Singers who can't really sing anymore

padd b1975

Elton would be ok if he dropped that annoying habit of singing only the first syllable of every word.

Ardillaun

What we’re lamenting here are singers who can’t sing like they used to, however that was, although I preferred the late Leonard Cohen with the deeper voice and the back-up singers. I imagine performers with conventionally melodic voices and vibrato are more likely to deteriorate significantly over the decades than those with, let’s say, a huskier delivery?

Strumms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOi_wxypeGc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPy3mJ8soGY

John Martyn, ok he’s dead but the change is his voice over time was incredible… towards the end of his life, I was at his last ever gig, he was quite obviously not well, dying in fact, chronic alcoholic and had part of his leg amputated…. played good guitar but sounded very poor. This was another gig around that time… ^^^. Difference is staggeringly obvious..

bnt

From what I saw of Glastonbury, I thought Elton John was better than he's been in years. Maybe his voice had a good rest & care.

We expect singers to lose some range as they get older, and you can tell by the number of bands who transposing whole songs down. When Led Zeppelin reunited back in 2007, the whole set was like that. John Paul Jones even had a new bass made with a longer neck, just to handle the lower tuning properly.

There have been a few cases from the progressive rock world. Phil Collins made a rod for his own back with the way he sang in the studio, and struggled to recreate that live. On last year's tour he was a wreck overall, not just his voice - he could barely walk after years of abusing his back while drumming. Geddy Lee of Rush was tough on the last tours, not just range but also struggling to control his voice.

The canonical example, though, has to be James LaBrie of Dream Theater. He was among the very best when he joined the band around 1991, replacing another very good singer. In recent years, though, he's struggled, and the story I heard was that he permanently damaged his vocal cords from throwing up while ill. Every recent YT video has seen calls for him to be replaced, but I don't think the band wants to treat him the way Yes treated Jon Anderson: kicked him out while he was ill, but has since fully recovered and (as mentioned) is going strong at 79.

chalkitdown1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120979888#Comment_120979888

He mostly just talks his way through his songs, rather than sing. Has done so for years.

Frank Cruckey

Mary Black can't really sing anymore. Which is a great shame. I have several of her albums which I occasionally enjoy. But she can't sing anything like what she used too. And hasn't been able to for many years. She has an "exhausted" sound to her voice. Surely she knows it? Has no one told her? Sorry Mary. It's time to hang up your headphones and bask in former glory rather than embarrass yourself.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120966056#Comment_120966056

Saw Bonnie Tyler at Forever Young festival in 2019, she was great!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120980261#Comment_120980261

That's a bit worrying as I have tickets to see EC this summer, I know he had health issues so hopefully he's singing better now.

Pistachio19

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121906512#Comment_121906512

I saw her on the LLS a couple of years ago and thought the same. As a big fan, it was hard to hear her voice sounding strained. However I have been to 2 of her gigs since then and she didn't disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised.

Strumms

Saw Liam Gallagher with John Squire in a few YouTube clips doing live stuff from a few nights back …I have to say the band sounded magnificent and Squire still sounds deadly playing….but Gallagher is having real difficulty hitting any of the notes at the upper end of his range, voice just cracking or cutting out and frequently very off key during other parts. Yes his style is very different, individual, shouty, punky, aggressive etc but saw Oasis here and abroad and he was always spot on…. Lads played the Olympia a couple of nights ago and from audience clips on YouTube I’d have been raging if I’d paid to listen to him,

saw Oasis in Paris back in 2002 I think, gig was broadcast on the radio have an FM bootleg somewhere…. Guy was sublime, really good….zero comparison between then and now…. Wouldn’t even call him a pub singer now. 30 years smoking, drinking and singing….

lumphammer2

First to come to mind is Mary Black .... she used to be a great singer but heard her a few times recently and she is nowhere as good as what she was .... to a lesser extent Sandy Kelly is another example ...

~Rebel~

Went to see Jethro Tull a few months ago - poor auld Ian Anderson really struggles singing now. Still plays the hell out of a flute though!

bassy

Shane McGowan

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121911239#Comment_121911239

The "can't sing anymore because they're dead" "joke" has been done already.

KevMayo88

Bonnie Tyler- she just can't do Total Eclipse of the Heart anymore.

briany

Almost all rock singers have lost their voices because typical rock singing is a technically incorrect way to sing, i.e. it uses the nasal cavity a lot and that's subject to breakdown.

On the other hand, someone like Bruce Dickenson, who uses an atypical technique for rock, i.e. singing from the diaphragm, the voice has held up very well.

Esel

Nasal cavity breakdown, you say... 😉

pappyodaniel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120988837#Comment_120988837

John Martyn had this odd thing where sometimes he spoke with a thick Glaswegian accent and other times he had a cockney accent.

Queen-Mise

Blondie's voice is gone. I saw her at EP a few years ago, and TBH it was sad rather than in anyway enjoyable.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919977#Comment_121919977

Debbie Harry, she has spent her entire career pointing out that she is not Blondie; she is a member of Blondie.

Say Your Number

I remember seeing a clip of Blondie performing live on YouTube a few years ago, yeah her voice is shot unfortunately.

