Best male vocalists of all time?

Sinatra, Nat Cole, Bihg Crosby, Perry Como, Jimmy Rushing.

Scott Walker

Levi Stubbs from The Four Tops

George Michael

Matt Monro

Robert Goulet

Luther.

Thurl curls my toes!

TONY BENNETT when he was under 50. He could swing, he could sing ballads.

Too many to choose, but Sinatra and Michael popped into my mind first.

I second Frank Sinatra, Levi Stubbs and George Michael. Marvin Gaye and Jeff Buckley would have to be up there too.

Patrick Fiori

Bobby Hatfield, Frank Sinatra, John Lennon (big fan of how he sings early cuts like anna go to him and bad boy), Layne Staley, Thom Yorke, Mike Patton, and James Brown.

Otis Redding is another one.

Old Russian tenor

Sinatra

Perry Como

Tony Bennett

Daryl Hall

Elvis

Johnny Cash

Jonathan Meiburg

Dean Martin

Another vote for George Michael. I also love Ben Watt from Everything But The Girl's voice.

Sam Cooke

Tony Bennett

Donny Hathaway

Jimmy Somerville (though it is an acquired taste for many)

I always thought Sting sounded great live. When I hear his voice on records, it sounds very soothing to me. His vocals are never too harsh.

At home with Mario del Monaco

Frankie Valli

Marc Anthony

James Ingram

Just three out of countless contenders, known and unknown.

Billy Mackenzie

Marvin Gaye

Dave Gahan

Eric Carmen - who passed away in March. Most underrated male vocalist.

Second place - KD Lang.

Raspy-voiced British blue-eyed soul singer Paul Rodgers/Carrack/Young. Seriously, I'd kill to sound like any one of 'em.

Billie Joe Armstrong really has a terrific voice, it's just that it's sometimes hard to hear. But he's usually clear and pitch-perfect.

Okay bring on the taunts.

(I agree about Paul Carrack too.)

If you think George Michael can stand among Sinatra, Bennett, Como, and even Vic Damone, there's a lot of listening you need to do.

[quote] Eric Carmen -Most underrated male vocalist. Second place - KD Lang.

Sorry, completely random list: Tony Williams of The Platters; Adrian Borland of The Sound; Michael Stipe; Ian McNabb of The Icicle Works; John Fogarty; Curtis Mayfield; Al Green

Paul McCartney

Johnny Hartman... his album with Coltrane is incredible. Not a wrong note.

Steve Perry.

Brad Delp of Boston.

Billy Eckstine... so warm, expressive.

Mel Torme

Gilbert Price.

Freddy Mercury had that beautiful extension that just seemed to go on forever.

Ray Charles

Roger Daltrey

Good God.

Whoever’s singing on any given Beach Boys song. So harmonious.

Luciano Pavarotti

Tony Bennett

Nat King Cole

George Michael

Marvin Gaye

Steve Perry

Louis Armstrong

Billy MacKenzie

Chet Baker

Dick Haymes

Mykal Kilgore

Richie Havens

R34, NO.

Billy MacKenzie's vocals on The Associates' "Breakfast" are sublime.

Where's Michael Bolton?

Michael Jackson

Mel was everything.

Luther Vandross

Johnny Mathis

Bing Crosby

Frank Sinatra

Val Doonican

Neil Diamond

Freddie Mercury

Peabo Bryson

Billy Porter

Aaron Neville

The singers mentioned here all have good voices, but for me the great ones are those that can really deliver the Lyrica. The story tellers.

Sinatra was the master at that.

Tony Bennett, Jack Jones, Ray Charles during his early 1960s peak. Perry Como is associated with lots of goofy novelty songs but he was a great singer and could be quite moving.

Bobby Darin knew how to deliver a lyric too. Watch this. The closeup of his face as he sings. He's talking to you. Telling his story, his experience. That to me is great singing.

^ those that can really deliver the lyrics.

Andy Williams

I love Johnny Mathis and listen to him now and then. But it' a very showy singing style. Aaron Neville is unlistenable to me. Love Mel Torme too but he's cloying. Nate King Cole had one of the great voices but sings like he's AI generated.

