ROBERTCOP34

Welll this is a short-list ok:
No.1 George Michael (his voice is silk.)
No.2 Josh Groban (he very new but very good singer)
No.3 Neil Tennet (pet shop boys)
No.4 Paul Banks (lead singer of interpol)
No.5 Babyface (this is for cool for sure)
No.6 Robbie Williams (uk great)
No.7 Dave gahan (lead singer of depeche mode)
No.8 Bernard Summer (lead singer of new order)
No.9 Michael Penn (sean penn yonger brother)
No.10 Seal

that's all for now....

foofighters7

1.John Lennon
2.Dave Grohl
3.Tom Waits
4.Prince
5.Freddie Mercury
6.Thom Yorke
7.Robert Plant
8.Paul McCartney
9.Kurt Cobain
10.Roger Daltrey

just my best male singers

Giles

(Best is so subjective)

- David Schelzel (Ocean Blue)
- Tunde Baiyewu (Lighthouse Family)
- James Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers)
- Morten Harket (A-ha)
- Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy)
- Neil Halstead (Mojave 3)
- Nick Drake
- Josh Ritter
- Gerard Starkie (Witness UK)
- Ed Harcourt
- Luke Haines vastly underrated singer and songwriter who fronted and created four bands: The Autuers, The Luke Haines Experience, Baader Meinhoff and Black Box Recorder (not lead singer). Creepy introspective voice that makes you want to crawl into a corner.
- Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) (great singing and speaking voice.)
- Angie Arparo (he's the guy who wrote and originally sang "Cry" that Faith Hill made famous recently)
- Michael Stipes (i.e, "Man on the Moon")
- Jason Kay (Jamiroquai) (sure he's been criticized as sounding like Stevie Wonder, but boy does he have a vocal range).
- Michael Jackson (I'm going out a limb here, but he's the only singer, who can pull off, singing and interject little vocal inflections/sounds that propel you to dance).
- Fred Fairbrass (Right Said Fred) sure they can best described as a one hit wonder but his voice - one of the very few baritone singers who made it big... briefly -what a sexy memorable voice!)
- Nat Cole
- James Ingram
- Aaron Neville

stop me now, I could continue ad nauseum.

dick_grayson

Elvis Presley
Glenn Danzig
Roy Orbison
David Bowie
Mick Jagger
Morrissey
Axl Rose

this list could go on for days.....

tofu

Chris Isaak
Stevie Wonder
Richard Ashcroft

nazz

Paul McCartney / John Lennon
David Crosby / Graham Nash / Stephen Stills
Paul Simon / Art Garfunkel
Ray Charles
Roy Orbison
Steve Winwood
Van Morrison
Marvin Gaye
Otis Redding
Al Green
Sam Cooke
Greg Allman

Unique additions that push the definition of best:
Neil Young
Bob Dylan
Johnny Cash

Brain Stew

What about Jim Morrison? He had a real good way of crooning.

Mondo Kane

Definetly. Just listen to him go on "Indian Summer".

Mike1055

James Dewar , he was the singer for Robin Trower

hdtv00

Prince

Elldubtoo

Marvin Gaye, by a wide margin.

tommyp007

Prince
Vince Gill

gmal2003

R&B/Soul
1. Luther Vandross
2. Marvin Gaye
3. Brian McKnight
4. Seal
5. Al Green
6. Stevie Wonder
7. Babyface
8. Prince
9. Gregory Hines
10. Anthony Hamilton


Alternative/Rock
1. Chris Cornell (Soundgarden/Audioslave)
2. Maynard James Keenan (A Perfect Circle/ Tool)
3. Morrisey (The Smiths)
4. Tom Chaplin (Keane)
5. Freddie Mercury (Queen)
6. Brandon Boyd (Incubus)
7. Sting
8. Chris Martin (Coldplay)
9. Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
10.Gavin Rosdale (Bush)

tsohg

David Ruffin (Temptations lead singer)
Prince
Marvin Gaye
Axle Rose
Luther Vandross (sp)
R Kelly (all jokes aside)
Kurt Cobain
Sam Cooke
Steven Tyler
Frank Sinatra
Anthony Hamilton (current personal fave)
Mel Torme (night court had me rediscover him)

johnbook

Hard Rock...Rock...& Pop...

