Famous, Lousy Singers
 

Top 10 Singers Who Can't Sing - TheWrongSound.com
Top ten great singers who can't sing - Telegraph

I'm very amused :) Any comments, such as other famous singers who are bad at what they do?

The first link is an absolutely terrible article. None of those singers, apart from Ashlee Simpson for obvious reasons, are bad at what they do. We all know a vocalist who can express tons of feeling and emotion with a relatively limited voice is far better than a vocalist with a three octave vocal range and very little feeling or emotion in their voice.

I don't think Ozzy or Cobain belong on the list. Their singing is okay, in my opinion. But I can't agree with the either/or of emotive vs. technically a good singer. If you're going to try to sing (especially professionally), do it decently. Madonna improved herself. Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin - the sheer vocal unpleasantness negates the rest.

I actually like Tom Waits' voice for the most part. It's the type of voice that's good to listen to late at night drinking whiskey and smoking cigarettes, which is probably how he got it as well. There's not too many vocalists that sound like him either. Was never a big fan of Ozzy's voice but Kurt Cobain's passionate and intense vocal delivery is one of the main things that has always appealed to me about Nirvana.

What is this Jarvis-Cocker-can't-sing nonsense? I heartily disagree with this statement. He has character. :laughing:

The first list is just ridiculous I mean Jim Morrison WTF!!! Personally I think he`s the best vocalist that ever lived. As for Janis Joplin WTF again!!! One of the best female vocalists in the history of rock. Again Kurt Cobain had one of the most unique and addictive voices in rock!!! Ozzy may not be a born singer but it was unique to the sound of music he was putting out and as for David Lee Roth........well they`re just looking anybody it seems because despite not being brilliant he was adequate voice wise.

The problem with these lists, is that they never ever really highlight the really bad singers.

The second list is nowhere near as bad. They`ve put in people like Lou Reed, Johnny Lydon, Siouxie Sioux and Ian Dury, sure these guys weren`t really singers but they utilized their limited voices to maximum effect with the music they were producing, none of them deserve to be on this list.

Now I think Bob Dylan is an awful singer and probably deserves to be on the list (but I know people that really love his voice)

That WrongSound site is generally quite atrocious.

I can't take this list seriously without Whitney Houston on it.

Celine Dion, also!

These lists....they're wrong.

I burst into laughter when I saw Nick Cave. I mean, he's one of the best of all time.

And Siouxsie Sioux is on that same list. They must be fucking kidding.

they forgot Frank Sinatra

can phrase and time but can't really sing

also Bryan Ferry

unique voice but sounds all wrong

Honestly, when I saw this title, I expected nothing but pop acts e.g. Lady Gaga and Katy Perry to be mentioned.

While pleasantly surprised that this obvious route was not the one taken by the writers of both articles, I was kind of irritated by the lists.

It seems that both authors tend to regard "unique" voices as being bad. That's definitely not the case in my opinion, and probably in the opinions of many others; if you have a good voice, consistently on pitch and traditionally pleasing, you can sing in the choir. If you have a unique voice, you can be the soloist.

Unique voices should be applauded rather than frowned upon.

Just my $.02.

I agree a lot here. Just because someone has a slightly harsh or not quite "technically correct" voice doesn't mean they cannot sing. Personally I prefer the gritty, gruff voices that the two lists seem to be picking on then consistently high vocals that lack emotion or texture.

also forgot Mark Knopfler

Bob Dylan
Lou Reed
Bruce Springsteen
Johnny Cash

It seems that folk "singers" are overrepresented, as though that genre doesn't require real singing. I like some individuality in vocal style and could name a few rock singers whose voices have charm because of the imperfections. (I would argue that Ozzie is one of those, although I'm finding that studio magic might be his secret.) However, many of the names on the list aren't just slightly off; their singing is technically awful or not singing at all.

If Ke$ha isn't on there, it isn't a credible list.

I don't think it's fair to say any of these artists "can't sing". The reality is that their voices are acquired tastes. Perhaps that would be a more competent list to have written.

While her music is trashy pop, Ke$ha probably can sing better (in a technical sense) than any of the people on the lists. There's a certain lack of objectivity in reactions to the articles.

David Bowie fits the list.

I never liked Vince Neil as a vocalist personally, but always liked the band Motley Crue.

http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...cant-sing.html

Both lists are not only terribly inaccurate and stupid, we already have a couple threads like this floating around.