TBH with the exception of Lennon & McCartney (which i'll let slide cos they're Lennon & McCartney) everyone rated above Prince in that list is fair enough. I don't personally give a damn about Janis Joplin or Robert Plant but I recognise their importance in rock and pop history.

Having the biggest range doesn't make you the better singer in the same way winning more fights than Ali doesn't make you a better boxer than him, it's just one factor of all the things that make up the whole.

Anyway, don't be worrying what Rolling Stone see as important, just use them as a guide to check other artists out and recognise that they have their biases, like all of us

It's just a listicle.

[Edited 10/25/16 23:18pm]

jaawwnn said:

I wouldn't place him very high up due to his rather limited normal register. He certainly knew how to use his voice though. The countless lacklustre cover versions of his songs performed by more "technically proficient" singers should suffice as a proof that. However, I feel that he is included on such lists mostly due to the respect he gets as an all-around musician and, perhaps, as a way to "teach people" that the type of singing that really works in the context of great songwriting doesn't have much to do with the "American Idol" type of singing.

Don't sweat it too much.

This list has more to do with iconic status than with innate singing ability. It leans heavily toward the 60's. It was in 2010 when Prince wasn't being examined as thoroughly as he has been in the last 6 months (so his singing in albums like 'the Truth" or concerts like Montreux) probably hasn't even been heard by most of these people). The truth is that Prince's many talents make it harder for people (including himself) to focus on one. Also, I believe that Prince's regular singing ability improved after many of his more acclaimed songs had already been released. (notice how only the 80's vocals are focused on). I don't agree with some of the ones ranked above him but most don't offend me--except sadly Michael Jackson. Jackson's midrange voice might be a bit prettier than Prince's and he tended to sing more sentimental songs, but IMO, Prince walks all over him with it somes to sexiness, adult humor and edginess (believable edginess). He also could sing with as much heart (proven by his Piano and Microphone tour vocals...I listened to his verson of Bowie's Heroes and I was floored. He did sing it better than Bowie who is ironically ranked rather high because of his chameleon-like acting ability while singing.). Bowie was a wonderful actor (that dude was always great in his movie appearances) and it did show through his singing. But Prince was a suprisingly good 'actor' whilst singing as well.

Back to Michael, Mike's rhythmic singing comes off forced to me (almost like hiccups). Prince's voice always seemed more believable to me. And saying that Michael approximated James Brown better is utter b.s.

Plus, P's falsetto as he got older seemed to turn more into a soprano (much like the aforementioned Smokey Robinson.)

[Edited 10/26/16 4:19am]

[Edited 10/26/16 4:29am]

purplerabbithole said:

rogifan said:

Coming in at #30 is as ridiculous as not making their original greatest guitarists list and then when finally making it coming in behind Joey Ramone. What did Rolling Stone have against Prince? His voice held up much better than many of his contemporaries. Listen to any of the Piano and Microphone shows and he was singing all songs in the original and hitting notes that his contemporaries could only dream of. And how many artists out there have the vocal range he had? There was a study done on this (based on the Rolling Stone list) and Prince came in 3rd behind Axl Rose (whose voice these days is totally shot) and Mariah Carey. Just pisses me off when Prince doesn't get the respect he deserves.

.

I think it's probably worth mentioning this list came out in 2010. I bet he will be higher if they reassess at some point. Not to say he should've had to pass away before being fully appreciated, but this seems to generally be how it works a lot of the time.

Is this the same RS list that put Aretha Franklin at number one? Please. Many people think the top three in anything are The Beatles at 1 and Bowie and Prince sharing 1A. Prince is the finest, most all-around musician of the past 40 years. His peers will say that. RS would probably equate Kanye West with Prince. The RS taste level is wanting, to say the least.

CAL3 said:

rogifan said:

Just shows Rolling Stone's bias to certain musical eras. Just like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I'm not arguing that Prince should be #1 or even top 5 but 30? That's just BS.

I think in fairness, there are 70 people who rank lower than Prince some of whom have better singing voices. His falsetto however, is one of the greatest of all time.

MJ comes in at #25 despite being an easy contender for best singing voice of all time. I mean going purely of the voices; James Brown, Lennon & Elvis objectively speaking, do not have better singing voices than Michael Jackson. If they all participated on X-factor Jackson would win.

[Edited 10/26/16 7:00am]

I don't ever take these lists seriously. I just read them for entertainment purposes and like to see where people are placed. It is all subjective and we will always have our personal faves. That is all that matters anyways.

