Most unique voice in rock?

Dylan --> Lou Reed
Jim Morrison
John Lydon
Ian Curtis

 

Perry Farrell
Billy Squire
Freddy Mercury
Morrissey
Dylan
Springsteen
Petty

 

In Billy's case it would be "thankfully unique."

He is the Gilbert Gottfried of rock.

 

i did on the page before

 

Peter Gabriel/Sting

 

Gentle Giant's Phil Shulman's (1970-72) and Kerry Minnear's voices were pretty unique for lead singers in rock music, it seems to me. Both high tenor, very soft, but the latter more classical... which figures, given he was thoroughly schooled.

 

John Fogarty

 

It seems some posters are confusing easily recognizable with unique. I'm also not convinced that most of the submissions sound unique. I've seen Capt. Beefheart mentioned a few times, for example, but he sounds a lot like Howlin' Wolf, and Drumbo (John French) can sing exactly like him (he does in The Magic Band).

I think you also have to take imitiation/followers into account, so someone who appeared sounding new and different, and then generated a zillion clones may not now sound so unique, but you can't blame them for the imitators.

Anyway, here's my submission. I'm sure you'll admit, he was one of a kind!

 

...or just listing their favorite singers.

 

I would suggest Mike Heron too.

 

Diamanda Galas.

 

maybe klaus meine from the scorpions?

 

Rod Stewart

 

Did nobody mention Demetrio Stratos?

 

This guy.

 

I am surprised no one has mentionned Mick Jagger yet. I would say at some point he was a quite unique singer. For a White guy singing Black rooted music, for one thing... Well at first he might have been a bit "softcore" about it (though his young voice certainly had a charm that few actually had in pop music), but by the early to mid-70s he had really pushed the envelope and developped something I suppose no one should try at home... The incredibly high pitched squeals, the growls... "Hey Negrita" is a high mark in this regard: I have never heard anyone else sing like that...

Hard for me to describe (I don't sing). Something located deep down the throat that he developped... lost, and never found again. Perhaps it's damage done to one's vocal chords.

 

I’m gonna add Justin Hawkins to my list as well.

 

definetely Kate Bush

 

Van Morrison would like a word with you.

 

Eeeeeelectricity.... Beefheart

Also
Bon Scott

 

Only if he lets Maria show me some of them Spanish dances.

 

Al Stewart makes a wonderful, instantly recognizable sound. Listening to him now.

 

But there are a quite a few guys in the stoner rock realm thst sound strikingly like Ozzy. The singer for sHeavy, in fact, was considered, briefly, by Tony Iommi for Black Sabbath. Jorn Lande, a Norwegian singer, sounds almost exactly like Dio. Anderson has had two guys in Benoit David & Jon Davison that sound similar to him. Pavlov's Dog singer, David Surkamp and the guy from Granicus, Woody Leffel, sound a lot like Geddy Lee.

My point is: as unique as people think these singers are, there are, in almost every case, vocalists that can be found who sound very much, if not identical, to them.

That said, I have seen some good examples in the thread: Rodger Hodgson, Axl Rose, and Perry Farrell are three that I cannot think of a singer that resembles them. Chino Moreno of the Deftones is another.

There are several Dylan, V. Morrison, and even a Janis Joplin sound a like out there if you care to look deep enough.

 

Justin Hawkins is from The Darkness? I don't know much about him.

As far as the others you mentioned:

Serj Tankian, uh, Johnny Rotten on crack ? No, I can think of anyone.
King Diamond = nope
Lemmy Kilmister = yeah, he's pretty unique, but there was a band named Overkill (LA) with a singer named Merrill Ward who sounded a lot like him.They were a post hardcore outfit.

Speaking of Overkill, Bobby "The Blitz" Ellsworth is pretty unique.

Dave Mustaine = nope, and that's a good thing as what he does barely qualifies as "singing". But it is unique.

 

I don't really care about soundalike singers from bands aping the styles of the original vocalists. The singers I mentioned were unique for a long time, the whole stoner rock movement was a good 25 years after the first Black Sabbath album was released.