Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Top 20 Rock & Roll Singers

Continuing with the "ranking the top ______" theme... 

A few days ago I happened to come across some YouTube videos by Rick Beato, where he picks the top 20 whatever (singers, songs with drum intro, songs with guitar intro, etc). One in particular was his choice for top 20 greatest rock singers of all time. His premise was "Little Richard started it all, so he is the template. Now who best symbolizes what he did?"

As with any list, there is always disagreement. I disagreed with some of his, such as "How can Freddie Mercury NOT be #1?"

So here is my list of the top 20 rock & roll singers. I didn't try for individual rankings, but have a top 10 and a 2nd 10.
(BTW, I'm not a huge Queen fan, but you have to give Mercury his due.)

 #1 
*Freddie Mercury - Queen

2-10 (alphabetical order)
Pat Benatar
*Roger Daltrey - Who
*Lou Gramm - Foreigner
*Paul McCartney - The Beatles
*Jim Morrison - The Doors
Steve Perry - Journey
*Robert Plant - Led Zeppelin
Paul Rodgers - Bad Company
*Ann Wilson - Heart


11-17 (alphabetical order) 
Colin Blunstone - The Zombies
Jay Black - Jay and the Americans
Peter Cetera - Chicago
Brad Delp - Boston
*Mick Jagger - The Rolling Stones
David Lee Roth - Van Halen
Mike Smith - The Dave Clark Five

To me, these guys are more like screamers than singers, but still in the top 20: 
Geddy Lee - Rush
*Bon Scott/Brian Johnson - AC/DC
*Steven Tyler - Aerosmith


*on Beato's YouTube list


Who's on your list?
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

5 comments:

  1. night owlSeptember 25, 2019 at 11:35 AM

    I'd have to think about this but I like the top part of your list.

    I watch Rick Beato's videos all the time. Have been for the last year-and-a-half.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brett AlanSeptember 29, 2019 at 11:20 AM

    I love Blunstone, and it’s phenomenal how good he sounds now in his mid-70s.

    I can see that you might say Little Richard was a screamer, but...not one black singer? No Clyde McPhatter, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, or David Ruffin?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim from DowningtownSeptember 29, 2019 at 8:22 PM

      Brett, I like the Supremes, Drifters, Four Tops, and especially the Temptations, but I have a hard time classifying them (or any of the others you mentioned except Little Richard) as "rock".

      Delete
    2. Jim from DowningtownSeptember 29, 2019 at 8:28 PM

      I agree about Blunstone. I saw the Zombies about 3 years ago and he really does sound the same. I bought their new CD (old songs but recorded by the current band) and you can't tell the difference in the vocals.

      (I also saw Jay Black on one of those PBS specials hosted by Peter Noone or Davy Jones, and his voice was still great. When he got to that extended high note in Cara Mia he held it extra long, and looked at his watch to the amusement of the audience.)

      Delete
    3. Brett AlanSeptember 30, 2019 at 11:29 AM

      Maybe they aren’t “rock” in the radio sense, but they’re certainly “rock and roll”.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)