Spin off: who are the least talented famous singers?

[WishinAndHopin]

Mick Jagger: just shouts tunelessly. He can’t sing at all.

Generally a lot of men in bands, like the Gallagher brothers, Alex Turner, and the singers in the Kinks.

Chris Martin - he’s just an insipid whiner. There was an advert with a woman with a good voice singing while driving a big lorry. I thought “that’s a nice song” and realised that it was actually Yellow by Coldplay. I never even realised it was a decent song because he just sounds so horrendous.

Generally women are held to a much higher vocal standard, and are only ever considered respectable artists if they are also good singers. Men who can’t sing get away with it. But ti balance it here are two women:

Geri Halliwell: Posh gets shit on for her bad singing but at least she had a pleasant enough tone. Geri is far worse - flat as a pancake.

Taylor Swift: such a weak voice. Sounds like mediocre karaoke.

Springsteen,drones , Adele moans, Pink moans , Sheeran, run of the mill.

Bonnie Tyler started out life having a normal voice - and record companies were not interested in her at all.

At some point she had surgery to remove a vocal module, and ended up screaming over something during her recovery. This permanently damaged her voice and caused her signature rasp.

But this made her very interesting to record companies, she was signed and the rest is history.

With this history it’s not surprising that her voice eventually deteriorated further.

So what else exactly would the list be made up of then, personal preference is what determines a bad singer, who can really say what a bad singer is, especially if they have a following. There’s the famous singer Florence Foster Jenkins who was a tone deaf opera singer, but she had a following, so she had popularity. Or there is Mrs Miller, you can hear her songs, especially her cover of Petula Clark’s Downtown, it has no rhythm but it actually charted. They are making music, it can be catchy and people like it, so are they bad, well I guess that’s down to the individual. What’s your list of bad singers?

My ex, who identified as a musician but never reached the heady heights of being able to tune a guitar, said that the song Barcelona showed "just how poor a singer" Freddie was when he sang with Montserrat Caballe. He was not joking.

That's the narrative the film pushed. And maybe it was true at the time, but maybe not- I think it was the right thing in terms of creating a new sound. Although she did sound rough at Glastonbury recently!

Lots of good discussion about 'good' voices not being the be all and end all. Just like those people who draw really realistic dog/celebrity pencil portraits aren't feted in the art world! Enjoying the thread- good idea for one OP!

There a quite a few weak voices, and some singers I enjoy listening to probably have weaker voices. But it isn't all about vocal skills and a lot is how they put it across and the music itself.

Ian Brown is probably about the worst singer I've seen live yet I love The Stone Roses and would much rather listen to them than Mariah Carey belting everything out and oversinging it.

Agreed. She is great.

Sam Smith. Makes me reach for the Skip faster than anyone.

Most of the manufactured bands have a weak singer - or three - who are there to round out a sound (generous interpretation) or complete the ‘look’ for commercial appeal (cynical interpretation).
It feels a little unfair to judge them as if they were ‘real’ standalone singers.

Rock and pop stars have presence and a style as much as anything. Madonna, for example, has style and showmanship, great songs, huge range of styles - her singing voice was never the point.

Talented but I don't like his voice - George Ezra.

Sam Smith. Makes me reach for the Skip faster than anyone.

I call him the sad foghorn

Lily Allen
Geri Halliwell- the worst I've ever heard I think. But her speaking voice is utterly terrible as well. So overenthusiastic and fake sounding.
Madonna
Oasis
Chris Martin- he's so horrendous. Another one with an appalling speaking voice as well.
Britney
Robbie Williams
Billie Eilish
Adele

Harsh!

I like identified as a musician

Poor Freddie, no wonder he never made a career in music. Your ex on the other hand probably made billions.

Lily Allen - limited talent
Oasis - I can't listen to them, they're awful
Billie Eilish - I like her music
Taylor Swift - I don't get the appeal but quite like her
Britney - love her

Don't know her name but she's outstanding in every way:

Meeting Jim Steinman must also have been a golden ticket for her!

In fact, Jim is another one who did release an album of his own, where he sang on most of the tracks - and imho had a perfectly nice voice - but he realised full well that his talent lay in the songwriting and that, when it came to the singing, Meat Loaf, Bonnie, Ellen Foley and others could do a far better job than he could himself.

That reminds me of one of those parody Ladybird books I saw once, where Peter went with his mum to an art gallery.

Mum: "Look at that amazing painting, Peter - wasn't the artist extraordinarily talented?"
Peter: "Huh, that's just a load of old rubbish! I could have done a much better painting than that myself!"
Mum: "Hmm, but you didn't do that, did you, Peter?!"

The fact that both Brian May and Roger Taylor could be in a band where neither of them was the best singer is testament to Freddie's unique vocal talent.

He has a good voice, but I always think it sounds like an in-tune, nicer version of Vic Reeves club singing - and his song lyrics are almost written as though they were nursery rhymes!

Even her "screaming" voice, I would say she could hold a tune. She may be all over the place but it's because she wants to be, and she always keeps hold of the thread. It's kind of amazing to watch someone go so wild and find their way back, and she has great control when she wants it.

That changed toward the end of her life, too much screaming and a bad lifestyle.

Ah but voices are subjective, Joey Ramone gave Bono the confidence to give it a go
Billy Idol also not a 'great voice"

Maybe some people prefer studio auto magic?

My mind was blown when I looked at his songwriting credits online, same as Willie Nelson

There are a lot of different elements to a good singer. And I am not including songwriting, dancing, performance.

There are singers with amazing range and powerful voices.

Some whose voices can stand up to really powerful singing that others couldn't.

There are singers with great technique - good breath control, the ability to sing precisely,good diction, the knowledge to sing safely so they can have a long career.

There is the ability to interpret the song or story, or get across whatever it is the music is trying to communicate to the audience.

Some singers have the ability to sing in a range of styles, others less so - not all use the same technique.

And then - I think that as listeners we aren't only interested in "perfect" smooth voices with huge range and power. We are equally interested in unique voices - Joni Mitchell whose voice as a young woman was reedy and piercing at times, but also could be otherworldly and very much "her". Or gravelly voices like Waits, or Joe Cocker, or in women smokey voices like Adele or Any Winehouse. We don't like everyone to sound the same.

yeah, because Cabelle, one of the finest singers ever to grace the planet was well known for working with second raters. Jeez.

All of these plus Victoria Beckham.

@AvalancheOfCheese I think I forgot she once pretended to be a singer! 🤣