Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists

[ajcardfan]

From latest Hit Parader special issue:

Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists

1. Robert Plant
2. Rob Halford
3. Steven Tyler
4. Chris Cornell
5. Bon Scott
6. Freddie Mercury
7. Bruce Dickinson
8. Ozzy Osbourne
9. Paul Rodgers
10. Ronnie James Dio
11. Axl Rose
12. Sammy Hagar
13. Geddy Lee
14. Geoff tate
15. Mick Jagger
16. Jonathan Davis
17. Roger Daltry
18. Paul Stanley
19. David Lee roth
20. Kurt Cobain
21. Maynard James Keenan
22. Kalus Meine
23. Eddie Vedder
24. James Hetfield
25. Trent Reznor
26. Serj Tankian
27. Layne Staley
28. Steve Perry
29. Gene Simmons
30. Joe Elliott
31. Jon Bon Jovi
32. Alice Cooper
33. Vince Neil
34. Steve Marriott
35. Lajon Witherspoon
36. Sebastian Bach
37. Philip Anselmo
38. Zack De La Rocha
39. Brian Johnson
40. Bret Michaels
41. Udo Dirkschneider
42. David Draiman
43. Ian Gillian
44. Marilyn Manson
45. Jeff Keith
46. Chester Bennington
47. Sully Erna
48. Lemmy Kilmeister
49. Aaron Lewis
50. Bret Scallions
51. Chino Moreno
52. Rob Zombie
53. Anthony Kiedis
54. David Coverdale
55. Gary Cherone
56. Andrew Wood
57. Scott Weiland
58. Tom Araya
59. Phil Lynnot
60. Rod Stewart
61. Scooter Ward
62. Ray Davies
63. Sonny Sandoval
64. David Bowie
65. Joan Jett
66. Josey Scott
67. Perry Farrel
68. Scott Stapp
69. Amy Lee
70. Don Dokken
71. Fred Durst
72. Mike Shinoda
73. Pepper Keenan
74. Dez Fafara
75. Gavin Rossdale
76. Blackie Lawless
77. Dave Wyndorf
78. Anne Wilson
79. Jimi Hendrix
80. Ville Valo
81. Peter Steele
82. Dave Williams
83. Dee Snider
84. Joe Lynn Turner
85. King Diamond
86. Corey Taylor
87. Jamey Jasta
88. Justin Hawkins
89. Dave Mustaine
90. Ian Astbury
91. Stephen Pearcy
92. Phil Mogg
93. Biff Byford
94. Cristina Scabbia
95. Dani Filth
96. Wes Scantlin
97. Ripper Owens
98. Joshua Todd
99. Kevin Dubrow
100. Ray Gillen

 

[ajcardfan]

Pretty interesting list, even with an awfully broad interpretation of the term "Heavy Metal". (I mean, Mick Jagger and David Bowie?)

 

[Divide Et Impera]

Yeah, I'm gonna go with NO on that list....

 

[Divide Et Impera]

Anne Wilson?

Dez Fafara wouldn't even rate if you asked metal fans....

 

[vince56]

no. bad list.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Well, they got #1 right.

 

[Ryanwb]

Jimi Hendrix as a metal vocalist?

 

[Linderbee]

I just posted a rant about not having Chris Cornell on the list--had to delete since he's #4 & I managed to miss him the 3 times I read the names. Weird list, though. I wouldn't have even attempted a top 100 heavy metal vocalists, because you have to include damn near everyone just to make it work (as they did). Top 20 - 40 would have been better.

 

[Brian]

uhhh,.......


no.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

Let's see. A quick list for me would be:

Halford, Osbourne, Dickinson, Tate, Mustaine, Hetfield, Araya, Belladonna, Anselmo, Bush, Billy, Schuldiner, Barlow, Neil, LaBrie, Keenan, Zombie, Manson, Owens, Filth, Diamond, Steel, De La Rocha, Stanley, Roth, Bon Jovi, Dio, Davis, Staley, Weiland, Bach, Lawless, Snider, Fair, Byron Davis, Blythe, Howard Jones....

The bolded ones weren't even on this list!!!

 

[Divide Et Impera]

Damn! I forgot Warrel Dane who also is not on the list....

 

[ajcardfan]

Let's see. A quick list for me would be:

Halford, Osbourne, Dickinson, Tate, Mustaine, Hetfield, Araya, Belladonna, Anselmo, Bush, Billy, Schuldiner, Barlow, Neil, LaBrie, Keenan, Zombie, Manson, Owens, Filth, Diamond, Steel, De La Rocha, Stanley, Roth, Bon Jovi, Dio, Davis, Staley, Weiland, Bach, Lawless, Snider, Fair, Byron Davis, Blythe, Howard Jones....

The bolded ones weren't even on this list!!!

That's a good list. I'd have Halford, Dickinson, Ozzy, Dio and Plant in the top 5.

 

[Russ Smith]

Of that list, Dio and Axl are too low because I don't consider Queen to be heavy metal and it's pretty debatable if Bad Company or Free(both Paul Rodgers) was heavy metal either? I guess I could live with them being lumped into that genre, but I'd put both Dio and Axl ahead of Paul Rodgers.

What the hell is Steve Perry doing on a list of heavy metal vocalists?

Steven Pearcy is way too low if you're going to put people like Stapp and Cherone on the list, Ratt was one of the most influential "glam rock" bands of the 80's.

no Tom Kiefer of Cinderella, seems most of his contemporaries are on the list?

 

[Divide Et Impera]

That's a good list. I'd have Halford, Dickinson, Ozzy, Dio and Plant in the top 5.