Prince number 1 on GuitarHero's list

NorthC said:

Oh and rogi, there's PLENTY of Prince fans who are not Michael Jackson fans. In fact, when I was a record/bootleg collector and a concert goer back in the 90s, I never knew a die hard Prince fan who liked MJ. When I started visiting this site, I was really surprised at all the Jackson talk going on here.. [Edited 10/26/16 10:33am] [Edited 10/26/16 10:36am] [Edited 10/26/16 10:39am]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one.

And I'd like to add that for me being a hardcore P fan and not a MJ fan doesn't mean I hate MJ. It means that I have less than zero inerest in him and don't understand that component in others. Sorta like I have less than zero interest in eating balut. I realize some people eat it and relish it. I don't get it.

rogifan said:

purplerabbithole said:

Don't sweat it too much.

This list has more to do with iconic status than with innate singing ability. It leans heavily toward the 60's. It was in 2010 when Prince wasn't being examined as thoroughly (so his singing in albums like 'the Truth" probably hasn't even heard by most of these people). The truth is that Prince's many talents make it harder for people to focus on one. Also, I believe that Prince's regular singing ability improved after many of his more acclaimed songs had already been released. (notice how only the 80's vocals are focused on). I don't agree with some of the ones ranked above him but most don't offend me--except sadly Michael Jackson. Jackson's midrange voice might be a bit prettier than Prince's and he tended to sing more sentimental songs, but IMO, Prince walks all over him with it somes to sexiness, humor and edginess (believable edginess). He also could sing with as much heart (proven by his Piano and Microphone tour vocals...I listened to his verson of Bowie's Heroes and I was floored. He did sing it better than Bowie who is ironically ranked rather high because of his chameleon-like acting ability while singing.). Bowie was a wonderful actor and it did show through his singing. But Prince was a suprisingly good 'actor' whilst singing as well.

Back to Michael, Mike's rhythmic singing comes off forced to me (almost like hiccups). Prince's voice always seemed more believable to me. Plus, P's falsetto as he got older seemed to turn more into a soprano (much like the aforementioned Smokey Robinson.)

[Edited 10/26/16 4:19am]

Agree with all of this. But I'm probably one of the few Prince fans that was never really a MJ fan. Prince's placement on their greatest guitarist list is more dubious. In what universe can anyone say Joey Ramone is a better guitar player than Prince?
[Edited 10/26/16 4:30am]

rogifan said:

purplerabbithole said:

Don't sweat it too much.

This list has more to do with iconic status than with innate singing ability. It leans heavily toward the 60's. It was in 2010 when Prince wasn't being examined as thoroughly (so his singing in albums like 'the Truth" probably hasn't even heard by most of these people). The truth is that Prince's many talents make it harder for people to focus on one. Also, I believe that Prince's regular singing ability improved after many of his more acclaimed songs had already been released. (notice how only the 80's vocals are focused on). I don't agree with some of the ones ranked above him but most don't offend me--except sadly Michael Jackson. Jackson's midrange voice might be a bit prettier than Prince's and he tended to sing more sentimental songs, but IMO, Prince walks all over him with it somes to sexiness, humor and edginess (believable edginess). He also could sing with as much heart (proven by his Piano and Microphone tour vocals...I listened to his verson of Bowie's Heroes and I was floored. He did sing it better than Bowie who is ironically ranked rather high because of his chameleon-like acting ability while singing.). Bowie was a wonderful actor and it did show through his singing. But Prince was a suprisingly good 'actor' whilst singing as well.

Back to Michael, Mike's rhythmic singing comes off forced to me (almost like hiccups). Prince's voice always seemed more believable to me. Plus, P's falsetto as he got older seemed to turn more into a soprano (much like the aforementioned Smokey Robinson.)

[Edited 10/26/16 4:19am]

Agree with all of this. But I'm probably one of the few Prince fans that was never really a MJ fan. Prince's placement on their greatest guitarist list is more dubious. In what universe can anyone say Joey Ramone is a better guitar player than Prince?
[Edited 10/26/16 4:30am]

I'm never sure what these list are supposed to mean. Except maybe to introduce artists to people who haven't noted them before.

Besides I get the impression Prince annoyed RS and a few other publications a bit as much as they annoyed him.

