Rolling Stone readers - 10 best lead singers of all time

[Bene Futuis]

Here is their list:

Rolling Stone Readers Pick the Best Lead Singers of All Time:
1. Robert Plant
2. Freddie Mercury
3. Bono
4. Mick Jagger
5. Jim Morrison
6. Roger Daltrey
7. Eddie Vedder
8. John Lennon
9. Chris Cornell
10. Kurt Cobain

Pretty sure we can tell the RS demographic, lol. But who do you have on this list?

[Pauly]

Might be controversial but I think Zack de la Rocha is missing.

[Sour Masher]

A great list, but it is interesting that it is a total sausage fest. Thinking about it, I guess most of the best female singers are solo acts, so they don't count for "lead" singer? Still, even then you got great female leads like Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, and Grace Slick.

It is hard to bump anyone on the all boy list above, but even as a 90s teenager that appreciate the importance of Nirvana in music history, just in terms of vocals, I'd put any of the gals I just listed about Cobain. Cobain had a great voice and a unique sound, so that is no slight, but his inclusion seems to be more about his importance to rock history.

[Sour Masher]

I'd also have to fit John Fogerty in there somewhere. I love his voice. I'm not sure who I'd cut though. Probably Lennon, who, like Cobain, seems to be on the list because of how amazing and big the Beatles were and are and not because he had the best voice.

[Gregg]

A great list, but it is interesting that it is a total sausage fest. Thinking about it, I guess most of the best female singers are solo acts, so they don't count for "lead" singer? Still, even then you got great female leads like Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, and Grace Slick.

It is hard to bump anyone on the all boy list above, but even as a 90s teenager that appreciate the importance of Nirvana in music history, just in terms of vocals, I'd put any of the gals I just listed about Cobain. Cobain had a great voice and a unique sound, so that is no slight, but his inclusion seems to be more about his importance to rock history.

Grace Slick has to be in the top 5.

Ann Wilson of Heart has to be in the top 10.

[Bene Futuis]

No women or people of color?

[Sour Masher]

No women or people of color?

Certainly no women and not enough POC, with so many great potential singers, but Freddie Mercury at #2 should count as a POC, though what someone of his heritage should count as is debated.

[Sour Masher]

Grace Slick has to be in the top 5.

Ann Wilson of Heart has to be in the top 10.

Grace Slick has such a great voice, as such a great rock and roll name.

[Bene Futuis]

Certainly no women and not enough POC, with so many great potential singers, but Freddie Mercury at #2 should count as a POC.

Say wha? Freddie Mercury is a person of color?

[GwynnInTheHall]

Say wha? Freddie Mercury is a person of color?

Depends on how you define POC.

[heyelander]

Certainly no women and not enough POC, with so many great potential singers, but Freddie Mercury at #2 should count as a POC, though what someone of his heritage should count as is debated.

Prince?

Is this lead singers or more front-men(persons)?

[Sour Masher]

Say wha? Freddie Mercury is a person of color?

Although many do not count someone of his ancestry as a person of color, and I understand that argument, I think a case can be made. Mercury aka Farrokh Bulsara was born in Zanzibar to two Parsi-Indian parents. So, both his parents were Indian, although ethnically, as a Parsi, if you go back far enough, he was Persian. His status as a person of color, if one considers him Indian, is not really disputed. But if you consider that he was Parsi-Indian, many would not consider him a POC, because his ancestry traces back to what most people consider white folks--Persian and Arab. But to me, it comes down to whether his looks can and has caused him to be "othered" by white folks. I don't know if that happened a lot to Freddie, or if he would count himself as a POC, but I think, more generally, a case can be made that Arabs and Persians can be counted as POC, especially in the context of the US where the term is often used to highlight discrimination based on appearances you are born with. Freddie in particular seems less problematically a person of color to me, because if you look at images of his parents, it seems clear they not only have Parsi heritage, they clearly have other Indian heritage based on their skin tone. Freddie appeared lighter--maybe he stayed out of the sun more. If he identified and passed for white in his lifetime, then I am wrong in characterizing him as a POC.

[Sour Masher]

Prince?

Is this lead singers or more front-men(persons)?

Yeah, I have to think lots of candidates were excluded, including many great women singers, because the term "lead singer" suggests the lead of a band, and not a solo act or a headliner that just uses his or her name.

[Bene Futuis]

Although many do not count someone of his ancestry as a person of color, and I understand that argument, I think a case can be made. Mercury aka Farrokh Bulsara was born in Zanzibar to two Parsi-Indian parents. So, both his parents were Indian, although ethnically, as a Parsi, if you go back far enough, he was Persian. His status as a person of color, if one considers him Indian, is not really disputed. But if you consider that he was Parsi-Indian, many would not consider him a POC, because his ancestry traces back to what most people consider white folks--Persian and Arab. But to me, it comes down to whether his looks can and has caused him to be "othered" by white folks. I don't know if that happened a lot to Freddie, or if he would count himself as a POC, but I think, more generally, a case can be made that Arabs and Persians can be counted as POC, especially in the context of the US where the term is often used to highlight discrimination based on appearances you are born with. Freddie in particular seems less problematically a person of color to me, because if you look at images of his parents, it seems clear they not only have Parsi heritage, they clearly have other Indian heritage based on their skin tone. Freddie appeared lighter--maybe he stayed out of the sun more. If he identified and passed for white in his lifetime, then I am wrong in characterizing him as a POC.

Huh, I didn't know any of that. Thanks for the info!

[Sour Masher]

Huh, I didn't know any of that. Thanks for the info!

Here is a pic of Freddie with his parents:https://www.voxbliss.com/wp-content/...pending-load=1