Singers Who Lost Their Voices

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  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    eric draven wrote:
    Mr Goo wrote:
    Robert Plant - ex Led Zeppelin now 'solo'
    I saw Robert Plant about 4 years ago and I thought he sounded pretty good live,but I never got Led Zeppelin live as of being to young

    I did see Marianne Faithful on Jools Holland quite a few years ago,and was cringing and her begging her to stop

    Yep I remember that too, another from Jools Holland was Martha Reeves a few years back - saw she was still touring this year so god knows what her voice is like now.

    I noticed Meatloaf is still touring but gets some other guy in to sing while he just tells anecdotes between songs - probably as good a way to do it as any!
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Seen on TV at live shows - then quickly muted ....
    paul mccartney - couldn't hit any of the high notes and didn't have the gumption to transpose it down - or probably more likely, his ego wouldn't let them transpose it down ...
    and Supertramp - although which one was singing Breakfast in America I don't know - but it was awful - again, high notes suffer - as expected with age - but if you're a musician you're supposed to be able to work around those issues...

    On the flipside - two artists seen in the last 2 years - live on stage ...
    Runrig - just completed their farewell tour in Stirling - wow - quite how they can perform on stage for over 2 hours whilst still maintaining that show of energy - I'd struggle now and I'm a lot younger!
    Cliff Richard - (yes we went to see him live) - prancing around on stage like he's in his 20's ... I couldn't tell if it was miming or not ... but at least he had a rest in between numbers - although his speaking voice was quite croaky ... fair play though - it was an excellent overall performance.

    I'd like to go an see Elton John - but tickets are just a bit pricey ... and mostly sold out now.
  • haydenm
    haydenm Posts: 2,997
    Paul Mccartney's new music is completely dreadful as well. I mean, it's a general unwritten anywhere I've played that you encourage people and don't do others down, if you don't like it just accept it isn't your thing and wait for something that is, but he clearly doesn't need any encouragement from a poor quality open mic regular... It's dreadful, it's almost like something my dad would write thinking he's cool. I don't mean that in an ageist way either, there are plenty of amazing musicians his age, but my dad isn't one of them.
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,269
    Backstreet Boys. Been 'singing' live on Chris Evans' R2 show this morning. Eh, no. Really, no.
  • shortfall
    shortfall Posts: 3,288
    There's obviously plenty of singers who could never sing and who get around it with autotune or the help of backing singers etc ( or just miming to their own stuff when they're supposed to be live). But it's quite tragic when you get someone like Paul Young who had a pretty decent voice (imho) who ends up singing absolutely flat and with no power. When it happened to Alan Clarke from the Hollies he at least had the self respect to retire. Maybe he'd looked after his money better than some of the others mentioned here and could afford to?

    ETA some people will still pay good money to see someone like McCartney sing live despite their voice being totally sh1t. Why is this? Nostalgia? I know people who've seen Elton who say he's amazing live and just sings in a lower register.
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023
    It's a good point to regard the voice as a physical quality that may have a limited shelf life like any other physical attributes. You wouldn't pay good money to watch Linford Christie and Carl Lewis race 100m at a 16sec time (rough guess!) now or pay to see Michael Holding bowl 60mph dollies so why would you bother to go and hear someone who can't sing properly anymore? There is a massive market for it as we know however so I'm clearly in the minority.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    Mr Goo wrote:
    Ozzy Osborne - ex Black Sabbath now 'solo'

    Slightly harsh I feel...Must say that this is one of those moments when I realise it's been 10 years since I left Uni...but I saw them at Download about then and I actually thought he came alive again during the performance.

    He was never a great singer though so perhaps thats why...

    the flipside you get is someone like James Hetfield who arguably 'sings' much better now, but in some ways that was never the point...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,269
    eric draven wrote:
    Mr Goo wrote:
    Robert Plant - ex Led Zeppelin now 'solo'
    I saw Robert Plant about 4 years ago and I thought he sounded pretty good live,but I never got Led Zeppelin live as of being to young
    I saw Robert Plant with Alison Krauss on that Raising Sand tour some years back, then again back end of last year with his Sensational Space Shifters Band. His voice is not the same as his Led Zep heydays but he's changed his style and his vocal ranges so can still put on one helluva performance which is what matters. I came away from both gigs feeling satisfied that I'd had a good experience, worth my time and money.
  • haydenm
    haydenm Posts: 2,997
    ddraver wrote:
    Mr Goo wrote:
    Ozzy Osborne - ex Black Sabbath now 'solo'

    Slightly harsh I feel...Must say that this is one of those moments when I realise it's been 10 years since I left Uni...but I saw them at Download about then and I actually thought he came alive again during the performance.

    He was never a great singer though so perhaps thats why...