#30 is not bad. To me Prince was one of the best male singer in the industy and still is. His voice sounded the same if better as it was when he was younger. When they posted some of the clips of his last show, I thought he sounded like an angel. I don't know how he did it but his voice was on fleek and in good shape until the day he died.

rogifan said:

purplerabbithole said:

[Edited 10/26/16 4:19am]

Agree with all of this. But I'm probably one of the few Prince fans that was never really a MJ fan. Prince's placement on their greatest guitarist list is more dubious. In what universe can anyone say Joey Ramone is a better guitar player than Prince? [Edited 10/26/16 4:30am]

More bands were started based on Johnny Ramone's guitar playing than were, and probably will ever be, started based on Prince's, that's why he's there. He had a very recogniseable style, more so than Prince in fact, even if he was very limited in what he could do. Don't begrudge people their influence.

Fact is, Prince makes every list; singer, guitarist, songwriter, dancer, producer, you name it, the rest make one or two lists at most. P was so multi-talented and versatile it almost worked against him because people forgot how good he was at the individual components.

A good way to wind someone up who grudgingly admits Prince is good based on the Rock'nRoll Hall of Fame solo is to tell them that the best and most important thing about Prince was definitely his clothes, to hell with his guitar playing.

[Edited 10/26/16 15:36pm]

I think is much more about the importance of these artists in music than just the voice, Bob Dylan as much as i love his music and his voice, des not have a great voice or a pretty one, but does he move me with that voices? ohh boy he really does.

As for Michael Jackson's voice vs Prince´s voice, well to me, Michael's voice is just out of this world especially when he was a boy all through early 20's.

Nope, Prince talks like a beast, sings like an angel. My love Is Forever sounds as good as Rock With You or anything on OTW. MJ spoke like he sang. Never tweaked or experimented with his voice, as good as it is (And it's pretty fucking good). If you wan't him up in top ten, you're bringing Prince with him. FOR FUCK SAKE(!!) TMBGITW ending part , take a goddamn bow son.

jaawwnn said:

What a load of

Wolfie87 said:

Nope, Prince talks like a beast, sings like an angel. My love Is Forever sounds as good as Rock With You or anything on OTW. MJ spoke like he sang. Never tweaked or experimented with his voice, as good as it is (And it's pretty fucking good). If you wan't him up in top ten, you're bringing Prince with him. FOR FUCK SAKE(!!) TMBGITW ending part , take a goddamn bow son.

"Never tweaked or experimented with his voice"

MJ did this all the time his harmonies could be lush and out of this world Liberian girl for example

It could could be soft quiet gentle so delicate it seemed it would break if you touched it human nature scared of the moon.

It could be gritting and razor sharp almost like axel rose with morphine.

And he frequently added his beatboxing into his songs using his voce as an insturment itself.

But what really makes him such a great singer is he just has natural instincts and can imbue any lyric with spine tingling emotion. I personally have never felt that way about prince although he's great and I know he means what hes singing.

I think prince position is fine 30 is pretty high already. Prince a great singer with many different facets to his voice but what seperates him from mj marvin gaye stevie wonder aretha etc. Any great soul singer is his belting range is limited and cant really emote all that much singing from his chest voice. He has huge range but a small belting range. So when prince wants to go for a really emotional thing when hes singing he screams or goes into falsetto which is also great but its a different thing.

And if prince was singing with mj marvin stevie aretha otis sam cooke the great soul singers he would noticaly be a weaker link because of his lack of a belting range. A falsetto sounds great on its own but when your hitting the same notes in chest voice theres no comparison.

Belting range isn't everything. Belting can be dull, unoriginal, and just plain annoying. What does "soul" have to do with how loud you are. "Soul" is deep, almost spiritual singing that feels instinctive. Its not loud, its not soft. It's not white, its not black. Its not American. Its not European. I know its a genre of music (basically spiritual sounding slow R and B) But, singing in a controlled yet soft voice (without sounding airy) is really really hard. Prince didn't have the loudest voice in the world (although his voice seemed stronger when he focused on it primarily and in his later years) but it could be quite pretty and textured..(especially as he got older).. Its soulfull even if it doesn't qualify as "soul" singing. Joni Mitchell wasn't a belter either but she had a beautiful voice. Belters aren't always great when they attempt to sing softly (or to 'croon").

Plus, acting as if you can objectively say Michael is the better singer is kind of ridiculous. Phrasing and other aspects of singing come into play when making these decisions...and besides my issue is less with his ranking at 5 above Prince but more with the description of their singing and the comparision RS made between the two of them..

