Artist where you like their more mature / mellower aging voices

Some artists have an incredible voice and their hallmark work was in this range

As one ages you lose a little vocal range or power (well most vocalists do)

What are your favorite artists where you like their more relaxed/mellowed/weathered with age voice over their earlier voice?


for me

Kate Bush
Robert Plant

 

Ryan Adams' voice seems to have found a sweet spot as he's gotten older.

Maybe quitting drugs helped with that.

 

Clapton

 

Geddy LEE. Prefer the 80's/90's vocals over the 70's. Recent years, he sometimes sounds a little strange to me.

 

Billie Holiday

 

Root Boy Slim started out as an over-the-top parody act of a blues and soul performer. Not to be taken seriously as a singer, in any sense of the word.

By his last record- Root 6- he was showing himself to be capable of putting the real thing across.

 

Joan Baez

 

Diana Ross.

 

Robert Plant, for sure.

J Mascis kind of fits that way for me- not so much that I like his mature voice more, just that I like that it is quite different. Both are acquired tastes and I'm a huge fan of all J's stuff.

 

Peter Hammill. This clip was filmed 9 days after his 69th birthday, late last year.

 

Lucinda Williams is an easy choice for me.

Tom Waits is a more obvious choice.

I also think Bob Dylan's voice has sounded amazing on his last couple releases.

I'm often amazed that Alice Cooper sounds the same as he always did. The guy is blessed.

 

AL JOLSON.

 

Leonard Cohen
Kate Bush
Tom Petty

 

Frank Sinatra.

 

Kate Bush...i really struggle with the high pitched early stuff now

 

David Bowie in his last two albums.

This is an example:

 

Mark Knopfler

 

Jon Anderson

 

Geddy Lee, all the way!

 

John Hammond

 

Todd Rundgren became a vastly better singer after his "classic" period, and as he closes in on 70 he's as strong as ever.

 

Another vote for Geddy Lee.

 

John Denver

 

James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers

When they started out, they were practically a punk band, along with his singing style of shouts and yelling.
His voice got so much better through the years, and while he still yells here and there, when he's singing more mellow, especially during acoustic songs, he sounds so much better - just smooth and soulful like his angrier stuff never could.

 

I actually prefer Jerry Garcia's voice in the later 80s and 90s.
Especially on songs like "Wharf Rat" and "Stella Blue".