^ Love Andy William’s voice. Like velvet.

And that why I really can't get into Andy Williams: a voice like velvet. Pleasant to listen to, but I can't consider him one of the greats.

For those of us under 75yo.

R54 Is he singing with chewing gum in his mouth? I can't make out the lyrics.

[quote] Nate King Cole had one of the great voices but sings like he's AI generated.

What the hell does even mean? You don't sound very educated. Nat King Cole's voice is really one of the great gifts of nature, especially considering he was never really trained. A.I. could never produce that kind of perfection. It can only be natural.

[quote]For those of us under 75yo.

Uh...Steve Perry is 75.

R56 A great voice. The delivery is often cold, generic, bland.

R58 You're an idiot. Don't quit your day job.

R59 It's a discussion forum. Everyone has their tastes. Someone here even listed Billy Porter. Oh well.

Elvis Presley

Boy George

Roy Orbison

Leaving the western world, the greatest voice on earth today - Dimash Kudaibergen from Kazakhstan.

Adam Lambert. I'm not even a fan, but boy can sing.

Oh god R62 he fucking sucks. Like a bad American Idol audition.

As someone said earlier, Michael Bolton should be included.

R62 Tell us you're joking.

Luis Miguel

Chris Isaak - great sopranista.

Stevie Wonder

Al Green

Not Daryl Hall

An absolute best is hard to say. I list you can make. That being said a big second for Chris Isaak.

Luther Vandross -- the most rich, facile, emotive male voice of the 2Oth century.

Steve Perry

Teddy Pendergrass

Marvin Gaye

Jack Jones

Todd Rundgren

Donny Hathaway

Johnny Mathis

Robert Plant

Sylvester

Tom Jones

Levi Stubbs

Stevie Wonder

Gregory Porter

Dimash is a billion times better than the hacks that are listed on this thread. Proof.

Isaac Hayes

Layne Staley

Nat King Cole

Ozzie Osbourne

Rob Dickinson

Stop it Dimash

When Tom Jones took it down a notch or two. Maybe three. Sang like a singer instead of an entertainer he was unbeatable. Even today his voice is incredible. His voice here is just incredible.

Freddie Mercury is definitely up there. Along with Marvin, Luther, Steve Perry, Eddie Vedder, Otis Redding, and Michael Jackson.

Angelina Jolie is actually going to sing Maria Callas arias using her own voice! Brava!

It’s a shame there are no more really popular male vocalists that can really blow. Ed Sheeran can sing but he isn’t a great vocalist. Usher might be the best right now amongst mainstream. The lead singer of Kings of Leon is a very talented vocalist.

OK Dimash, we have sufficient.

Jeffrey Osborne, Luther Vandross, Al Jarreau, Levi Stubbs, Smokey Robinson, Michael McDonald, Frankie Beverly and Babyface.

Mr.

You'd have to go a country mile to beat Mr Al Jolson.

Bono

Please say si si!

R62 His voice is fine for some low-end off-Broadway production, but he will never be a real star. He also has no stage presence. He clearly needs the props and the over-the-top production because he's boring otherwise

Isaac Hayes has a very unique soulful voice. But he isn’t a great vocalist to me. Limited range.

Vaughn Monroe

[quote]OK Dimash, we have sufficient.

Well, he might not be as good as DL favorite Kid Rock, but.........

[quote]His voice is fine for some low-end off-Broadway production, but he will never be a real star. He also has no stage presence. He clearly needs the props and the over-the-top production because he's boring otherwise

Ah yes, the arrogance of western music fans.

Norm Lewis

John McCormack still turns my Victrola.

Pavarotti

Lambert in " Brigadoon."

I think it’s foolish to compare opera singers to pop singers of recorded music.

Everyone listed great vocalists and I agree, a great many were. But I can only listen to greatness for about an hour. I'll likely get bashed for this but when I want to listen to someone for a few hours, It's James Taylor.

I second Art Garfunkel.

Not the best but I've always enjoyed Mick Jagger.

[quote]I think it’s foolish to compare opera singers to pop singers of recorded music.