In all honesty, I find Micheal to be corny at times and I have since i was a kid. I grew up in the 1980's. Some of his choices as a singer even then irritated me. And, I am not saying this because of child molestation rumors or the way he speaks. "Bad" came out in 1987 when I was 12 years old, and I wasn't big on it then. I wasn't convinced that he was "Bad" at all (his singing voice was the reason, just as "the way you make me feel" didn't strike me as sexy either). I am sure you have some more obscure music of his that you could mention in order to try to convince me of his many singing talents. And I might agree that I have been a bit too hard, but I am not going to change my mind about how sometimes I genuinely found him unconvincing.)

Plus, one's reaction to singing is never objective. Prince's singing has genuinely moved me. "I love you but I don't trust you anymore", "There is lonely" his version of "Case of You", "Breakdown", "Sometimes it Snows in April", "Come Back" all were very moving to me. And many of the live performances I have heard from the Piano and A Microphone tour were touching. And keep in mind, I am a recent (but rather obsessive) convert to Prince, so I don't have any sentimentality about that particular concert..all his concerts are "new" to me anyhow. I thought his singing in those P&M tour clips I heard (the crisper-sounding ones) was gorgeous and not just a bunch of shifts into falsetto. Falsetto is singing, but Prince's singing as he got older sounded less like the whispery falsetto of most singers and more like that of a counter-tenor's soprano range. Plus, I love Prince's lower range. I don't really remember Michael singing much in that range.

By the way, my favorite Michael Jackson songs are Human Nature (okay, that is some pretty singing), man in the Mirror, Billie Jean, Rock With you, PYT, Wanna be Starting Something, Don't Stop til you get enough. A lot of his later music doesn't appeal to me (and not because of Michael himself but because the lyrics and the singing 'hiccups' annoyed me). .. Musically speaking, I like Michael but I adore Prince.

Speaking of subjectivity, ..I used to be a huge Frank Sinatra fan...and I am still a huge fan of his singing on his 1950's torch song albums. Objectively one could say that crooners like Vic Damone,

Dean martin, Tony Bennett were better singers technically, but Frank IMO was much more convincing and moving as a singer because his combination of world-weary touchness and vulnerable tenderness as a singer. (and he rarely belted--though his breath control as a younger man was outstanding) Its all subjective. Nat King Cole was not a great singer in any traditional sense but he was ten times more convincing than Johnny Mathis (who had more of a 'beautiful' voice). And don't get me started on the heart-breaking Billie Holiday.

heathilly said:

Wolfie87 said:

Nope, Prince talks like a beast, sings like an angel. My love Is Forever sounds as good as Rock With You or anything on OTW. MJ spoke like he sang. Never tweaked or experimented with his voice, as good as it is (And it's pretty fucking good). If you wan't him up in top ten, you're bringing Prince with him. FOR FUCK SAKE(!!) TMBGITW ending part , take a goddamn bow son.

"Never tweaked or experimented with his voice"

MJ did this all the time his harmonies could be lush and out of this world Liberian girl for example

It could could be soft quiet gentle so delicate it seemed it would break if you touched it human nature scared of the moon.

It could be gritting and razor sharp almost like axel rose with morphine.

And he frequently added his beatboxing into his songs using his voce as an insturment itself.

But what really makes him such a great singer is he just has natural instincts and can imbue any lyric with spine tingling emotion. I personally have never felt that way about prince although he's great and I know he means what hes singing.

I think prince position is fine 30 is pretty high already. Prince a great singer with many different facets to his voice but what seperates him from mj marvin gaye stevie wonder aretha etc. Any great soul singer is his belting range is limited and cant really emote all that much singing from his chest voice. He has huge range but a small belting range. So when prince wants to go for a really emotional thing when hes singing he screams or goes into falsetto which is also great but its a different thing.

And if prince was singing with mj marvin stevie aretha otis sam cooke the great soul singers he would noticaly be a weaker link because of his lack of a belting range. A falsetto sounds great on its own but when your hitting the same notes in chest voice theres no comparison.

[Edited 10/26/16 18:17pm]

[Edited 10/26/16 18:27pm]

purplerabbithole said:

Belting range isn't everything. Belting can be dull, unoriginal, and just plain annoying. What does "soul" have to do with how loud you are. But if you want to hear Prince sing loud, long lines then listen to "I'll never be another fool" demo he made for Chaka Kh..Its like he was trying to sing like her. I think its too loud to be just falsetto.

"Soul" is deep, almost spiritual singing that feels instinctive. Its not loud, its not soft. It's not white, its not black. Its not American. Its not European. I know its a genre of music (basically spiritual sounding slow R and B) But, singing in a controlled yet soft voice (without sounding airy) is really really hard. Prince didn't have the loudest voice in the world (although his voice seemed stronger when he focused on it primarily and in his later years) but it could be quite pretty and textured..(especially as he got older).. Its soulfull even if it doesn't qualify as "soul" singing. Joni Mitchell wasn't a belter either but she had a beautiful voice. BTW, belters aren't always great when they attempt to sing softly (or to 'croon").

