Please post singers/vocalists/pop stars who you think CAN'T SING.

[MikeG]

[NuckinFutz]

1. Tiny Tim

Bob Dylan
Tom Waits
Lucinda Williams
Iris Dement
Willie Nelson
Mariah Carey

[StopTheMorans]

2. Bono

[sniffa]

3. doesn't "bono"

mean "tone deaf" in german?

[StopTheMorans]

4. actually,I believe it is Latin for "no-talent poseur w/ bad fashion sense"

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

He USED to sing well.

Seemingly lost his voice sometime after "Rattle and Hum."

[redqueen]

5. Fred Durst

[Mizmoon]

6. jennifer lopez, madonna, ashlee simpson

the list is endless. Apparently talent is the one thing you don't need to be a professional singer these days. You also don't need acting skills to be a movie star.

[terrya]

7. Bruce Springsteen

He's written some memorable music, but a great singer he is not.

[TNDemo]

8. Reba McIntyre and Cher.

[arwalden]

9. Rod Steward, Michael Bolton, Joe Cocker, Any American Idol Contestant...

... or "winner".

[radwriter0555]

17. I love gravelly voices and don't discount their quality because of it.. I

find the merit is in the use of the voice and the ability to use it to interpret the specific piece of music.

Bonnie Rait is a classic example, as is Ellen Foley.

The pop stars of today are wretchedly trained -- if trained at all -- and merely screetch and caterwall.. That Jessica Simpson thinks that the horrific noises and gutteral grunts she makes in any way qualify as music is merely a symptom of something deeply disturbed in that child's psyche. Her destruction of Terri Nun's "Take My Breath Away" literally had me in tears; that she could so audibly and visciously destroy what was a classic piece of pop music.

I'm a total music snob... I DO find Bono's singing just simply wonderful; he has a fantastic voice with a wonderful timbre that is mellowing and aging gracefully. As far as Madonna goes, she honestly did tremendous justice to the music in "Evita", not an easy task. When she first started out, she almost ruined her voice singing badly and incorrectly, and the studio re-working of her voice was very evident. She too has developed as a singer, but the quality of her music is lacking any depth and development.

Maria Carey, prior to her abuse of drinking and drugs had one of the most proficient and technically perfect voices for pop music. What a wonderful range she had! But alas, her temperment distracts from any greatness she could have achieved.

Celine Dion has again, one of the greatest voices in modern music, but is lacking in good material. She simply MUST stay away from pop music at any cost, but sadly, there is no great profit for a modern performer in producing classical music.

Sarah Brightman has simply the most brilliant classical voice of any singer alive today on the planet. She applies it brilliantly, with the exception of the wretched pairing with Andre Bocelli, currently the rage of europe and it really shouldn't be. Just a badly written song. BUT that being said, the woman once -- and only once I believe, sang the "Titanic" song in italian for a live performance that simply moved me to tears... it was absolutely one of the most amazing pieces of music I had ever, ever heard. It was like seeing the Pieta for the first time. A work of art.

That being said, I studied voice for almost 15 years from when I was a child. Until I reached age 30 I had a 4 octave range not including several more ranges in superhead. The singers of today don't study. They join an amateur choir and think that simply applying vibrato and tremolo that they're performing something more than simple vocal exercises. The gift of a true voice is in the ability to control and even remove vibrato and to maintain control and even pitch throughout. It's sad to see the art of the voice being left aside or exploited. Music isn't what it used to be... but it sure still is a LOTTA fun!

[pie]

21. How can anyone stand listening to Rod Stewart?

[ffm172]

10. Justin Timberlake

I turn off the radio every time he is on

[Wickerman]

11. Couldn't say

I'm not attracted to a voice so much as to what the voice says.

Guess that explains my passion for Dylan and Young and countless other bands and singers who "can't sing".

[CO Liberal]

12. Michael Bolton

He doesn't sing - he screeches.

[Orsino]

13. Gary Wright

I loved "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive," but in retrospect, I realize that his voice was pretty awful.

[ZoCrowes]

14. Beyonce

It's not that she can't sing it's just that her voice gets on my nerves. She uses the same phrasing for every fucking song.

[terrya]

15. Well, we certainly had a chance to decide for ourselves last night.

To put it mildly...

[displacedtexan]

19. She has absolutely NO vocal control.

She has to slide into pitch after warbling sharp/flat/sharp, and no one has ever taught her how to breathe.

AND WHOEVER TAUGHT HER THE PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION OF THAT FRENCH SONG LAST NIGHT SHOULD BE TURNED OVER TO THE NEAREST FRENCH GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL FOR DETENTION AND PROSECUTION!

As you can tell, I found her "performance" embarrassing last night.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

16. The list is endless...

Madonna
Brittany Spears (Christ, can she jam her placement any further up her nose?!?)
Janet Jackson
Paula Abdul
Ashlee Simpson
Jennifer Lopez
...I could go one for days.

And there are some singers who are not the best vocalists in the most technical sense -- such as some mentioned in posts above -- but whose singing style I absolutely love. Tom Waite isn't Nat King Cole, but damn he is an original. :)

I believe you can tell the true strength of a singer the following way:

Put a singer on stage with just a piano accompaniment and let them sing one song. No back-up, no filters, no bells and whistles to hide behind -- just straight ahead vocal skills on display.

There is a Vanessa Williams' song "Save the Best for Last" that exemplifies that - it was a ballad she did a few years back that just knocked my socks off with it's vocal skill and simplicity. I saw her perform it live on TV with just a piano and she had the vocal chops to make it work 100%.

My biggest beef with many of today's singers -- even the good ones - is their terrible overuse of vocal frills. There is "soulful" singing and then there is (to paraphrase Jeffrey Jones in "Amadeus") "too many notes" singing. Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Christina Aguilera all suffer from that vocal disease.

Jeez, at some point just pick a note and committ to it, dammit!

[JimmyJazz]

18. Either of the Simpson sisters.

[hickman1937]

20. I am so tired of hearing so called singers blow a song thru their

nose, instead of singing from their gut. I don't know much about singing, but I can tell the differance between a song that is sung, and one that is whined. Also sliding through the notes instead of hitting them. Its sloppy, irritating, and feels like a scam.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

22. I cringe...

at the notion of a generation of young female pop singers who grew up imitating the Queen of Nasal B. Spears.

I'm already hearing it in other singers now and it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. :scared: