Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Dylan is an obvious choice, but I just happened to be listening to OMD while browsing, and it occurred to me that in some (good) songs Andy McCluskey's voice is horribly out of tune and strained, sounding more like a wail or whine.

A good example of this starts at 3:08 of "Hard Day"



He's also rather whiny throughout "Telegraph":



And 1:37 in "History of Modern, Part 2" is the cat's meow:




Who are some other singers who have less than angelic voices?

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Dave Matthews

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

The lead singer for Blink-182

He sounds so wimpy.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Meg Myers!
Not really but come on, Dave is fine. Listening to some of the Dave and Tim stuff he's got a fine range. I listen to him all the time, and while he's no James Taylor or Frank Sinatra, I like his vocals.

One I will suggest, though I love his music deeply, was Lou Reed. I just have to chuckle at how he just kind of talked his way through his songs to make them work.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

I always thought Dave Matthews sounded like Peter Brady in that episode where he was going through puberty. Ugh can't stand his voice.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

I get his falsetto isn't for everyone. But check out his vocals on this live track

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Ehhh each to their own.

If you want someone with great range and falsetto, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace :thumbsup:

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Billy Corgan

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Axl Rose. He just makes my skin crawl.

On the other hand, you have Tom Waits. But I LOVE Bone Machine. I just can't listen to it if my wife is within earshot.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Townes Van Zandt
Daniel Johnston
Britney Spears

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Keith Richards

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

I'll say it: Leonard Cohen

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

AKA the time in a Rolling Stones concert when everyone heads to the restrooms simultaneously .

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

SP is my favorite band of all time but I have to agree. It works for the band though, especially on songs like Quiet, Geek USA, BWBW, Zero, etc.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Joey Ramone. I love the Ramones's minimalist style, but he had a vocal range of about half an octave.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Eh, He's more like spoken word poetry set to music as opposed to "singing."

As for bad voices, I love the guy (at least his classic stuff) but I don't think anyone would ever accuse Ozzy Osborne of having a "good" singing voice.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

The guy from The Offspring.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Stevie Ray Vaughan. Legendary guitar player, hate his voice. So nasally.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Booooo! :lol:

SRV is one of my big musical regrets for not having seen live.

Love his voice, but his guitar was like an extension of his body. Just blows my mind to watch him.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Lucinda Williams. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills every time critics heap praise upon her.

But to each their own. I can fully see how others may hate Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide's voice, but it doesn't bother me.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Neil Young is another for me. (admittedly I probably only know 10-15 of his songs)

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Luckily he had his good looks to carry him.

I nominate Gordon Gano from Violent Femmes. Somehow it works in the context of the music though.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Blasphemy! Love her music and her voice.

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

It isn't the best for sure but they were my #1 favorite band growing up haha. Smash and Ixnay on the Hombre were great albums :thumbsup:

Re: Musicians/singers with the worst voices?
 

Eminem and Ja-Rule when they try to sing though Eminem overall is painful to the ears

Nails on the chalkboard