31 Favorite Rock Vocalists of All Time
1. Paul Rodgers
Free – Free (1969)
Free – Tons Of Sobs (1968)
Free – Heartbreaker (1973)
It’s amazing that Paul Rodgers was still a teenager when Free recorded their first album. His voice already had the leathery quality of someone who had lived hard. That may not have been the case, but Free emerged sounding fully mature, and for many, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, the model of what a rock band should be. Your favorite band’s favorite band and singer, and my favorite singer. I don’t love Bad Company’s songs, but I can still listen to them because of Paul. “Broad Daylight.”
2. Phil Mogg
UFO – Lights Out (1977)
UFO – Phenomenon (1974)
UFO – Obsession (1978)
Along with Thin Lizzy, UFO is the band that those who know them wonder why the hell they weren’t megastars selling out stadiums. Kind of a quintessential rock band in every way — great songs, a definitive live album, amazing guitarist (Michael Schenker 1973-78) and a perfect vocalist in Phil Mogg.
3. Bon Scott
AC/DC – Powerage (1978)
AC/DC – Highway To Hell (1979)
AC/DC – Let There Be Rock (1977)
Not everyone would agree, but that’s okay. Bon Scott didn’t have a pretty voice, and why should he, when he was performing dirty azz rock ‘n’ roll. He had loads of character, and was the perfect match for AC/DC. One influence that comes to mind might be a fellow Scot, Alex Harvey, from The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. “TNT.”
4. Little Richard
Little Richard – Here’s Little Richard (1957)
Little Richard – Little Richard (1958)
Little Richard – Little Richard Is Back (And There’s a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On!) (1964)
The original rock ‘n’ roll shouter who set the bar, which in many ways, no one surpassed. “Tutti Frutti.”
5. Steve Marriott
Small Faces – There Are But Four Small Faces (1967)
Small Faces – Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake (1968)
Small Faces – Small Faces (1966)
Blues men aren’t the only people Led Zeppelin should have been paying royalties to. Listen to the end of “You Need Loving” and you’ll agree that Robert Plant should have chucked a percentage of his royalty payments over to Marriott. He did great work in Humble Pie too, but the Small Faces were just so damn great. “All or Nothing.”
6. Freddie Mercury
Queen – News of the World (1977)
Queen – Queen II (1974)
Queen – A Night At The Opera (1975)
Queen at their 70s peak were actually looked down upon by gatekeepers and critics. Freddie’s sense of campy humor, showmanship and outrageous outfits somehow didn’t earn them respect until long after Freddie had passed. It wasn’t just Freddie’s vocal chops that earns him his place here, but all the other elements that immortalized him as a rock ‘n’ roll icon. “It’s Late.”
7. Ronnie James Dio
Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell (1980)
Rainbow – Rising (1976)
Dio – Holy Diver (1983)
What made Ronnie such a successful rock ‘n’ roll lifer is how versatile he was. I mean, he started singing doo-wop in the 50s FFS! From psychedelic to boogie to hard rock in Elf, to being the best frontman Ritchie Blackmore ever had, to reviving Black Sabbath from their downward spiral to triumphantly fully embrace heavy metal, Dio in turn transformed himself into a metal legend.
8. Robin Zander
Cheap Trick – Cheap Trick (1977)
Cheap Trick – Heaven Tonight (1978)
Cheap Trick – In Color (1977)
The various members of Cheap Trick had been toiling in the scene for well over a decade before they got big. That doesn’t seem long now, but back then, it was a real commitment if you didn’t see some sucesss in less than half that time. I only just learned that Neilson and Petersson were part of the Nazz in 1970-71, after Todd Rundgren left. As great as a songwriter/musician Rick was, everything finally clicked when Robin Zander joined his new band Cheap Trick in 1974, bringing his supersonic vocals to the table, which could project Rick’s songs to the cheap seats in the biggest stadiums. It was the strength of his live performance at an actually pretty humble venue in Japan that convinced the masses the the band deserve to be rock stars. “He’s A Whore.”
9. Phil Lynott
Thin Lizzy – Black Rose: A Rock Legend (1979)
Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak (1976)
Thin Lizzy – Fighting (1975)
I don’t know for sure, but I get the feeling that Phil was pretty modest about his vocal abilities kind of like Jimi Hendrix was. Nevertheless he sang what perfectly fit into his music, and I wouldn’t want anyone else. “Jailbreak.”