The title of the thread was " Best male vocalists of all time." No one was asked to compare them. Are opera singers vocalists? Yes. Case closed.

Do folks think there's a distinction between a great vocalist and a great singer? I do, 'cuz I think Jagger is a great, compelling vocalist... but he's a shitty singer.

Freddy Mercury also David Bowie. I remember he performed at MSG at a concert for 9/11 Concert for NYC, heard he was sick with the flu but powered through.

Roger Whittaker

I’ve always loved Seal’s voice.

R98 Case isn’t closed. I said what I said. Opera singing is so distinct and it’s like the acting of the singing world. And many times they also have to know how to act. I think it is understood with a thread like this OP means recorded music you dumb cunt.

Enrico Caruso even on the old shitty recordings that exist.

^ I highly recommend giving Vesti La Guibba 1907 a listen.

That's just what DL needs, a Dimash Qudaibergen Troll.

[quote]I love Johnny Mathis and listen to him now and then. But it' a very showy singing style.

Sorry, he's thrilling.

I love Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, but I wouldn't put Ozzy in the Pantheon. Even Ronnie James Dio (Ozzy's replacement in BS) was technically a better singer.

Harve had pipes.

Mel, Nat, and Johnny are elite level popular singers, who is this unsophistocated person at R51?

Ben Platt. Don’t say shit until you’ve seen him Live. I saw him in July at the Greek Theater and he blew me away. Some people hate his type of heavy vibrato but he knows how to use it to his advantage. A pure vocal talent. No need for auto tune.

R111 Hmm interesting. But of all time tho?

[R112] Well I pretty much live in the moment and Ben is the one who comes to mind. He has the pathos and emotions while singing of a Judy Garland or Streisand which I love because I’m mostly into female singers. I guess the only other male who i love listening to thanks to my grandmother is Johnny Mathis. Another pure vocalist that exudes female pathos and emotions while singing.

R113: what did you think of Rufus Wainwright's interpretations of Garland (assuming you have any opinion at all) ?

The difference is between artistry and virtuosity, I tend to lean towards artistry, so my list:

Al Green

Rufus Wainwright

George Michael

Aaron Neville

Otis Redding

Luther Vandross

Tony Bennett

Ray Charles

Willie Nelson

Johnny Cash

Sinatra

Roy Orbison

Sam Cooke

Freddie Mercury

Jackie Wilson

Gregg Allman

Jeff Buckley

Chuck Negron should be in there somewhere.

[quote] When Tom Jones took it down a notch or two. Maybe three. Sang like a singer instead of an entertainer he was unbeatable. Even today his voice is incredible. His voice here is just incredible.

He's Welsh (and 84 years old) we only do loud and dramatic.

Without Crosby, there’d be no Sinatra or Bennett.

He’s a twat, but Bono does have an amazing voice. I’d never thought much about his vocal talent, but The last time U2 was on SNL, he did some vocal gymnastics that were crazy good.

I’ll also second Luther, Jeff Buckley, and add Allan Clarke of The Hollies.

Here's Marvin Gaye singing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" with just his isolated vocal, no music. Really great.

R111 = Noah Galvin

R95 is a fat fuck who hasn’t been laid since 1974.

Here’s dreamboat Stephen Costello. Jesus Christ, this is next level.

[quote]I think it is understood with a thread like this OP means recorded music you dumb cunt.

Reading is fundamental. This is what the OP wrote:

[quote]Name a male vocalist whose voice/music you love the best.

Since it's asking for a personal opinion with no conditions, no one should judge or disparage the choice of any other poster. Period. It's over... and I'm not going to call you a snarky name.

Merv Griffin?

[quote]Do folks think there's a distinction between a great vocalist and a great singer?

Seems like a fair distinction to me. Jagger, Dylan, Bowie, and Van Morrison for example are vocalists who express their work with unique unbeatable raw passion. Their limitations as singers don't matter.

Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke and George Michael have distinctive beautiful voices whose purity of tone certainly shifts their status from vocalist to great singer. Stevie Wonder perhaps fits both categories.

