best front man in rock

[sheldonbourgeoi]

I'll give a big ups to Gord Downie of The Hip.

Scot Weiland can also entertain.

My fav, and maybe not a frontman so to speak, is Geddy Lee. You may not like his singing, but the way he can play bass, keyboards, trigger pedals ALL while singing is something special.

[c_law23]

IMO the best is easily Freddie Mercury...

And even though they are often criticized for their simplicity it's hard to argue with Brian Johnson for success alone.

Ive never been a big Jagger fan, i find him very entertaining and appreicate and admire his longevity, but IMO vocal-wise he isnt very good, let alone in the same league as Mercury...

[Elbasso_5]

Josh Homme is freakin' awesome. I'm not sure how many of you kept up with him, but he's the most versitile singer and guitar player I've seen since his days with Kyuss.

I would say Maynard James Keenan, but he does some REALLY wierd shows.

[Michael600r]

Robert Plant

[LuckyArmpit]

Mark Farner from Grand Funk Railroad.
Seen them in concert twice, last was in Youngstown, OH 10 years ago.
Sat 4 rows from stage. Talk about great guitar playing and singing at the same time, this dude definetly gots the talent!!!!! Anyone who plays guitar knows how difficult it is to play and sing IN TIME at the same time!!!!


Lucky...

[cmptrmn.1]

Oh my. I have seen LZ, Ozzie, The Who, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk, Queen, on and on. They are/were all pretty darn awesome. Ozzie was probably my favorite.

[sl3slinger]

Originally Posted by Scrambler81

Seems like we're just listing people now, so you can't leave out Ozzy.
Question - Are guys like Springsteen and Alice Cooper considered "front men", even though they weren't actually part of a band, and the musicians were more or less interchangeable parts? If they qualify as front men, then I'm changing my original answer to Elvis. He put the music on the map, and left the trail that everyone else had to follow. Without him, the others might have never been heard of.

BTW - Yes, I know "Alice Cooper" was originally a band, but that was for a very short time, a very long time ago.

no your absolutly right, elvis pretty much got the ball rolling, and alice inavated a lot of what ya see now

[sl3slinger]

steven tylers another one that great, and we cant forget roger daltry of the who

[THRILLA]

Tiny Tim

[runnerb0y]

Originally Posted by sl3slinger

ill start it off with one of most under rated front men, ian anderson of jethro tull, anyone who can make a flute cool,
YouTube - Jethro Tull - Cross-Eyed Mary - Live 1982

Originally Posted by c_law23

IMO the best is easily Freddie Mercury...

And even though they are often criticized for their simplicity it's hard to argue with Brian Johnson for success alone.

Ive never been a big Jagger fan, i find him very entertaining and appreicate and admire his longevity, but IMO vocal-wise he isnt very good, let alone in the same league as Mercury...

sl3slinger,
Great thread and I have to vote for Ian Anderson as well but I must say it's a close call with c_law23 and his vote for Freddie Mercury. Man those guys can really ROCK! Every show I ever saw was totally balls to the walls! I was tired just watching them, and I run marathons!

[gnomad]

Now don't laugh, but Prince is one heck of a front man. Paul Rodgers is up there at the top also.

[Scrambler81]

Originally Posted by gnomad

Now don't laugh, but Prince is one heck of a front man. Paul Rodgers is up there at the top also.

Have you heard Paul Rodgers lately? It's amazing how well his voice has held up. I really wish I could have caught him when he came through with Queen a while back, I've never seen him live.

[sl3slinger]

o yeah paul rogers is awesome,
YouTube - Free - All Right Now

[gnomad]

Paul Rodgers has one heck of a good voice. I hear he joined up with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in a couple of Texas Venues last year. I haven't seen him live since The Firm in the mid '80s.

[Scrambler81]

Originally Posted by gnomad

Paul Rodgers has one heck of a good voice. I hear he joined up with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in a couple of Texas Venues last year. I haven't seen him live since The Firm in the mid '80s.

Yeah, I saw that on TSO's site. TSO didn't have a guest when I saw them last year, but the year before that Jon Anderson from Yes came out and did Roundabout. It was fantastic. I'll be ordering up my TSO tickets next week, can't do Christmas without 'em.

[gnomad]

TSO puts on one of the best shows I have ever seen.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by Scrambler81

Seems like we're just listing people now, so you can't leave out Ozzy.

Of course... point being that there are so many greats that it really is impossible to pick one "best"... even if you limit it to one genre!

Now open it up to alternative, punk, prog, etc... There's no end to equally talented and entertaining frontmen.

I had no intention of leaving out Ozzy... he was on the list of 10 for day #2

[barry5k]

Simply put - Stevie Ray Vaughn!

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by barry5k

Simply put - Stevie Ray Vaughn!

+10,000,000

They said Eric Clapton was God.

I guess that makes SRV Chuck Norris.

[Elbasso_5]

Also Chris Cornell (Soundgargen, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave). He's gotten a little raspy over the last few years, but he can still belt out every note he's supposed too.