i have several comps of his 30s/40s stuff

his voice is pleasant and I still think he can't sing

there are many who cant sing but are still exremely talented artists, i think that singing is 1 factor that makes a good artist but in most cases it is certainly not the deciding factor or even the most important, for example the following artists cannot really sing particularly well however it can easily be argued that anyone can sing depending on whos listening.

Bob dylan
Syd barret
daniel johnston
tom waits
jim morrison
ozzy osborne

all the above have been criticised many times as being unable to sing however their own contributions to music are substantial and in some cases genre changing and trend setting. Some iconic even. The question isnt who can sing but who is simply a poor artist overall or is overated or who wasted their talents.

But having a big range isn't really a measure of how well someone can sing is it? That's seems to be more looking at it as a virtuoso skill.

I think there is a tendency now to want absolute perfection in performance as well. But technical perfection can be quite boring and lacking much expression or individuality.

YouTube - ‪Child In Time - Deep Purple‬‏ how about ian gillen, now who thinks this guy cant sing? does his screaming count as singing?

if you wanna nitpick on Gillan, you might as well do with Plant first

he sounds like Kiwi opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa (and i don't mean it in a good way)

yea i cant say i have heard any of plant's live performances with led zeppelin that sounded impressive to be honest. However i think that is also due to olny later recordings really existing of led zeppelin like late 70s as opposed to hearing them near the start of their career.
Still though led zeppelin and deep purple are 2 of my favorite bands regardless of if they can sing or not.

Johnny Rotten can't sing worth s***. His voice is deffinitely unique, and I like the Sex Pistols, but he still has a bad voice.

most punk singers aren't meant to sing well

10 rotten apples:

Axl Rose- Sounds like somebody`s been sandpapering his throat, I seen him live twice now and on each occasion he was terrible.
Vince Neill- Probably the worst singer to have fronted a mainstream rock/metal act.
Bob Dylan- Its no surprise that his best songs were actually sung by somebody else.
Paul Weller- Sounds like a yobo in front of microphone, whilst boring the hell out of everybody with his political ramblings.
Damon Albarn- A great voice for working on a market stall and selling fruit and veg, but hell if he can sing, then anybody can.
Chad Kroeger- So bad that he had to have singing lessons, the Nickelback debut album is probably the worst singing I`ve ever heard!
Kelly Jones- Terrible singer who sounds like his throat is full of gravel and his songwriting skills are nothing to write home about either.
Chris Martin- His voice is so bad that I can`t even sit through one of his songs and his banging on the piano is equally unbearable.
Nico- The Velvet Underground debut could have been a real classic had they zipped her mouth up.
Mick Jones- I feel guilty putting him in the list, but I can`t think of anybody else to make the 10 at the moment. Despite being a Clash fan I have to say his voice is awful.

oh c'mon, I've heard Lou Reed sing those songs, he doesn't even come close to the Euro-decadent monotonal grandeur of Nico

I couldn't imagine "All Tomorrow's Parties" sung by Lou