R120. Wow that was majestic. Excellent. His tone and pitch are perfect. His vocals are just like the recording. That is hard song to sing without music. These mainstream cunts nowadays could not sing that song without a backing track and music. Bey could. That’s about the only one.

To the poster who mentioned Bono: Bono copied his singing style to some extent from Adrian Borland, lead singer of the post-punk band The Sound (1979-1988). Borland committed suicide in 1999, at the age of 41.

Sam Cooke

David Ruffin

He's country and they don't get a lot of credit but Randy Travis has a beautiful voice.

Your prayers to Santa Muriela were heard: YouTube thumbnails are back

R129 Chris Stapleton too.

Now hear me out....Burl Ives.

Absolutely impossible to decide, but Freddie Mercury is right up there in the pantheon.

124 - He’s got a lovely bunch of coconuts!

Al Bowlly

Steve Perry of Journey.

[quote] Angelina Jolie is actually going to sing Maria Callas arias using her own voice! Brava!

Sort of. They're electronically mixing her voice with Callas's actual singing voice on the soundtrack.

When did Jolie grow a cock?

Freddie Mercury is dessert. Otis Redding is nutrition.

R137 what does that mean?

David McAlmont, still amazing 30 years on from "Either"

Another vote for Mr. Steve Perry.

And not because I've spent the summer blasting Journey with the top down (lowering the volume at traffic lights and stop signs, of course).

Richie Havens

Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams. These men, each with his own unique style, have strong vocal technique, breath control, and placement. They can convey deep emotions, memories, pathos, longing, and joy with their interpretation of each song they sing.

Perry Como, Jack Jones, and Frank Sinatra (though more a fan of Como and Jones) are the best crooners. They make everything look and sound so EASY, when any singer knows it’s not. Singing intimately is much more difficult than belting.

Don McLean, whose “Crying,” in my opinion, is better than Roy Orbison’s originals and KD Lang’s cover.

We could use a "Creative Thread Writing For Dummies" manual.

No offense, OP, but I wish you had been more specific.

R115, thank you for finally mentioning Jackie Wilson. For my money, the most soulful singer.

Sam Cooke, of course.

I've always thought Dean Martin was underrated.

I love Vaughn Monroe’s “Ballerina”. I also love the exquisite tone of Eddie Fisher, though his material was frequently thin, I am a total sucker for “Oh, My Papa”. And, despite Sophia Petrillo’s pan, I’m a Tony Martin fan.

Peter Lemongello

[quote] We could use a "Creative Thread Writing For Dummies" manual. No offense, OP, but I wish you had been more specific.

R145 Well, the 144 poster before you managed to come up with some pretty good names, and there are still contributions being made of which you have. No offense, but sound intellectually lazy, and completely void of anything interesting to say. Why don't you go fuck yourself, dipshit. Respectfully, of course.

Anyways, moving on. Smokey Robinson.

R149 OP, your headline does not correspond with your actual question: is your thread seeking input on (a) the greatest male singers of all time; or (b) our personal favorite male singers?

Change your tampon, will ya?

Vince Gill is a really good singer. Underrated (probably) as a guitarist, too.

Here he is singing the Beach Boys' Warmth of the Sun. Don't pay attention to David Crosby at the beginning.

R151 You can't call people names and expect them to respond well. Nor does anyone care about your nitpicking bullshit. Over 150 posters and counting seem to get the idea. No one else seems to be having any trouble.. You seem to need everything spelled out for you like A-B-C. You're intellectually lazy and void of anything interesting to say. Now either contribute or fuck off.

R153 right 😂. You tell em OP. I personally took it that you meant recorded music of all genres and specifically singers who release albums. Not some random opera singers.

Steve Perry

I don't really even like the music Steve Perry or Journey recorded but the strength of his voice and it's range for a male are off the charts. Steve and Tom Jones are at the top of the list.

Glad Dimash left the thread.

Jackie Wilson singing live on Ed Sullivan

Little Willie John

Fogelberg

I can’t decide between Milli and Vanilli.

Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams. These men, each with his own unique style, have strong vocal technique, breath control, and placement. They can convey deep emotions, memories, pathos, longing, and joy with their interpretation of each song they sing. Perry Como, Jack Jones, and Frank Sinatra (though more a fan of Como and Jones) are the best crooners. They make everything look and sound so EASY, when any singer knows it’s not. Singing intimately is much more difficult than belting. Don McLean, whose “Crying,” in my opinion, is better than Roy Orbison’s originals and KD Lang’s cover.

John Mathis was great but sometimes really poured on that vibrato.

Andy Williams was known for that echo effect in a lot of his recordings. It was corny. His singing could get really syrupy. Listen to his recording of Where Do I Begin from Love Story....barf.

Listen to Sinatra's recording of Moon River (William's signature song) and then listen to Williams. Sinatra and Tony Bennett has heft to their voices, a bit of grit. Williams lacked that. He really was a singer for the fraus.

Don McLean gets an A for effort but his Crying can't touch Orbison's.

[quote]Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams. These men, each with his own unique style, have strong vocal technique, breath control, and placement. They can convey deep emotions, memories, pathos, longing, and joy with their interpretation of each song they sing. Perry Como, Jack Jones, and Frank Sinatra (though more a fan of Como and Jones) are the best crooners. They make everything look and sound so EASY, when any singer knows it’s not. Singing intimately is much more difficult than belting. Don McLean, whose “Crying,” in my opinion, is better than Roy Orbison’s originals and KD Lang’s cover.

John Mathis was great but sometimes really poured on that vibrato.

Andy Williams was known for that echo effect in a lot of his recordings. It was corny. His singing could get really syrupy. Listen to his recording of Where Do I Begin from Love Story....barf.

Listen to Sinatra's recording of Moon River (William's signature song) and then listen to Williams. Sinatra and Tony Bennett has heft to their voices, a bit of grit. Williams lacked that. He really was a singer for the fraus.

Don McLean gets an A for effort but his Crying can't touch Orbison's.

[quote] I personally took it that you meant recorded music of all genres and specifically singers who release albums. Not some random opera singers.

Would you allow for someone else interpreting the general thread questions differently than you did, or is that not permitted in your world?

[quote] Glad Dimash left the thread.

Now you're being silly.

^ Oh dear, that is so awful.

Dimash's voice doesn't have any of the qualities that we associate with the male voice.

You didn't even listen before you wrote that.

I listened R168. He has a remarkable voice and range. But I think OP is talking about well-known singers - the icons.

[quote] Dimash's voice doesn't have any of the qualities that we associate with the male voice.

We're not even sure what a Dimash actually is at this point. Let alone make any associations.

Another vote for Smokey Robinson. Also, David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks (who had the voice of an angel) from The Temptations.

Wow, no mention of Michael Bolton? 😈

I guess Richard Marx got in there first

The best there ever was...

Mel Torme deserves to be named in this thread. Like a lot of jazz singers, his voice is like an instrument.

R108, I know Ozzie wouldn't be considered an A-league singer but I do find his voice unique among his peers. I know Robert Plant is technically the greater singer but I will take Ozzie's voice any day.

I think Jim Morrison has a great voice and he was a good singer. Much better than Jagger who always sounded terrible to me.

R176. Understood. I love some of Ozzy's songs like No More Tears and Crazy Train.

He and Vince Neil are opposites.

Vince: can speak intelligibly, but sings unintelligibly.

Ozzy: can't speak intelligibly, but can enunciate when he sings.

His music doesn't suit my tastes, but Chester Bennington was a great rock vocalist. His power was phenomenal. I was surprised to find out he wasn't trained at all. Such a sad childhood.

R177 Neither of them are particularly talented in a technical sense, but both had an iconic style and character they were able to portray through their voice.

R178, that's true! I have to use subtitles when watching an Ozzie interview because I don't know wtf he is saing.

Top 5:

Luther Vandross

Otis Redding

Marvin Gaye

Freddie Mercury

Steve Perry

Dimash? Isn't he the one that beat up Kelly Garrett and locked her in the closet?

the guy who fronted Tears for Fears.