy]

depends

on what your looking for. personally, i think that caleb followill, of Kings Of Leon fame, has the best voice ive ever encountered. all at once it is raw, polished, tremendously harmonic and, quite frankly, the most powerful you could hope to hear. in addition, he has an incredible range and his voice is startling unique, a bit like paolo nutini's, except a billion times better. check out "sex on fire" to see what i mean (take note this is quite a new recording, theyre older stuff is more raw)

 

[hillbill]

Some favs of mine:

Qeoff Tate
Lou Gramm
Steve Perry
John Corabi
Robert Plant

 

[jliedeka]

I said Van Morrison earlier and I stand by that but Geoff Tate's voice always impressed me. I was shocked when I saw him light up a cigarette after a gig.

Jim

 

[MinusTheBear]

Freddy Mercury and Steve Perry have terribly thin voices. They're good voices, but their range is very limited at best. To be considered with the best, you must have amazing range. As a male vocalist, you must have serious balls but also be able to belt out the highs as well. Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Robert Plant (in his prime), and Van Morrison come to mind, but there are many others. Versatility is another major consideration... being able to single a mellow ballad as well as belting out a powerful song is important when considering the greatest male voice. Come to think of it, Elvis could cover most of these criteria as well, but his voice was a tad thin.

What are you smoking???. You are saying Freddy Mercury voice is thin, has limitied range and not very versatile. You have to be kidding, right?

Quite the oppositte. He has all those qualities and then some. His songs are extremely diffucult to sing, he has incrediible range and his voice is extremely powerful. The fact your posts suggests Elvis has a better voice than Freddy Mercury...I don't even know what to type now...I am at a loss for words.

 

[The Dali]

The responses in this thread are incredible. Robert Plant? Seriously? He has a decent voice for rock n' roll, but overall he is marginal when compared to truly gifted singers. I even saw someone type in David Lee Roth, and another James Hetfield... What?!?!

Wow.

I guess all the expensive hi-fi equipment you have must really enhance the sound of these vocals. With my medium-quality stuff those guys sound like they can barely get in tune.

I'll agree that in Rock you can't go wrong with Freddie Mercury. Steve Perry (which has been named an amazing amount of times here) has a good voice, but he's kind of a goober, so I'll pass.

From a hard rock point of view, I'll throw out Dio, Chris Cornell and Bruce Dickinson.

 

[musiclover73]

best male vocalist

It has to be freddie mercury, god rest soul,

his vocal range was limitless, a voice that was god given.

Quoting from the last paragraph in a book dedicated to freddie called "the king of queen"....."he became the colossus of rock...and it remains unluckly that his equal, in all his crowning glory, will ever be seen again".

Female vocal...mmmm theres some good un's out there now, but again, there is no comparison to kate bush, her music may not be everyones cup of tea, but her vocal range again, in my view cannot be topped.

saying that i love music and there are so many fantastic singers out there past and present but they just can't can't quite reach the standards of these two

 

[musiclover73]

Are you insane, are you on drugs....do you still stand by this quote...come on!!!!! Mmmmm.....freddie mercury having a limited vocal range?????.....he had the most vast vocal range....think 99% of the worlds population would disagree with you on this one!

 

[Nimrod]

Elvis and Springsteen's voices speak to people (sincerely) at another level compared to everybody else.

 

[haraldo]

Are you insane, are you on drugs....do you still stand by this quote...come on!!!!! Mmmmm.....freddie mercury having a limited vocal range?????.....he had the most vast vocal range....think 99% of the worlds population would disagree with you on this one!

I'm certainly among the ones that disagree on that, think Freddie Mercury is absolutely great, perhaps greatest ever......

 

[Nimrod]

I'm certainly among the ones that disagree on that, think Freddie Mercury is absolutely great, perhaps greatest ever......

I saw AC /DC the other night at the Garden, great show, best I've seen in years. The pressure from Cannon's was unbelievable.

But looking back = Queen stands out even now. Their sound system was soooooooooooooooooooooooo good, still have not heard an equal.

 

[Dnn111]

The Best Male R&B Voices...of All Times!

Ray Charles
Sam Cooke
Marvin Gaye
Al Green
Michael Jackson
Curtis Mayfield
Percy Mayfield
Clyde McPhatter
Otis Redding
Smokey Robinson
Jackie Wilson

 

[m3Ch]

Ray Charles
Sam Cooke
Marvin Gaye
Al Green
Michael Jackson
Curtis Mayfield
Percy Mayfield
Clyde McPhatter
Otis Redding
Smokey Robinson
Jackie Wilson

Let me guess, you like soul????? LOL

 

[jinjuku]

Chris Cornell, his range is huge, and for R&B, I would have to say Marvin Gaye.

It took 13 pages for someone to mention him

 

[jinjuku]

Check out Max Bacon

 

[3db]

For rock I'd say Robert Plant whose range and expressiveness is unrivaled.

For Blues, "Howlin Wolf" for that gutteral growl of his

For sheer musciality, I'd say Queen as a wjhole, not just Freddy Mercury

For taslking more than singing.. Bob Dylan