Gibson.com Frontman Poll

[maverick218]

Just one question- where in the HECK is Steve Perry??? I found it interesting that the poll was not open for discussion on their website.

Gibson.com’s Top 50 Frontmen (and Frontwomen): Full List, Readers Poll Revealed
08.27.2010Now that Buckcherry’s Josh Todd has unveiled the Top 10 Frontmen, Gibson.com’s list of the Top 50 Frontmen (and Frontwomen) of All Time is complete. Check out the full rundown, from 1 to 50, of the performers who made the list. (Find out more about each choice in these entries: #50-41, #40-31, #30-21, #20-11 and #10-1.
We’d like to send out special thanks to all of our readers who voted. Also, we’d like to thank musicians Josh Todd (Buckcherry), Chad Kroeger (Nickleback) and Ric Olsen (Berlin) for participating, as well as Gibson.com’s editorial and writing staff.
Here is how the entire list shook out…
Gibson.com’s Top 50 Frontmen (and Frontwomen) of All Time
1. Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones)
2. Freddie Mercury (Queen)
3. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)
4. Elvis Presley
5. James Brown
6. Jimi Hendrix
7. Michael Jackson (The Jackson 5)
8. Roger Daltrey (The Who)
9. Prince
10. Jim Morrison (The Doors)
11. Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)
12. David Bowie
13. Tina Turner
14. Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)
15. Johnny Cash
16. Iggy Pop (The Stooges)
17. Bruce Springsteen
18. Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings)
19. Bono (U2)
20. Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses)
21. Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) (Sex Pistols, Public Enemy Ltd.)
22. Rod Stewart (Faces)
23. David Lee Roth (Van Halen)
24. Joe Strummer (The Clash)
25. Bon Scott (AC/DC)
26. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
27. Brian Johnson (AC/DC)
28. Janis Joplin (Big Brother and the Holding Company)
29. Debbie Harry (Blondie)
30. Chuck Berry
31. Little Richard
32. Liam Gallagher (Oasis)
33. Michael Stipe (R.E.M.)
34. Cab Calloway
35. Alice Cooper
36. Morrissey (The Smiths)
37. Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
38. Joey Ramone (The Ramones)
39. Elton John
40. Neil Diamond
41. Robin Zander (Cheap Trick)
42. Otis Redding
43. John Lennon (The Beatles)
44. Howlin’ Wolf
45. Stevie Wonder
46. Jackie Wilson
47. Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)
48. Marc Bolan (T. Rex)
49. Tom Waits
50. Garth Brooks

Gibson.com Readers Poll – Top 25 Frontmen (and Frontwomen)
With their votes, the Gibson.com readers crowned Freddie Mercury the Queen of all Frontmen. While many of the readers’ choices are reflected in the overall list, a few didn’t make the cut – Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Metallica’s James Hetfield, KISS’s Paul Stanley and the late, great Ronnie James Dio.
And at least one choice caught the Gibson.com editorial staff off-guard. Who knew that the readers had this much love for Jim Kerr of Simple Minds? You certainly took his advice and didn’t forget about him.
1. Freddie Mercury (Queen)
2. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
3. Marc Bolan (T. Rex)
4. Bon Scott (AC/DC)
5. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)
6. Brian Johnson (AC/DC)
7. Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones)
8. Bono (U2)
9. Robin Zander (Cheap Trick)
10. Elvis Presley
11. Jim Kerr (Simple Minds)
12. Jim Morrison (The Doors)
13. Paul Stanley (KISS)
14. Ronnie Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
15. Bruce Springsteen
16. Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses)
17. Angus Young (AC/DC)
18. Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow, Heaven and Hell)
19. Jimi Hendrix
20. Roger Daltrey (The Who)
21. David Lee Roth (Van Halen)
22. Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)
23. James Hetfield (Metallica)
24. Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)
25. Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)

[Jeremey]

Driving in the swamps of FL right now so just for shits, here's my top 10:

1) Michael Jackson
2) Elvis Presley
3) Mick Jagger
4) Robert Plant
5) David Lee Roth
6) Axl Rose
7) Steven Tyler
Freddie Mercury
9) Rob Halford
10) Peter Gabriel

Ironically, aside from MJ, nobody in the top 8 makes my list of fave singers.

