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Rolling Stone: The 200 Greatest Singers of all Time


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134: Axl Rose

Everything about Guns N’ Roses felt sleazier and more ruthless than what had come before, and the centerpiece of their sound was one of the most outrageous voices ever heard in rock. Throughout their 1987 classic, Appetite for Destruction, Axl’s voice shape-shifts constantly, conveying dead-eyed menace on the low end (“It’s So Easy,” “Mr. Brownstone”) and demonic fury in the high (“Welcome to the Jungle,” “Out ta Get Me”), while also touching on androgynous yearning (“Sweet Child o’ Mine”) and pure cocky swagger (“Paradise City”). Ballads like “Patience” and “November Rain” broadened his palette, and reminded fans that there was just as much Elton John as Freddie Mercury and Janis Joplin in his vocal DNA. —H.S.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/axl-rose-10-1234642970/

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Taylor Swift better than Axl Rose… hmmm… also no Michael Jackson on the list? (I couldn’t find him) all his personal controversy aside he deserves a spot on the top 200?! 
 

crazy ass list.

 

Prince at #16 though.. I’ll accept that. 👍🏼

Edited by DustNBones1990
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When Rolling Stone first published its list of the 100 Greatest Singers in 2008, we used an elaborate voting process that included input from well-known musicians. The results skewed toward classic rock and singers from the Sixties and Seventies. This new list was compiled our staff and key contributors, and it encompasses 100 years of pop music as an ongoing global conversation, where iconic Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar lands between Amy Winehouse and Johnny Cash, and salsa queen Celia Cruz is up there in the rankings with Prince and Marvin Gaye. You might notice that, say, there isn’t any opera on our list — that’s because our purview is pop music writ large, meaning that almost all the artists on this list had significant careers as crossover stars making popular music for the masses.

Before you start scrolling (and commenting), keep in mind that this is the Greatest Singers list, not the Greatest Voices List. Talent is impressive; genius is transcendent. Sure, many of the people here were born with massive pipes, perfect pitch, and boundless range. Others have rougher, stranger, or more delicate instruments. As our write-up for the man who ended up at Number 112 notes, “Ozzy Osbourne doesn’t have what most people would call a good voice, but boy does he have a great one.” That could apply to more than a few people here. 

In all cases, what mattered most to us was originality, influence, the depth of an artist’s catalog, and the breadth of their musical legacy. A voice can be gorgeous like Mariah Carey’s, rugged like Toots Hibbert’s, understated like Willie Nelson’s, slippery and sumptuous like D’Angelo’s, or bracing like Bob Dylan’s. But in the end, the singers behind it are here for one reason: They can remake the world just by opening their mouths.

Edited by Blackstar
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How's this list made? Who makes this type of analysis?

Eddie Vedder in #105? Better than Axl? He's a good singer, but not better than Axl. Range wise, melodic wise, power wise.

Ozzy better than Dio and Halford? Ozzy is great, I prefer Ozzy, but technically and as "best singer", both Dio and Halford are superior!

Iggy Pop on the list? He's a great performer, but not a real singer, he is just on key most of the time.

Mick Jagger better than Plant?

Best singer as voice + stage presence + overall catalog and as performers?

 

Edited by Legendador
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20 hours ago, Spiritual_Chaos said:

134: Axl Rose

Everything about Guns N’ Roses felt sleazier and more ruthless than what had come before, and the centerpiece of their sound was one of the most outrageous voices ever heard in rock. Throughout their 1987 classic, Appetite for Destruction, Axl’s voice shape-shifts constantly, conveying dead-eyed menace on the low end (“It’s So Easy,” “Mr. Brownstone”) and demonic fury in the high (“Welcome to the Jungle,” “Out ta Get Me”), while also touching on androgynous yearning (“Sweet Child o’ Mine”) and pure cocky swagger (“Paradise City”). Ballads like “Patience” and “November Rain” broadened his palette, and reminded fans that there was just as much Elton John as Freddie Mercury and Janis Joplin in his vocal DNA. —H.S.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/axl-rose-10-1234642970/

Axl should be lower. Some of those singers I never heard of. Whatever happened to the Rolling Stone that had just had rockers? Sad.

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21 minutes ago, Tyson said:

Gee, I WONDER if identity politics had ANYTHING to do with the order of this list?  Could Axl's status as a 'cis-white male' had ANYTHING to do with being so low on this list?  There's not one white PERSON in the top 10 (as if we need more evidence to know how WOKE RollingStone is).  And I'm sorry, but there is NO way that Axl is NOT a better SINGER, by ANY objective metric (octave range/power) than John Lennon (#12) and Bob Dylan (#15).

i KNOW - WHEN will white dudes start getting more attention???

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11 hours ago, Tyson said:

Gee, I WONDER if identity politics had ANYTHING to do with the order of this list?  Could Axl's status as a 'cis-white male' had ANYTHING to do with being so low on this list?  There's not one white PERSON in the top 10 (as if we need more evidence to know how WOKE RollingStone is).  And I'm sorry, but there is NO way that Axl is NOT a better SINGER, by ANY objective metric (octave range/power) than John Lennon (#12) and Bob Dylan (#15).

This is the weirdest post I have ever seen on this forum

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