Plus, acting as if you can objectively say Michael is the better singer is kind of ridiculous. Phrasing and other aspects of singing come into play when making these decisions...and besides my issue is less with his ranking at 5 above Prince but more with the description of their singing and the comparision RS made between the two of them..

In all honesty, I find Micheal to be corny at times and I have since i was a kid. I grew up in the 1980's. Some of his choices as a singer even then irritated me. And, I am not saying this because of child molestation rumors or the way he speaks. "Bad" came out in 1987 when I was 12 years old, and I wasn't big on it then. I wasn't convinced that he was "Bad" at all (his singing voice was the reason, just as "the way you make me feel" didn't strike me as sexy either due to his voice). I am sure you have some more obscure music of his that you could mention in order to try to convince me of his many singing talents. And I might agree that I have been a bit too hard, but I am not going to change my mind about how sometimes I genuinely found him unconvincing.)

Plus, one's reaction to singing is never objective. Prince's singing has genuinely moved me. "I love you but I don't trust you anymore", "There is lonely" his version of "Case of You", "Breakdown", "Sometimes it Snows in April", "Come Back" all were very moving to me. And many of the live performances I have heard from the Piano and A Microphone tour were touching. And keep in mind, I am a recent (but rather obsessive) convert to Prince, so I don't have any sentimentality about that particular concert..all his concerts are "new" to me anyhow. I thought his singing in those P&M tour clips I heard (the crisper-sounding ones) was gorgeous and not just a bunch of shifts into falsetto. Falsetto is singing, but Prince's singing as he got older (starting in the under-rated 90's) sounded less like the whispery falsetto of most singers and more like that of a counter-tenor's soprano range. Plus, I love Prince's lower range. I don't really remember Michael singing much in that range.

By the way, my favorite Michael Jackson songs are Human Nature (okay, that is some pretty singing), man in the Mirror, Billie Jean, Rock With you, PYT, Wanna be Starting Something, Don't Stop til you get enough. A lot of his later music doesn't appeal to me (and not because of Michael himself but because the sappy lyrics, at times dull melodies, and the singing 'hiccups' annoyed me) (I dislike "Do you Remember", "Smooth Criminal' and "Black and White". .. Musically speaking, I like Michael but I adore Prince.

Speaking of subjectivity, ..I used to be a huge Frank Sinatra fan...and I am still a huge fan of his singing on his 1950's torch song albums. Objectively one could say that crooners like Vic Damone,Dean martin, Tony Bennett were better singers technically, but Frank IMO was much more convincing and moving as a singer because his combination of world-weary touchness and vulnerable tenderness as a singer. (and he rarely belted--though his breath control as a younger man was outstanding) Its all subjective. Nat King Cole was not a great singer in any traditional sense but he was ten times more convincing than Johnny Mathis (who had more of a 'beautiful' voice). And don't get me started on the heart-breaking Billie Holiday.

heathilly said:

"Never tweaked or experimented with his voice"

MJ did this all the time his harmonies could be lush and out of this world Liberian girl for example

It could could be soft quiet gentle so delicate it seemed it would break if you touched it human nature scared of the moon.

It could be gritting and razor sharp almost like axel rose with morphine.

And he frequently added his beatboxing into his songs using his voce as an insturment itself.

But what really makes him such a great singer is he just has natural instincts and can imbue any lyric with spine tingling emotion. I personally have never felt that way about prince although he's great and I know he means what hes singing.

I think prince position is fine 30 is pretty high already. Prince a great singer with many different facets to his voice but what seperates him from mj marvin gaye stevie wonder aretha etc. Any great soul singer is his belting range is limited and cant really emote all that much singing from his chest voice. He has huge range but a small belting range. So when prince wants to go for a really emotional thing when hes singing he screams or goes into falsetto which is also great but its a different thing.

And if prince was singing with mj marvin stevie aretha otis sam cooke the great soul singers he would noticaly be a weaker link because of his lack of a belting range. A falsetto sounds great on its own but when your hitting the same notes in chest voice theres no comparison.

[Edited 10/26/16 18:17pm]

[Edited 10/26/16 18:27pm]

[Edited 10/26/16 18:33pm]

[Edited 10/26/16 21:02pm]

heathilly said: