Nick and Bryan have posted a list and so shall I. Only in the order I thought of 'em.
Chris Cornell – No one can blend falsetto and head voice this way and still sound like a man.
Tom Johnston – More soul than Michael MacDonald and a better song-writer at that.
Ann Wilson – Apparently estrogen has no place in the other lists. I watched Fergie try to pull off "Barricuda". Not bad, but not a Wilson sister either, which means not all that great. Then there's what Ann does in a song like "Crazy on You".
Robert Plant – Even with Alison Krauss he is fantastic.
Cheryl Crow – Ask any woman with American Idol chops to pull of "If It Makes You Happy". You won't find too many of 'em I tell ya.
Roger Daltrey – Not "Daughtry" not even close.
Scott Weiland – Yes he's a coke head and his movements on stage just copy Steve Tyler and Mick Jagger. But his tone on the song "Atlanta" is fantastic and he shows off his melodic range.
Doug Pinnick – Haven't heard of him have you? From King's X and Poundhound. One phrase. Soul that hurts.
Geoff Tate – Queensryche was always on the edge of cheesy, but this boy had serious chops that any hairband dude could not really approach.
Corey Glover – Living Colour needed to make at least two more albums after Stain. That is still a bummer of a band break up for music fans.
* Extra props go to Freddie Mercury (I still don't like Queen all that much), Bruce Dickinson (One reason many cover bands can't cover Maiden songs), Pat Benetar (Does she have good pipes), Janis Joplin (For changing the role of the woman in music), Dennis DeYoung (see Queen), Ronnie James Dio (Messed with Black Sabbath, but also created a lot of pretenders probably in a bad way), Steve Perry (Those solo albums were a mistake dude, but I still love you on Escape), Steven Tyler ("Dream On" is still amazing and reveals the effects of a hard rock 'n roll lifestyle on the voice).
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You know honestly my list was really only Chris Cornell and Scott Weiland and I had to think of 8 more to put around them. I'm glad to see we agreed on them : )
Props on adding the female vocalists in there. I felt kind of sexists no putting any on my lists but I really don't listen to any female fronted bands, bust instead just like a few songs from them (like Benatar, Crow & Shirley Manson). Unfortunatley most of the female vocalists I'm used to hearing are in Pop music.
I struggled with whether I should put Robert Plant on the lists but ultimately his voice is just too high for me. But Since I've Been Loving You really made that a hard decision for me.
Bryan
Good call on Pat Benetar. Definitely one of my favorite acts of the 80s. I gave Daltry an honorable mention in the comments to my post. Cornell and Weiland are basically the same to me, both good, just not as good as the ten I listed. And I could never stand Queenryche; you might as well have suggested Gary Cherone or the Nelson twins.
AHHHHH Nelson! Not only dates us, but brings back bad memories of High School too
Oh yeah… Forgot about Mark Farmer too. Don't know who that is? Look it up!
You have to move Freddie Mercury up into the top 10. Your only excuse might be that it's way too limiting to classify Queen as "rock" because they did such a wide range of music. Great call on Robert Plant. Even though Led Zeppelin's best stuff was really rock/blues.
Steve Perry- not really rock. I'd put Journey in the "pop" category. And, while "Dream On" is one of the top 10 best rock songs of all times, I wouldn't put Steven Tyler up there based on that one song.
Glad you put Ann Wilson up there. I love Heart.
Peace,
Brian