    I saw him about 11 years ago and he was excellent, big fan of Zakk at the time though so maybe I wasn't really paying attention to ozzy wailing. My uncle used to work on big screens for concerts and saw him backstage, he was amazed at just how frail he was until he got out on stage and turned into a completely different person
  • crispybug2
    crispybug2 Posts: 2,915
    By way of an alternative, I heard Pump It Up by Elvis Costello on the radio and I was struck by what a whiny voice he had back then and by comparison what a richer, more resonant balladeer type voice he had when I saw him live a few years back!
  • Darius_Jedburgh
    Darius_Jedburgh Posts: 675
    Smokey Robinson. Voice has gone, gone, gone. But he still keeps touring and pulling the crowds in. It's a shame to see him now.
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    Shortfall wrote:
    I know people who've seen Elton who say he's amazing live and just sings in a lower register.
    Really?
    I've not seen him live but have heard live recordings and he's abysmal.He's an idle singer who sings half words and struggles to get any note in tune.
    I thought he was terrible at Live Aid and he's gradually gotten worse since.

    I saw the Rolling Stones on their Voodoo Lounge tour in 96.Very disappointed.Jagger although energetic was terrible live.I can only imagine how bad he is 20 years on :|
    Lynskey R480

  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    James Blunt.
  • earth
    earth Posts: 934
    Someone said already but Bob Dylan sounds like a drunk constipated wasp.

    Black Francis when he changed to Frank Black. Then when he reformed the Pixies he still sounded like the Frank Black era. But he seems to have found Black Francis again.
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,996
    Mr Goo wrote:
    Ian Gillan - Deep Purple
    Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden
    Rob Halford - Judas Priest
    Ozzy Osborne - ex Black Sabbath now 'solo'
    Joe Elliott - Def Leppard
    Robert Plant - ex Led Zeppelin now 'solo'

    All shadows of their former vocal talents yet still performing and raking in the cash on lucrative tours.
    Decades of belting out rock songs does have a price to pay. I'd certainly never pay money to see Deep Purple now, Gillans voice is now awful.

    Agree 100% re Gillan. He is now 73 and when you hear him now and compare him to 1970 it is enough to make you weep.
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,568
    earth wrote:
    Someone said already but Bob Dylan sounds like a drunk constipated wasp.

    Black Francis when he changed to Frank Black. Then when he reformed the Pixies he still sounded like the Frank Black era. But he seems to have found Black Francis again.

    Seen Dylan twice - both times his voice was awful (but he hadn't got much to work with in the first place to be fair)

    Seen Pixies somehwere between 15 and 20 times. Always celestially brilliant.
    Wilier Izoard XP
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 12,035
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  • joe2008
    joe2008 Posts: 1,531
    Webboo wrote:
    James Blunt.

    He doesn't fit the criterion of the thread.
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    After hearing Mark Knopfler talk his way through Romeo&Juliet on Radio2 the other day I'll add him to the list.
    Lynskey R480

  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,269
    Sniper68 wrote:
    After hearing Mark Knopfler talk his way through Romeo&Juliet on Radio2 the other day I'll add him to the list.
    Yebbut, was never about Mark Knopfler's voice, it's his guitar virtuosity. Seen him live 3 times in recent years, and got tickets (hopefully great seats via his Fair Admission pre-sale) for his 2019 tour. Never disappointed.
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,996
    Knopfler has never ever been regarded as any great, or even average, come to that, vocalist.
  • crescent
    crescent Posts: 1,201
    We went to see Blondie last year. Debbie Harry’s voice is not what it was but I was impressed that she didn’t try to pretend otherwise and sang in a different style. Still sounded good and gave an excellent performance without trying to be what she was 30 - 40 years ago.
    Paul Weller’s early music was not about a good singing voice but rather about the message and the ‘angry young man’ attitude. I think as his musical message changed his style of singing changed, perhaps unfair to say his voice has deteriorated, rather a conscious change of style.
    Not a fan of Oasis by any stretch of the imagination but Liam Gallagher’s nasal whining is even more annoying now than in his Oasis days.
    Bianchi ImpulsoBMC Teammachine SLR02 01Trek Domane AL3“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. “ ~H.G. Wells Edit - "Unless it's a BMX"
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    Sniper68 wrote:
    After hearing Mark Knopfler talk his way through Romeo&Juliet on Radio2 the other day I'll add him to the list.

    What this?
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ogF2tRNZRk

    Now I was never a Dire Straits fan but to me that's a really beautiful rendition of that song. Maybe his range or whatever technical aspects of singing have deteriorated but the tone, the emotion in the voice sounds to be at least as good.

    I went to see Ian MacLagan (keyboard player with Faces and Small Faces) in a pub in Sheffield a few years back shortly before he passed away and his voice was clearly not what it was, it sounded like an older man singing but it still had a nice tone and the ability to convey emotion.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Sniper68 wrote:
    After hearing Mark Knopfler talk his way through Romeo&Juliet on Radio2 the other day I'll add him to the list.

    What this?
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ogF2tRNZRk

    Now I was never a Dire Straits fan but to me that's a really beautiful rendition of that .
    That’s the one.We’ll have to disagree on that as I think it’s a horrible rendition.Sounds like a bad pub singer trying to do a cover.
    Lynskey R480

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