or Elmer Fudd ,but then there was Pat Boone and Bobby Vinton too .

I know, I'm gonna get flamed.

Bring it!!!!

And the Edge has a nice falsetto as well.

In recent years, it has become trendy to hate on U2. But most of that hatred is undeserved. Sure, they can come across as preachy and self-righteous at times. But then again, so can I.

I've never understood the U2 hate, but I know it's very real and very vitriolic.

I haven't heard the new one yet, but I'm not expecting much.

But I actually think Paul McCartney is the greatest of all the mega-successful rock singers.

oh yah...definitely Lemmy

no contest.

But then I don't believe I've heard Robert Plant. So maybe I should check before I vote...too late!

yuck. off within a few seconds.

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I would also throw Ian Gillan, Roger Daltrey, Macca, Lennon, and Jon Anderson into the conversation.

It's sacrilege, I know, but while recognizing FM's talent and chops, I was never much of a Queen fan. I never had any particular urge to hear a male version of Judy Garland backed by a killer power trio, and that's always what Queen sounded like to me.

Definitely more pop than rock.

Thank you for saying it better than I did.

'Made in Japan' and 'Live at the Isle of Wight' are probably two of the best vocal performances in rock'n'roll history.

shows about as much mastery of technique and range as anything this side of operatically-trained singers.

And "Love Reign O'er Me" is absolutely breathtaking. Still gives me the chills.

...I say that as a much bigger fan of Led Zeppelin than Queen. You can literally take every single Queen song I care about and fit them on one 80 minute CD. Beyond that CD, it's just not for me. And I have heard every single Queen CD.

Freddie was a genius, he was remarkably clever and wise when it came to marketing not only the band but himself. It's just that I was never into his vibe, you know? Doesn't mean I can't respect it or the people who were / are fans on a much bigger scale.

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goes to Freddie Mercury.

Even Plant would vote for Mercury.

There was something about Freddie Mercury and his ability to enthrall the entire audience and no matter the size of the audience. The 1985 Live Aid performance by Queen is considered by many as one of the greatest live performances EVER. It wasn't that Freddie had this amazing vocal range, but he had a showmanship that just made the music come alive. Robert Plant was more sex appeal - women wanted to sleep with him and men wanted to be like him so the women would sleep with them instead. I don't think Mercury was much about sex appeal, as much as I was a huge fan of Queen (#2 in my book), I never thought Freddie Mercury as any sort of 'Rock God' like Robert Plant. So in the end you really are comparing Apples and Oranges.

If anything probably the closest you can get to the type of frontman entertainer that was Freddie Mercury is Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. I see the same kind of showmanship on stage when Armstrong performs - he is an amazing frontman, great singing voice, and an amazing ability to take an extremely large crowd and bring them all into the performance to make it an epic show. I once explained Billie Joe Armstrong as 'If Freddie Mercury and Charlie Chaplin had a lovechild'. And again, Armstrong doesn't have that 'Rock God' appeal like other lead singers but still has what it takes to make Green Day a force to be reckoned with which is why Green Day got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame first year of eligibility.

I didn't like Led Zep back in 1969 and I don't like them now. Too much distortion and too much screaming. I got exposed to all the Zep albums in college by friends and I just didn't get it.



And as far as bad vocalists, I think the new guy in AC/DC is horrendous compared to Bon Scott. He sounds like he's lost his voice completely from laryngitis and is screaming.

There's having a ragged edge to your voice in rock and roll (think Bryan Adams or Roger Daltrey) and then there's losing the pitch completely. Brian May uses distortion and effects sparingly enough that it doesn't turn into a wall of screeching. And he's always doing his arpeggios and figures (noodling) within the chord so it makes sense. I'm prejudiced because my two favorite bands in my old age are Queen and The Police.

I'm not much for Mercury/Queen.

and I really like Led Zeppelin

so your post simply makes no sense.

... apples and oranges. Completely different styles/genres of music. Both are great though.

We also cannot forget Steve Perry, but some would debate if Journey was more Pop than Rock and Roll.

Steve Marriott:

As pure ROCK singers, neither of them come close to Bob Seger

the floor with Robbie.

To the names already mentioned, I would add (believe it or not) Chris Cornell. Especially if I pretend Audioslave never existed.

Then it all went to shit for some unknown reason.

always be number 1

Bon Scott, of course.