Vintage singers whose vocals have held up well as they have aged (appreciation thread)

Peggy Seeger still sound great!

 

All I know is that the last time I saw Russell Mael live, on the FFS tour in 2016, he was still singing "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" in the original key of A, which was a hell of a feat for a man then in his late 60s.

 

singers who is vocals help up???

Are you drunk?

 

The only one that still uses the "original keys" for his songs is Roger Hodgson Supertramp. All the others fail IMO if you have to lower the keys

 

Colin Blunstone

 

Marianne Faithfull

 

Where is the report button? Could a Gort please make the small change to the title that will mean so much?

 

Jon Anderson

 

Good one. Ha ha

 

Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer).

 

Sammy Hagar still has it.
I second Robin Zander.

 

Mark Farner, formerly of Grand Funk Railroad.

 

I truly ADORE David Bowie’s Blackstar, “No Plan EP, and “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)” [Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra version] voice.

He may not have had his full vocal range at his disposal, and (yes) the timbre shows the years. But David’s circa-2015 voice shows a singer 100% in full command of his instrument, in terms of expressiveness and (mostly) dexterity as well.

2010’s-era Bowie — Blackstar and The Next Day both — is my #1 favorite Bowie era, bar none. And the quality of his voice is a big part of that, for me — not unlike Miles Davis’ trumpet cracking from time to time (ok, a lot more than that sometimes), or Bessie Smith in her later years.

Bowie was at the top of his game towards the end, especially the very last of his recorded output. As I’m fond of saying, I think he definitely died with his boots on.

People talk about how sad Blackstar sounds (I suppose in part because of his voice), but what I hear is a man who sounds more alive than ever, and (artistically) living life to the fullest. THAT’S what I hear in Bowie’s voice in his last years, and especially what was literally his very last year.

 

Kate Pierson of B-52s

 

Tommy Shaw (Styx) sounds just like in the 1970s, maybe even better.

 

Gerge McCrae, a one hit wonder from the 1970s.

 

She sounds no different from 40 years ago

 

Ask a Gort to fix your thread title glitch!

 

I don't know if he count's but William Shatner's voice sounded very good on his album The Blues from last year

 

Three that I have seen live in the last 3 years who still sounded astounding: Olivia Newton-John, Joan Baez, and Willie Nelson.

 

John Farnham stunned me when I saw this.
This is at the tender age of 70, coming out to do a gig for the charity raising money for the Australian Bushfires a couple of years ago.

He opens his set with We Will Rock You here, and I know folks are sick of this song in some parts, but I bet you never thought you'd hear a seventy year old man sing this so damn .... frankly amazingly.
Give it a go, if you're not stunned, I'll be really surprised.

The songs start at 2:10

and John is a super nice bloke too.

 

John Cale. His early albums - although absolutely great - show that his voice was still very much a work in progress. Come the time of 'Hallelujah' (early 90s) it had developed this wonderful fully-formed resonant tone that sounds like he was echoing the voices of his mining forefathers... still sounds great today. I'd loved to have been at those Paris 1919 shows a decade or so back to hear his now mature dulcet tones take on that classic album.

 

held up

 

Burton Cummings formerly of the Guess Who.

 

I know you have to go to youtube to check it out, but it's worth it