Chris Cornell
Layne Staley

some people will passionately disagree with this, but Janis Joplin should definitely be mentioned. She had a fantastic voice for rock'n'roll.

Early robert planet 68-72 had the best voice ever.

I can certainly see where people are coming from re. Freddie Mercury. He had it all really; power, range, humour, versatility. I'm also fond of the 'voice' of the great Lemmy from Motorhead. 'Percy' Plant is for me the king of the hard rock screamers/ squealers.

But for me, it would have to be Elvis - For complex reasons, not that popular a figure on the Org, but if you asked many of the singers listed on this thread (and many many others of th e'60s/ '70s generation) who their 'ultimate rock voice' would be, I daresay many would have said 'Elvis'.

Elvis was a definite important influence, along with many others,(Little Richard deserves a special mention in this regard too, as imo the 'true' King of Rock n' Roll. Elvis was more versatile than that.) on Mercury, Bowie, Lennon and so many other white rock singers. To be pedantic, while Bowie has used heavy guitars and drums a lot, if I had to 'categorise' him, I'd still put him more in the 'pop' category at heart - an avante and yet consistently commercial pop star.


But imagine Elvis at his imo 1968-70 peak; instead of performing his own unique stew of soul, rock n' roll, country, gospel at al, fronting a band like Led Zeppelin, performing that kind of material, and you might have some idea of where I'm coming from. I do know that Zeppelin knew Elvis a little in the '70s and that IIRC they did ask if he wanted to jam with them . But El was probably in an even 'higher' zone than they were at that time ...

Failing him, I'd say Muddy Waters, who after all in many ways in the '50s led the first truly great electric rock band . Now, Muddy sang like a MAN, not like a girl, like most so-called Rock singers do :lol:.

I can certainly see where people are coming from re. Freddie Mercury. He had it all really; power, range, humour, versatility. I'm also fond of the 'voice' of the great Lemmy from Motorhead. 'Percy' Plant is for me the king of the hard rock screamers/ squealers.

But for me, it would have to be Elvis - For complex reasons, not that popular a figure on the Org, but if you asked many of the singers listed on this thread (and many many others of th e'60s/ '70s generation) who their 'ultimate rock voice' would be, I daresay many would have said 'Elvis'.

Elvis was a definite important influence, along with many others,(Little Richard deserves a special mention in this regard too, as imo the 'true' King of Rock n' Roll. Elvis was more versatile than that.) on Mercury, Bowie, Lennon and so many other white rock singers. To be pedantic, while Bowie has used heavy guitars and drums a lot, if I had to 'categorise' him, I'd still put him more in the 'pop' category at heart - an avante and yet consistently commercial pop star.


But imagine Elvis at his imo 1968-70 peak; instead of performing his own unique stew of soul, rock n' roll, country, gospel at al, fronting a band like Led Zeppelin, performing that kind of material, and you might have some idea of where I'm coming from. I do know that Zeppelin knew Elvis a little in the '70s and that IIRC they did ask if he wanted to jam with them . They fantasised about recording with him ISTR, and 'restoring' his rock roots. But El was probably in an even 'higher' zone than they were at that time ...

Failing him, I'd say Muddy Waters, who after all in many ways in the '50s led the first truly great electric rock band . Now, Muddy sang like a MAN, not like a girl, like most so-called Rock singers do .
[Edited 2/29/08 14:50pm]

Slave2daGroove said:

No. DLR all the way.

Early robert planet 68-72 had the best voice ever.

I've always love Paul Stanley's voice.

David Grohl...for just all around getting that rock n roll is larger than life but having a nice balance of that and not taking yourself too seriously.

Tina Turner


Chrisse Hynde


Annie Lennox

Neil Finn

david coverdale