You heard him talk in his low register, but what came out during his falsetto parts simply isn't the same man. It's crazy how good his singing was. Personally I think it's one of his greatest achievements. Just listen to Insatiable from D&P Beginnings. Like someone said on the board "His falsetto could fucking tear the sea apart". Why isn't he recognized as one of the greatest singers? And how good was his vocal range compared to others? Was his falsetto actually brilliant?

Wolfie87 said:

There are more than a few singers that can sing with a wider range than Prince. However, there's VERY few with similar amount of control in every part of their vocal range. I think part of the reason is that Prince would do everything he could to achieve what he heard inside his head, while alot of other people are too scared to do something out there and weird. Prince never considered different as weird.

Wolfie87 said:

Wolfie87 said:

After the piano and microphone show I looked at my 12-year-old kid and said....you don't know it now, but you have very likely just witnessed the best vocal performance of your entire lifetime

Masterful vocalist. Everytime I hear his throat shredding screams I get goosebumps; I still remember how awe struck I was when I heard The Beautiful Ones for the first time. Gorgeous, smooth falsetto...then that ending. Fuck.

lynx said:

After the piano and microphone show I looked at my 12-year-old kid and said....you don't know it now, but you have very likely just witnessed the best vocal performance of your entire lifetime

Prince had an AMAZING voice. Rich, powerful, lots of range. Oh, and he almost ALWAYS sang in key.

Interesting story that's emerged since his passing I read. Awhile back Prince was looking at doing a long, exteneded Vegas strip stay and went to see Ciline Dion's show. He remearked to a producer that she "had to be on the box", meaning lip-scyning as she sounded so pure, clear, and pefect, but was assured that she was in fact singing live. Prince admired her live vocals that night.

People have been praising his vocal range for years.

I'm not a purist in the "vocal lessons," American Idol sense. Whereas Prince's falsetto gets plenty of credit on the Org and his unparalleled freakouts are finally getting mainstream media acknowledgement, what amazed me the other day is that some of his high parts I can sing (I work on my falsetto), but I can't go nearly as low as he goes on, say, "Diamonds and Pearls." And some of his other seemingly easy songs absolutely kill my throat (ie. "Forever in My Life"). Anyone else? What also astonishes me is his voice's emotional range, and all the ideas he packs in (ie. from whispers to screams, chewing gum in "Positivity"). That to me, more than vocal ability, is the mark of a great singer (Tom Waits would never make it on American Idol, but he has more personality than anyone that show churned out... and cited Prince's falsetto as inspiration): Prince has amazing poetic range.

How funny that this thread is made now after reading a thread years ago (around 2010) where a lot of people were saying Prince's singing was average. Everyone was saying that Prince might be talented at a lot of stuff but that he was pretty average at all of it. How funny y'all. Now that he's gone everyone is finally praising him and realizing just how incredibly talented he was.

I don't remember what the thread was called but I remember tween me getting seriously pissed off

Seriously though, Prince had amazing vocal range. I went to various websites rating pop star's vocal ranges months ago and he is rated very very high and is second only to Axl Rose when it comes to males. Whitney and Mariah seperate them.

This thread reminded me immediately of an article I saw a few years back that had a cool interactive chart detailing the vocal ranges of some of the greatest contemporary singers. I actually found the link...it's really neat to look at!

As it turns out, Prince's full vocal range is apparently second only to Axl Rose, though we could probably argue as to whether or not the folks who did this study had access to all of his material to make that distinction. This article says that Prince hit his lowest note in "Daddy Pop" and his highest in "God."

Other fun facts according to this article by concerthotels.com:

Prince has the third greatest total range (behind Axl Rose and Mariah Carey).

Prince has the highest note of all of the male artists surveyed here, and the third highest of either gender (behind Mariah and Christina...no surprises there).

Here's a link to that graphic: http://www.concerthotels....cal-ranges

Kacey725 said:

firebird319 said:

if anyone here hasn't, please give Solo a listen or five.

That is the one song I haven't yet dared to play since his passing. I am afraid his voice will tear me apart with those lonely, haunting vocals. I am still so sad for him dying so young, on heavy medication, alone on the floor of an elevator. I think I am not really ready to properly 'feel' his loss emotionally yet. His death still feels kind of unreal to me and I think I would like to keep it there for a bit longer...

You got that right funkaholic1972, I don't think I could listen to that song in the day time right now less lone in the night!!!

I loved his voice in everything - high or low- always loved it always will. Cant listen to the ballads yet as it breaks me up as they were always my favourites - (and yes, Solo) and have not listened to the last Atlanta shows yet - but I hope I will be strong enough to soon.

alphastreet said:

Wolfie87 said:

You heard him talk in his low register, but what came out during his falsetto parts simply isn't the same man. It's crazy how good his singing was. Personally I think it's one of his greatest achievements. Just listen to Insatiable from D&P Beginnings. Like someone said on the board "His falsetto could fucking tear the sea apart". Why isn't he recognized as one of the greatest singers? And how good was his vocal range compared to others? Was his falsetto actually brilliant?

His falsetto is so underrated like those of his early career. I always thought his falsetto was smoother than mjs

I agree.

I love Prince's voice.

Second only to Michael Jackson, for me.

^ After Prince I really love George Michael's voice. MJ is also one of my favorites.

funkaholic1972 said:

Wolfie87 said:

You heard him talk in his low register, but what came out during his falsetto parts simply isn't the same man. It's crazy how good his singing was. Personally I think it's one of his greatest achievements. Just listen to Insatiable from D&P Beginnings. Like someone said on the board "His falsetto could fucking tear the sea apart". Why isn't he recognized as one of the greatest singers? And how good was his vocal range compared to others? Was his falsetto actually brilliant?

one recent poll had him in third, behind Axl Rose and Mariah Carey. I think the judgement criteria was off in that but I think Prince gets some props for his singing. I'll be honest though, I never, never thought of him as a great singer until I saw the performance of "Gotta Broken Heart Again" on the ona dvd. Out of all the things he did well, some came more naturally than others. Singing, I don't believe, was one of them. He didn't even use his lower register, hardly at all until his fifth album, his reason had to come from a statement he made a few years earlier, that it hurt to sing in his lower voice and that he had no power. Like just about everything else he tackled, he became a pretty good singer by the time of Purple Rain and he improved as the years went by. As far as the poll mention, 3rd or what have you, I don't care much for those kinds of things and I don't really think much of axl rose's, what is it, 6 octaves or something? there is a difference between being able to make a noise at a certain register and being able to actually sing there. I heard Axl Rose's lowest notes and it's pretty impressive, but he's not even singing, you can't call that part of his range. mariahs whistle notes? I don't know about them either. In fact, in classical singing, i once heard that they don't even count a male's falsetto notes as part of their range. Anyway, a good singer should be happy to have about an octave and a half of good notes, this embellishment stuff is only good for publicity. Axl is a great singer, not originall in my mind, he sounds just like robert plant, but he's great.

DoItAllNight4U said:

^ After Prince I really love George Michael's voice. MJ is also one of my favorites.

george michael is another who got better with time, i recall him singing next to stevie wonder at one of those motown reunions and shaking my head at the contrast. GM actually deleloped into a great singer. In his prime, I remember, the critics never gave him credit for anything but I always thought he was a great pop songwriter. the critics dogged him.