Rob Halford
Bruce Dickinson
Bon Scott
Brian Johnson
Robert Plant
Elvis Presley
Jim Morrison
Stevie Wonder
Rod Stewart
John Lennon
Paul Mcartney
Brad Delp
Jon Anderson - Yes
Steve Perry
Lou Gramm
Stephen Pearcy
CJ Snare - Firehouse
Layne Stayley
Scott Weiland
Johnny Gioeli - Hardline
Axl Rose
David Coverdale
Geoff Tate
Geddy Lee
Freddie Mercury
David Gilmour
Mitch Ryder
John Parr
Don Henley
Steve Winwood
Bruce Hornsby
Jimi Jamison - Survivor
Johnnie Dee - Honeymoon Suite
Richard Marx
Rick Astley
Daryl Hall
Bryan Adams
Prince
Michael Jackson
Neil Tennet - Pet Shop Boys
George Michael
Simon Lebon

sinister

prince
chris cornell
scott weiland
eddie vedder
layne staley
maynard keenan
gavin rossdale
glenn danzig
elvis
freddie mercury
michael jackson
geoff tate from queensryche

The Infidel

I hate these damn "best" lists. All of this is just a matter of each individual's opinion, and does not make any certain singers any better than any others.

MJKTool

LEEEROY!!!

fliggil

all of you that are into the r&b/soul singers should check out Raul Midon, his debut comes out this coming tuesday, I've heard an advance copy and I'm seeing him live tonight and tomorrow night, he has an absolutely phenomenal voice. I beleive People mag just gave him 3.5/4 stars

Pikul

Imagine "best" replaced with "favorite." The aggravation should go away.

Alphabetically off the top of my head:

Steve Albini
Leroy Burgess
Terry Callier
Ian Curtis
Marvin Gaye
Al Green
Eddie Kendricks
Billy Mackenzie
Colin Newman
Robert Owens
Prince

Luke Haines in whispering menace mode is a dead ringer for Giorgio Moroder (see his cover of the Moody Blues' "Knights in White Satin").

The Bus

I'm sorry, George Michael. Anyways, sorry... ahem.

In groups of greatness... Personal favorites in bold.

The Best
Frank Sinatra
Elvis Presley
Bing Crosby
Bill Withers
Al Green
Jeff Buckley
Marvin Gaye
Prince (triple bonus for musicianship)
Erlend_Øye (of Kings of Convenience)
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (together, not apart)
Paul McCartney and Elton John (ditto)
Jon Thor Birgisson (of Sigur Rós)
Nick Drake (bonus for musicianship)

....

Roy Orbison
Mark Ledford (formerly of Pat Metheny Group)
James Brown (screaming and yelping is the new black)
Maxwell
Isaac Hayes (possibly questionable, damned great musician though)
Bob Marley
Terry Callier (lacks the longevity to be "best")
Johnny Cash
Stevie Wonder (bonus for musicianship)
Morten Harket (of a-ha)
Solomon Burke
Cody Chestnutt
M. Doughty (of Soul Coughing)
Jim Morrison
Julian Casablancas (and his voice filters, er, voice filter)
Wayne Coyne (of The Flaming Lips; wish he could sing, gets 'A' for effort)

....

Yamatsuka Eye (just kidding)
Brian Molko (of Placebo)
Thom Yorke
Kurt Cobain (the best worst voice ever)
Bon Scott
Brian Johnson (seeing a trend in this group?)

...

Alejandro Flores and Efren Vargas
Armando Manzanero
Shuggie Otis
Ryan Miller and Adam Gardner (of Guster)
Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy)
Damien Rice (let's see what he does next, part of the greatness is his ability as a songwriter)
Elliott Smith (ditto except for the "what he does next" part)
Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service)
Jason Lytle (of Grandaddy)
Matthew Jay (RIP, severely underappreciated)
Ryan Adams
Sordre Lerche (needs more time)







The Bottom of the Barrel

Beck Hansen (voice has gotten REALLY irritating the past couple of years)
Travis Meeks (people, stop imitating him, he sucks!)
Justin Hawkins (too bad he cracks me up)
Jon Bon Jovi (good god)
Jacob Dylan (awful)
Rob Thomas (stop recording music, I have no idea why Santana allowed you to sing)
Rollo (of Faithless; you make two decent singles and have been crapping out crappy crap since then!)
Sonny James (of The Mooney Suzuki; retire please)
R. Kelly (no, really, you're not a good singer)

The Bus

Oh crap, forgot these. Here's my license for Music Enthusiast. Please rip it up.

What? No Jon Secada?

Strangely, I seem to agree.

Looking over these lists, I did forget Seal (although his singles are too Adult Pop Easy Listening sometimes) and Nat Cole.

But, Giles, Angie Aparo? Interesting. I thought me and 5 other people ever heard of him. My fav. song of his is "Spaceship" -- I wouldn't put him on this list, though.

RichDB10

Presumably this list is based upon a singers vocal talent/range etc? and much as i LOVE Depeche Mode and New Order....Dave Gahan & Bernard Sumner in the top 10????...hmmmm....i'd sooner include Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen.

tommyp007

glad to see all the love for Prince. Kinda surprising, but well deserved.

Numanoid

Best voices of all time belong to Midge Ure (of Ultravox, Band-Aid and solo fame) and Morten Harket (a-ha, solo).