On the other hand saw Rob Halford last week, maybe not as good as his peak but still plenty of power for a 72 year old.

Queen-Mise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919984#Comment_121919984

Thank you. I knew I was getting something wrong, but the synapses in my brain were all on strike.

Say Your Number

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121911931#Comment_121911931

He's around the same age as Ronnie James Dio when he died, couldn't get over how great his vocals were on that last album he released.

https://youtu.be/RiUQtortaU8?si=9yJByZPNhJ86TVrS

RayCon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121911232#Comment_121911232

Saw them in the National Concert Hall back in 2011 and he was woeful that night, really struggled. Can't imagine what he's like 13yrs later.

xyz13

Bon Jovi.

orourkeda1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121911292#Comment_121911292

Sinead O'Connor then.

Ted222

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120968076#Comment_120968076

Agreed. Saw Roxy in the O2 in London in 2022 for their 50th.

He doesn’t even attempt to hit the high notes and just points to the backing singers to take over.

But what a performer and what an experience. So glad I was there.

Ted222

Also Donald Fagan. Saw him at the three arena in 2019. He got narked with sections of the crowd who were unhappy with his performance.

He can’t cut it anymore but it was great to see a living legend.

Lewis_Benson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120972813#Comment_120972813

Eh, what?

bullpost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121928504#Comment_121928504

Saw the same tour in Glasgow. His voice is not the same but it was good enough and backed by a great band it was a brilliant concert.

rathfarnhamlad

Saw footage of the recent Paul Young gig in Dublin. He just can't do it anymore but also seemed to be just phoning it in, like he just wasn't trying.

I was amazed when I saw Duran Duran last year. One of the best gigs I was ever at. Simon Le Bon still has great power in his voice and can still hit the high notes no problem.

Was watching some recent footage of Albert Hammond not that long ago. To be honest he sounds better than ever IMO. I would definitely go to see him perform if I had the chance.

Going to see 10cc in September. Haven't seen any recent concert videos of theirs. Also going to see Merrill Osmond in the UK this year. He sounds a lot different to how he did in the early 1970s but has changed his style of singing quite well. Really looking forward to that one as he says he's retiring from performing at the end of this tour...

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121918872#Comment_121918872

Yeah he was a kind of eccentric. Born just outside London, lived in Scotland, Ireland and wherever else. I read that the accent sometime depended on his audience or what company he was in or how his mood took him.

cj maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121928504#Comment_121928504

**** , I loved his voice

JupiterKid

Jim Kerr of Simple Minds has certainly still got it.

Saw him and the band live in concert at the 3 Arena nearly 2 years ago - and he still sounds nearly as good in his early 60s as he did in his 20s.

Photobox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121939880#Comment_121939880

Same with Robert Smith from The Cure, saw them in 2022. Voice was the exact same.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120966243#Comment_120966243

That's gas , he was great in 2002

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120967764#Comment_120967764

I'm seeing infectious grooves next week and miss Tom Jones by a day 😀

Johnwayne98

Brian Johnson.

Sugarlumps

Read a book called Singers Talk, ranging from just about everyone. A lot of artists didn’t do warm downs (very important) which they have since rectified. Gives a good insight for anyone interested.

I’ll take emotion and passion any day.

David Byrne said “The better a singer’s voice, the harder it is to believe what they’re saying. 

Vote4Squirrels

I saw Marti Pellow not long back, lost the top of his range but makes up for it with arrangement.

Made up to hear about Simon le Bon!! First saw DD live in 1982 and last around 2016, can't wait to go again!!!

Sleepy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121940309#Comment_121940309

He changed how he sings and how some of the songs are arranged to cater for it so can still put on a great show. Listen back to his "Well tonight thank god it's them, instead of you" on the Band Aid single though and it's patently obvious that he hasn't been able to sing like that for decades.

vinniem

Axl Rose

Photobox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121944619#Comment_121944619

Have to agree there, after seeing them at Glastonbury on the tv. He had loads of energy though to make up for it!

vinniem

Yeah saw them 1992/2017 Slane and 2022 at Marley. My son asked was there an issue with the sound, I said no. Poor Axl could not hit the high notes, sad.. But the way he sung from 90s onwards must have done serious damage to his vocal cords. Myles Kennedy was good, but no Axl in his hayday 😊

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121944617#Comment_121944617

That's what singers need to do though , you can't change your diaphragm

bullpost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121939659#Comment_121939659

10cc should be good according to this review : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/concerts/10cc-royal-albert-hall-review/

jiltloop

I think generally singers in the higher registers have the most apparent loss of range as they age. All singers probably loss their upper range to an extent as they get older so for higher pitched singers will show this more obviously than most.

Debbie Harry is a prime example IMO. She should just give it up at this stage, she can't sing those songs properly anymore.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121944831#Comment_121944831

I hate when people tell people they should stop working

Ash.J.Williams

Lifestyle is the main factor, jello biafra for example doesn't smoke and sounds as good as his debut

bobbyss

I heard Tom Jones recently. Wow!!!

jiltloop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121950653#Comment_121950653

Relax buddy, it's just an opinion forum.