Despite the importance of the musical accompaniment and the lyrics, the voice is often crucial in rock.
A strong vocalist is able to “pull out” even a weak song, making it a real “sweetie”.
There are surprisingly many gifted performers, but many of them sound, if not the same, then very similar.
There were not so many voices that sound truly unique in the whole history of rock and we decided to choose 10, collecting in one place both stars of the past and those who are happy with their singing right now.
10. Dolores O’Riordan
Dolores, born in 1971, became famous primarily as the vocalist of The Cranberries, which she joined in 1990.
It was thanks to her voice that the collective became known throughout the world, because no one else would have sang the legendary song Zombie the way she did it.
In addition to working in the group, Dolores was engaged in a solo career: so, she has two albums - Are You Listening? (2007) and No Baggage (2009), as well as the soundtrack to the film “Passion of Christ”.
From 2014 until her death she worked with the D.A.R.K. collective, recording the debut album Science Agrees with them.
9. Till Lindemann
This German musician, in addition to catchy vocals, has another important quality - self-confidence.
Everyone knows the story that at the dawn of his career, Rammstein offered to record songs in English in order to win an audience outside Germany, but Till and the company refused. They wanted to sing in their native language and believed that with their work they could make a resident of any country admire German compositions. As a result, they completely succeeded, and it is simply impossible to mix Lindemann's voice with another: the characteristic aspiration and the depth of the vocals are firmly embedded in the memory.
8. David Draiman
Perhaps the name does not tell you anything, but you will probably remember who it is after hearing the name of his group - Disturbed. Dreiman was among its founders in 1996, becoming not only a vocalist, but also a composer, as well as an author of texts.
The debut album The Sickness was released in 2000, then David’s voice began to be admired.
He achieved even greater popularity after the release of the film “Queen of the Damned” in 2002, for which he recorded the soundtrack. Then he first entered the top 100 best metal vocalists in the world, where he now occupies 42 line.
7. Freddie Mercury
Queen's music is so legendary that only the lazy did not sing their songs. Everyone from pop to death metal vocalists tried to sing the main hits, but nobody could do it.
Freddie Mercury's voice and singing style were so distinctive that it was impossible to repeat or surpass them.
In 2009, the British edition of Classic Rock ranked "50 Greatest Rock Voices" based on the opinions of readers, rock musicians and listeners of the Rock Planet radio station.
Freddy's voice was recognized as the best and took the first line, and this is far from the only such victory.
6. Serj Tankian
The lead singer of System of a Down was born in Lebanon, where he lived until the age of 8, after which he moved with his parents to Los Angeles. There he went to an Armenian school, where he began to study music.
Close communication with the Armenian diaspora and Lebanese roots gave Tankyan’s voice a unique accent that does not spoil his speech at all, and makes singing unique.
Tankyan's vocals can be easily recognized both in the songs of Sistema and in his solo project Serj Tankian, with which he has already released 4 studio albums and several other promotional and soundtrack albums.
5. Klaus Meine
The German in his youth was so impressed with the music of The Beatles and Elvis Presley that Klaus decided to take it seriously too.
Joining Scorpions 4 years after the foundation, he nonetheless took part in the recording of all albums, and he wrote most of the hits himself.
In the early 80s, he had to undergo an operation on his vocal chords, which could put an end to his career, burying the group at the same time, but, fortunately, everything ended successfully and the voice was not injured.
4. Axel Rose
This musician is considered one of the best vocalists in rock history not only by ordinary listeners, but also by professional journalists and music critics of their Rolling Stone and NME.
Being the frontman of Guns N 'Roses, Axel Rose achieved everything that you can only dream of: a lot of awards, love and recognition of listeners around the world, but his main achievement is the songs Sweet Child o' Mine, Don't Cry and, of course, November Rain.
Since 2016, Axel joined the AC / DC lineup, so now in his unique performance you can hear no less cult songs Highway to Hell or Thunderstruck.
3. Kurt Cobain
The king of grunge, Cobain was, is and will be the one and only. If it can be said about other vocalists that they have a strong voice and they know how to use it, then in the case of the Nirvana soloist, such a description does not fit.
His voice was just magic, for the description of which so far no words have been invented.
The musician committed suicide 25 years ago, but the magic of his voice still works, and no one appeared on the rock scene whose singing even remotely resembled Cobain.
2. Valery Kipelov
It just so happened that Soviet and then Russian rock music is not replete with good bands and strong vocalists.
Valery Alexandrovich Kipelov is a real diamond against the general background, because his singing can give odds to many Western musicians.
Tenor altino or lyrical tenor is not the most common voice in rock, which makes Kipelov even more unique.
1. Chester Bennington
The vocalist of Linkin Park and the solo project Dead by Sunrise passed away 2 years ago, but many fans still have not moved away from the shock.
For the hundredth and even a thousandth time, the debut album Hybrid Theory is listened to with the incredible By Myself, One Step Closer and In The End, and for the thousandth time comes the understanding that no one else can.
You can describe Chester Bennington's voice like this: he could sing like an angel and scream like a demon.