10. Ozzy Osbourne
Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (1971)
Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970)
Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
You’d think when Ronnie James Dio joined Black Sabbath, that his impressive range and power would transform the old Ozzy era songs for the better. But take a listen to the live recordings, and for the most part that didn’t happen, because Ozzy was perfect for the job. He might not have been flashy, but he was able to convey the emotional impact of Geezer’s lyrics brilliantly. Fear, panic, disgust, self-loathing, insanity, existential terror, Ozzy had them all in his toolbox.
11. Roger Daltrey
The Who – Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy (1971)
The Who – My Generation (1965)
The Who – Who’s Next (1971)
No other vocalist from the sixties showed such a dramatic evolution from a garage/mod/freakbeat shouter to a strutting self-styled golden god who’s voice can fill stadiums. Props for that. “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
12. Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells A Story (1971)
Jeff Beck – Truth (1968)
Faces – Ooh La La (1973)
Rod the mod in his 1968-73 peak was in extremely high demand, his voice a perfect balance of grit and honey for rock ‘n’ roll. You really can’t go wrong with anything he sang on during that six year period. “Mandolin Wind.”
13. Ann Wilson
Heart – Dreamboat Annie (1976)
Heart – Little Queen (1977)
Heart – Dog & Butterfly (1978)
Ann Wilson is the only person I think could credibly take Robert Plant’s place in Led Zeppelin. What’s incredible is her voice is still in fantastic shape. I saw them live about ten years ago, and she sounded amazing, and I heard she still does. “Crazy on You.”
14. Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)
Jeff Buckley – Live At Sin-e (1993)
Jeff Buckley – Mystery White Boy 1995-1996 (2000)
As far as artistic accomplishments, I’d rate Jeff’s dad Tim higher, but he was more folk, whereas Jeff, was a rocker disguised as a chanteuse. Or perhaps vice versa. He certainly had the raw talent. One of rock’s many tragedies that he didn’t live to fulfill it. At least I got to see him live four times during his short period of touring, and meet him.
15. Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St. (1972)
The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed (1969)
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers (1971)
Another great example of one who doesn’t possess a remotely pretty voice, but is masterful at doing exactly what is needed to serve the song. Hundreds of garage bands started popping up across the world since 1964, but none had a singer as good as Jagger. “Sympathy for the Devil.”
16. Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin – Pearl (1971)
Big Brother & the Holding Co. – Cheap Thrills (1968)
Janis Joplin – I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (1969)
Port Arthur, Texas legend, added some real, gritty blues, soul and passion into the San Francisco psychedelic scene. Her beautifully imperfect raspy roar continues to be an inspiration to singers born decades after she died, from Mia Zapata of the Gits to Jamie Nova of Witchburn, Elin Larsson of Blues Pills, Mlny Parsonz of Royal Thunder and many more. A predictable choice for a reason, her signature is inevitably her scorching version of “Piece of My Heart.”
17. Robert Plant
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (1969)
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin I (1969)
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
He’s not universally loved, but no one else would have come up with such audacious, ballsy vocals back then, not even Terry Reid. No one else could replace him, except perhaps Ann Wilson. I’d buy tickets to that. “Ramble On.”
18. Roger Chapman
Family – A Song For Me (1970)
Family – Music In A Doll’s House (1968)
Streetwalkers – Red Card (1976)
Roger Chapman might be a bit of a cult favorite, due to his bands Family and Streetwalkers not being part of the top tier prog and classic rock royalty. His reedy vibrato had such a unique, versatile tone, easily adapting to the more earthy blues rock/hard rock of Streetwalkers. I always liked Kristoffer Sjödahl of Dead Man because he reminded me of Chapman. There were probably others influenced by him. The Streetwalkers, “Run for Cover.”
19. Thom Yorke
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
Along with the band just getting better between their debut album and The Bends, Thom Yorke improved a lot as a singer. Like a lot of singers in the 90s, he cited Jeff Buckley as an inspiration. Two things impressed me enough for him to make this list — the way he creatively used his vocals as just one of many experimental sounds in Kid A yet still ultimately sounding like a rock album, and then killing it, singing those songs live. “Everything in its Right Place.”
20. Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra – Out Of The Blue (1977)
Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record (1976)
Electric Light Orchestra – Time (1981)
ELO was my favorite band in my childhood, but I hadn’t really thought much about Jeff Lynne being a great singer until recent years with vocal experts on YouTube and other critics saying how great he is. I guess he is! “Livin’ Thing.”
21. Mark Lanegan
Screaming Trees – Dust (1996)
Mark Lanegan – Field Songs (2001)
Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion (1992)
Lanegan started out being the best thing about Screaming Trees, back when their were a psych rock band in the 80s, through their grunge era, and into his Americana and folk noir solo albums. Emotionally the song that slays me is actually his guest vocals on Queens of the Stone Age “Into the Fade” — “You live ’til ya die I know.” Brilliant.
22. Paul McCartney
The Beatles – Revolver (1966)
The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
The Beatles – The Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
The most naturally gifted singer of the Beatles, while Lennon was known as the rocker, it was Paul who could belt out the Little Richard inspired stuff, not to mention the unhinged “Helter Skelter.” I suppose I’ll use that as an example of one extreme of his range.
23. David Bowie
David Bowie – The Rise Of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars (1972)
David Bowie – Hunky Dory (1971)
David Bowie – Low (1977)
Bowie was never a flashy kind of vocalist, but he always did exactly what the song needed, which over the course of his nearly half-century long career, covered a huge amount of territory. “Life on Mars” is one of his emotional performances, and my favorite.
24. Sting
The Police – Ghost In The Machine (1981)
The Police – Regatta de Blanc (1979)
The Police – Outlandos D’Amour (1978)
One can take Sting for granted, and more so grow to hate him during his increasingly pretentious jazz-pop MOR solo years, but his unique voice is just as innovative as Andy Summers’ impressionist guitar shapes and Copelands rhythms, surfing on top of the music.
25. Steve Winwood
Traffic – Traffic (1968)
Traffic – The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971)
Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die (1970)
Steve Winwood has been in a number of projects, The Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Third World, Stomu Yamashta’s Go and of course his solo career, starting with the great single “While You See a Chance.” Everything he touches is worth a listen, but you can’t beat the Traffic catalog. I’ll go with his first single with Traffic in 1967, “Paper Sun.”
26. Van Morrison
Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (1968)
Van Morrison – Moondance (1970)
Van Morrison – Veedon Fleece (1974)
There’s been some backlash against Astral Weeks, which remains one of my top 5 of all time, perhaps because of Morrison being a pretty horrible person. I’m sure he’s not alone in that club of musicians. Then again, there’s also been positive critical re-evaluations of albums like Common One (1980), which is growing on me. From a garage band shouter with Them to his Celtic jazz-soul, I’ll never stop listening, and the title track “Astral Weeks” will never stop haunting me.
27. Kurt Cobain
Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)
Nirvana – Bleach (1989)
Nirvana – In Utero (1993)
On Nirvana’s first tour they were opening for Tad, and I was stoked for Nirvana. Of all the Sub Pop bands, including Soundgarden, who’d already moved on to a major label, I thought Cobain was the best singer by far, even in the early days. There was barely a hundred people at that show, and they were equally impressed. Looks like a few million more people eventually agreed.
28. Jim Morrison
The Doors – The Doors (1967)
The Doors – Strange Days (1967)
The Doors – L.A. Woman (1971)
It’s fitting that Elektra asked Iggy Pop to take Morrison’s place after he died, because that’s how influential Morrison was, not with just his vocal style, but also his poetic lyrics, stage presence and overall persona, helping mold his distinct version of the lead man archetype. Funny thing, I was doing a pool workout in college, which had underwater speakers, and that’s when I heard Billy Idol’s cover of “L.A. Woman” and realized how that’s probably my favorite Doors song.
29. Iggy Pop
The Stooges – Fun House (1970)
Iggy & The Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
Iggy Pop – Lust For Life (1977)
Not a traditionally great singer, even though he developed a pleasant enough baritone croon under the tutelage of Bowie on the Berlin albums. But what makes Mr. James Osterberg worthy of this list is his absolutely feral performance on the second Stooges album, Fun House, exemplified by “T.V. Eye.” This earned him the status as truly the godfather of punk, and absolutely no one in that entire movement, and no one in the subsequent 55 years, could surpass that performance.
30. Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner – Workin’ Together (1970)
Ike & Tina Turner – Come Together (1970)
Ike & Tina Turner – River Deep – Mountain High (1966)
I’m mostly excluding soul singers from this list otherwise it would be nothing but. Tina Turner has done it all with and without Ike — R&B, soul, funk and blues rock. But she always talked about considering herself a rock ‘n’ roll singer. Indeed, her appearance as the Acid Queen in the film Tommy was psychedelic, and in Mad Max, she was full on fin’ METAL \../. There’s just enough rock elements throughout her work with Ike and solo to qualify her for this list, with her gritty vocal style was a huge influence on rock artists. Here cover of CCR’s “Proud Mary” was a live staple, but her signature is easily “River Deep Mountain High.”
31. Bruce Dickinson
Iron Maiden – Piece Of Mind (1983)
Iron Maiden – The Number Of The Beast (1982)
Iron Maiden – Powerslave (1984)
I recently finished his autobiography, and it was better than I expected. When Steve Harris recruited Bruce from Samson to replace Paul Di’Anno, the perception was he was a posh public school boy. But he had a pretty humble beginning, overcoming a lot through his childhood. I like how he singled out “Still Life” as one of his favorites, a proggy track that the band rarely performed. While that and “Revelations” are highlights of my favorite Maiden album, I have to say his blockbuster performance on “Hallowed by thy Name” was iconic, and set the tone for the rest of the Air Raid Siren’s career.
Bubbling Under:
Stevie Nicks
Chrissy Hynde
Polly Jean Harvey
Jack Bruce
Buddy Holly
Noddy Holder
Bob Dylan
Tom Waits
Arthur Brown
Gary Brooker
John Lennon
Lemmy Kilmister
Pat Benatar
Jimi Hendrix
Ian Astbury
Rob Halford
Ian Gillan
Marty Balin
Mark Farner
Elvis Costello
David Lee Roth
Steve Perry
Grace Slick
Del Shannon
Tom Petty
Prince
Brian Wilson
Joni Mitchell
Björk
Eric Burdon
Glenn Hughes
Geddy Lee
Jon Anderson
Bono
Ian McCulloch
Siouxsie Sioux
Roy Orbison
Elvis Presley
Peter Gabriel
Steven Tyler
Ray Davies
Joe Jackson
Billy Joel
Debbie Harry
Ian Hunter
Chris Cornell
Morrissey
Dennis DeYoung
Adrian Belew
Roger Waters
David Byron
Sammy Hagar
Glenn Danzig
Paul Westerberg
Joe Strummer
John Fogerty
Morrissey
Linda Ronstadt
Nick Cave
21st Century:
Mlny Parsonz (Royal Thunder)
Joakim Nilsson (Graveyard)
Óskar Logi Ágústsson (The Vintage Caravan)
Kayla Dixon (Witch Mountain)
Jay Buchanan (Rival Sons)
Sarabeth Linden (Tower)
Uta Plotkin (Witch Mountain)
Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age)
Christine Davis (Christian Mistress)
Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth)
James Petralli (White Denim)
Mike Scalzi (The Lord Weird Slough Feg)
Jack White (The White Stripes)
Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys)
Elin Larsson (Blues Pills)
Jess (Jess and the Ancient Ones)
Alia O’Brien (Blood Ceremony)
Non-rock:
Nina Simone
Sam Cooke
Billie Holiday
Etta James
Otis Redding
Sarah Vaughan
Ella Fitzgerald
Besse Smith
Aretha Franklin
Ray Charles
George Jones
Stevie Wonder
Fats Domino
Al Green
Tim Buckley
Frank Sinatra
Curtis Mayfield
Louis Armstrong
Patsy Cline
Marvin Gaye
Little Willie John
Bobby Bland
James Brown
Smokey Robinson
George Jones
Hank Williams
Johnny Cash
Gene Vincent
Bo Diddley
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Johnnie Ray
Muddy Waters
Carl Perkins
Eddie Cochran
Warren Smith
Howlin’ Wolf
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Sonny Boy Williamson
April 2, 2026
Fester’s Lucky 13: 1986
February 27, 2026
Fester’s Lucky 13: 1976