[portland]

Driving in the swamps of FL right now so just for shits, here's my top 10:

1) Michael Jackson
2) Elvis Presley
3) Mick Jagger
4) Robert Plant
5) David Lee Roth
6) Axl Rose
7) Steven Tyler
Freddie Mercury
9) Rob Halford
10) Peter Gabriel

Ironically, aside from MJ, nobody in the top 8 makes my list of fave singers.

No Perry....from you that seems strange to me? I guess it's the Frontman title and not vocal ability??

MJ could hold a crowd and sold tickets, but for me....I was really never a "fan" I am now but my tastes were not MJ in the 80's.

Freddie, Halford....would always make my list.

[Triple S]

Um . . . and where is

<<<<<<<<<<< ?

[Ehwmatt]

Driving in the swamps of FL right now so just for shits, here's my top 10:

1) Michael Jackson
2) Elvis Presley
3) Mick Jagger
4) Robert Plant
5) David Lee Roth
6) Axl Rose
7) Steven Tyler
Freddie Mercury
9) Rob Halford
10) Peter Gabriel

Ironically, aside from MJ, nobody in the top 8 makes my list of fave singers.

No Perry....from you that seems strange to me? I guess it's the Frontman title and not vocal ability??

MJ could hold a crowd and sold tickets, but for me....I was really never a "fan" I am now but my tastes were not MJ in the 80's.

Freddie, Halford....would always make my list.

With the HUGE caveat that I am too young to have seen Perry live, he would not make my list of top frontmen either, just based on DVDs/YouTube etc.

[portland]

Um . . . and where is

<<<<<<<<<<< ?

Love that AV

[Saint John]

I've never been sold on the idea that the lead singer has to put on a show. Work both sides of the stage and do as much as you can without altering the quality of the vocals. Besides, you can't change who a person is and faking it is sort of dumb. Perry was always pretty reserved on stage and I couldn't care less because the focus, for him, seemed to be on delivering the best vocal performance possible. Some of the clowns on that list had to be good "frontmen" because their live performances had to be masked for what they were ... mediocre. I think Perry fell into that trap on the ROR tour when he realized he could no longer sing a lot of the older songs and he tried to compenstae by pretending he had a personality on stage, and it was, for the most part, a trainwreck. That said, there isn't a motherfucker on that list, with the exception of Michael Jackson, that could sing as well as Perry live.

[Michigan Girl]

lol ...I like you, raaaaghhhht there ^^^^and agree ...except about ROR!!

[Saint John]

lol ...I like you, raaaaghhhht there ^^^^and agree ...except about ROR!!

When you see fucking Iggy Pop on a list you know it's bullshit. The guy carved himself up and bled on stage. Give me a reserved Steve Perry over that rancid doucher any day.

As for ROR, it seemed Steve had a lot of physical and emotional problems in his life so I sort of give him a pass. But if you strictly grade the vocal perfomances on some of the older songs, you'll notice that on many occasions they were sung at an incredibly fast pace and just didn't sound right.

[Michigan Girl]

lol ...I like you, raaaaghhhht there ^^^^and agree ...except about ROR!!

When you see fucking Iggy Pop on a list you know it's bullshit. The guy carved himself up and bled on stage. Give me a reserved Steve Perry over that rancid doucher any day.

As for ROR, it seemed Steve had a lot of physical and emotional problems in his life so I sort of give him a pass. But if you strictly grade the vocal perfomances on some of the older songs, you'll notice that on many occasions they were sung at an incredibly fast pace and just didn't sound right.

When I watch the youtubie performances, I know exactly what you mean, but at the time, in the moment, it was incredible!!

Maui Tom summed it up perfectly when he said something to the effect of you tube ruining the magic of a performance, I wish
I could find that quote, I'd use it ...