I forgot Dio, but I have a hard time calling Zep heavy metal (same with Hendrix, who is on the list)....

 

[Divide Et Impera]

Oh, and I should have included Mikael Åkerfeldt. If you don't know Opeth, get into them! Try out Blackwater Park or the sister albums Damnation and Deliverance. They cover the ENTIRE spectrum of music from folk to black metal. They are a collection of true musicians and Mikael's vocals are excellent whether he's singing melodically or in the growl....

 

[Russ Smith]

I forgot Dio, but I have a hard time calling Zep heavy metal (same with Hendrix, who is on the list)....

Most rock history things you read or see will say either Zeppelin or Black Sabbath started heavy metal. I'd say Sabbath but obviously the definition of what is metal has changed over the years, at one time Zep was absolutely considered metal. Personally I just consider them to be rock.

Plant wasn't necessarily a great singer, but a tremendous front man for one of the best bands ever.

With Sabbath you get the interesting question, most people I know will concede Dio is a better singer than Ozzy, but Ozzy was the better frontman, so in that respect I have no problem with Ozzy being ranked ahead of Dio. But if you rank my favorite all time Sabbath albums, it would be Mob Rules and Heaven and Hell so obviously I prefer Dio.

 

[Pariah]

If they're calling Queen heavy metal, Mercury should be tops on that list.

 

[ajcardfan]

Most rock history things you read or see will say either Zeppelin or Black Sabbath started heavy metal. I'd say Sabbath but obviously the definition of what is metal has changed over the years, at one time Zep was absolutely considered metal. Personally I just consider them to be rock.

Plant wasn't necessarily a great singer, but a tremendous front man for one of the best bands ever.

With Sabbath you get the interesting question, most people I know will concede Dio is a better singer than Ozzy, but Ozzy was the better frontman, so in that respect I have no problem with Ozzy being ranked ahead of Dio. But if you rank my favorite all time Sabbath albums, it would be Mob Rules and Heaven and Hell so obviously I prefer Dio.

There was a 5 part special about Metal on VH1 a few months back that gave credit to both Sabbath and Zeppelin for starting metal. They broke it down as Sabbath creating a dark type of metal that bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden would build on and then many other band followed in that vein. They said Zeppelin started more of the "party" type of metal that bands like Van Halen and Def Leppard followed.

Zeppelin wouldn't be metal today, but at the time, some of their songs were very heavy. "Black Dog" would be a good example.

Ozzy as a singer was never really "great" IMO. Dio could sing circles around him. But, he's Ozzy for gawd's sakes. He has to be right at the top of any heavy metal list for vocalists.

 

[ajcardfan]

Oh, and I should have included Mikael Åkerfeldt. If you don't know Opeth, get into them! Try out Blackwater Park or the sister albums Damnation and Deliverance. They cover the ENTIRE spectrum of music from folk to black metal. They are a collection of true musicians and Mikael's vocals are excellent whether he's singing melodically or in the growl....

Okay, I'll give them a listen. No, I haven't heard any of their stuff. I'm kind of rediscovering my metal roots after being a bit out of touch for several years.

 

[Russ Smith]

There was a 5 part special about Metal on VH1 a few months back that gave credit to both Sabbath and Zeppelin for starting metal. They broke it down as Sabbath creating a dark type of metal that bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden would build on and then many other band followed in that vein. They said Zeppelin started more of the "party" type of metal that bands like Van Halen and Def Leppard followed.

Zeppelin wouldn't be metal today, but at the time, some of their songs were very heavy. "Black Dog" would be a good example.

Ozzy as a singer was never really "great" IMO. Dio could sing circles around him. But, he's Ozzy for gawd's sakes. He has to be right at the top of any heavy metal list for vocalists.

Yeah I saw much of that VH1 special that was one of the things I was referring to. In fact I think that's the one where alice Cooper claims the term was first used to describe HIS music?

You nailed the Ozzy/Dio thing , Dio was a much better singer but his stage shtick was all devil worship, whereas Ozzy wasn't a great singer but was just a great front man.

Mob Rules was I think the 3rd concert I'd been too, I knew Dio from Rainbow and was disappointed at him live, I never bothered to see him in concert when he formed his own band.

 

[Phill11]

Wow. So much is running through my mind about this list.

Over 1/2 of these guys aren't metal vocalists.

No Max Cavalera? Once I didn't see his name on the list, I just stopped looking.

 

[Assface]

LOL, Fred Durst made the list.

 

[azmike74]

Love the fact that Andrew Wood is on the list. Not many will care because I believe he is pretty much unknown (and not really "heavy metal"), but I love this list because of the debate. I love Pearl Jam, as you can tell by my avatar, and I love Eddie Vedder's voice, but 23? Not sure about that, I would move 24, 25, and 27 above him and 13, 16, 19 below him.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

Okay, I'll give them a listen. No, I haven't heard any of their stuff. I'm kind of rediscovering my metal roots after being a bit out of touch for several years.

Try them at www.opeth.com or at www.launch.com. They are some seriously excellent musicians. They aren't noodlers like Dream Theater. Like I said, they have a lot of folk acoustic stuff, a lot of melody and then they venture into mid-tempo death-to-black metal, but it's audible and it makes sense, not the crap like Dark Funeral and such....

 

[Divide Et Impera]

I've got a launch.com radio station set up at my workstation and "In My Time of Need" from Opeth just came on. This is a great song that has a Floydian/acid-rock feel to it mixed with their folky acoustic styling. It has a spacy, ethereal feel to it. It's very lilting and lacksadaisical. Try that one out for one of their slow songs from start to finish. For a song that has the complete range, try any song off of any album but Damnation (all slow and melodic songs)....