[Saint John]

lol ...I like you, raaaaghhhht there ^^^^and agree ...except about ROR!!

When you see fucking Iggy Pop on a list you know it's bullshit. The guy carved himself up and bled on stage. Give me a reserved Steve Perry over that rancid doucher any day.

As for ROR, it seemed Steve had a lot of physical and emotional problems in his life so I sort of give him a pass. But if you strictly grade the vocal perfomances on some of the older songs, you'll notice that on many occasions they were sung at an incredibly fast pace and just didn't sound right.

When I watch the youtubie performances, I know exactly what you mean, but at the time, in the moment, it was incredible!!

Maui Tom summed it up perfectly when he said something to the effect of you tube ruining the magic of a performance, I wish
I could find that quote, I'd use it ...

I'm sure the concerts were still amazing, as you get captured by the moment and groove to the music, but youtube allows us to be armchair quarterbacks. Regardless, I would have loved to have seen a show on that tour. I caught 3 of the FTLOSM shows and they were all great, even if Steve's voice had changed considerably. I got to see him live and that's all that counts.

[maverick218]

I've never been sold on the idea that the lead singer has to put on a show. Work both sides of the stage and do as much as you can without altering the quality of the vocals. Besides, you can't change who a person is and faking it is sort of dumb. Perry was always pretty reserved on stage and I couldn't care less because the focus, for him, seemed to be on delivering the best vocal performance possible. Some of the clowns on that list had to be good "frontmen" because their live performances had to be masked for what they were ... mediocre. I think Perry fell into that trap on the ROR tour when he realized he could no longer sing a lot of the older songs and he tried to compenstae by pretending he had a personality on stage, and it was, for the most part, a trainwreck. That said, there isn't a motherfucker on that list, with the exception of Michael Jackson, that could sing as well as Perry live.

I agree with you- to me, if you are running around the stage, you aren't singing/playing your best anyway. In the vocalist's case, it's OK if there is an instrumental break, but stay put and hit the notes right if you are actually singing. I felt that Perry should have been on the list for vocal talent alone, but reading these posts, it seems evident that the poll was for something else.

[Deb]

When you see fucking Iggy Pop on a list you know it's bullshit.

+1

That's when I stop reading.....

Although I agree on Axel Rose, like him or not, he was a helluva frontman with some major pipes.

[Deb]

Um . . . and where is

<<<<<<<<<<< ?

Agreed.

BTW, recently got a copy of MH's BTM, wanna a copy? Beware, very sad.

[Triple S]

Um . . . and where is

<<<<<<<<<<< ?

Agreed.

BTW, recently got a copy of MH's BTM, wanna a copy? Beware, very sad.

Thanks anyway Deb, already have it. It is sad

[Jana]

Glad to see Bono is eight. He deserves it. Where is Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode? They're still pulling in huge crowds. He deserves it in all his heroin dancing glory back in the day. He's been clean for 15 years now and I still love his dancing. LOL

[Frontiers65]

Glad to see Bono is eight. He deserves it. Where is Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode? They're still pulling in huge crowds. He deserves it in all his heroin dancing glory back in the day. He's been clean for 15 years now and I still love his dancing. LOL

Yes Bono does! I seen him in concert twice and he amazes me! I seen also alot of these singers too in concert.

[FamilyMan]

Jon Bon Jovi also noticeably absent. WTF?

[brywool]

I saw Journey 5 or 6 times with SP. The fact is, Perry was a KILLER front guy. He could run around and hype the crowd and draw attention to Neal's solos AND not miss a note or be flat. Later, this was a bit different as his voice showed more wear and tear (ROR), but from Departure to Frontiers, the guy was a freakin' blur on stage and it was cool. Really, the only thing I didn't dig was when he'd turn his back on the audience. I always thought that was kinda funky. But he KNEW when to just stand there and sing, and he knew when not to do that. Great front guy.

[RPM]

Mick jagger ahead of Elvis......Cannot take this serious .......

Ray

[slucero]

Peter Wolf (J. Geils)