my point was that sooner or later almost every singer is in this "singers who've lost their voice" category
right, I was thinking about Annie Haslam here...her voice suddenly got thin and wobbly, but on the other hand she still sounded great through her sixties, so idk if she counts really. you can't have a soprano like that at 72 years old
― frogbs, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:45 (five years ago) link
Springsteen has definitely lost range and power, but his voice was a thing of magic to begin with.Axl sounded pretty awful for a while, but he seems better, or at least better than it was. Roger Daltrey, he had a few bad years as well, but has sounded okay since surgery. Stevie Nicks is nowhere near where she once was.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:45 (five years ago) link
Kurt Wagner. coping mechanisms: falsetto, autotune
― Manfred Hemming-Hawing (WmC), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:46 (five years ago) link
Hetfield is struggling. David Lee Roth for sure. Bruce from Maiden ... doing ok?
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:47 (five years ago) link
Ian Tyson (of Ian and Sylvia) is a strange case. he sounded great in the early '00s, but he fried his voice later in the decade when he tried to out-sing an over-amplified backing band and later came down with a bad cold. he regained some of his vocal power after having polyp surgery, only to lose it again after he was intubated during heart surgery a few years ago. I don't think he's well enough to perform these days. cowboys are allowed to have gravelly voices, so it doesn't seem like the ordeal took too great a toll on his career.
― tandoor vittles (unregistered), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:53 (five years ago) link
Billy Corgan.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:53 (five years ago) link
John Sebastian
― Orpheus Knutt (Tom D.), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:55 (five years ago) link
tbf in the case of Corgan you can't lose what you never had
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:58 (five years ago) link
Been thinking about Bjork, she doesn't seem to have attempted any of her old vocal acrobatics this last 10 years or so, is this because she can't any more?
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:59 (five years ago) link
Roger Daltrey, he had a few bad years as well, but has sounded okay since surgery.
He was decidedly hit-or-miss in 2006-07, but yeah, post-surgery Daltrey sounds good, especially for 75.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 16:03 (five years ago) link
title of this thread is irritating tbh. Every singer over the age of 70s is going to have their lungpower and range decrease, it's just a fact of aging.
Yeah, maybe I should have said "Singers Who've Lost Their Voices and Still Made Good Music" ... but the point wasn't "Hey, everybody gets old and loses their voice ... that sucks!" so much as "Some folks stop being interesting when they lose their voice (which also sucks), but some don't ... why?"
Some great points in here.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 16:05 (five years ago) link
Gregory Isaacs was the poster boy for this
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 16:07 (five years ago) link
Robert Plant sounded shot as early as Physical Graffiti, but he's settled nicely into his new voice, especially circa Raising Sand where he sounds almost like Roy Orbison in places.
― dinnerboat, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 16:11 (five years ago) link
Mark Kozelek. Whether his conscious change in delivery was secretly because he can't quite sing the way he used to... either way when he tries now (from what I've heard) it sounds specifically like the new rantrapping-matthew mcconaughey Kozelek trying to sing, as apposed to him just sounding the way he did before he switched styles. Reaffirms that new asshole rapping Mark is an imposter. Real Mark is missing!
― Evan, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 16:27 (five years ago) link
Listen to Siouxsie Sioux on The Seven Year Itch and prepare to cringe
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 16:45 (five years ago) link
Been thinking about Bjork, she doesn't seem to have attempted any of her old vocal acrobatics this last 10 years or so, is this because she can't any more?― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:59 (fifty-six minutes ago) link
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:59 (fifty-six minutes ago) link
Yeah, she's had some serious issues with her vocal cords over the past decade (surgery, frequent forced vocal rests, cancelled shows etc.) and her upper range is weaker than it used to be but she still can belt a note out. She might even sound better in her mid-range now, but at the cost of losing the dolphin noises / acrobatics.
Joni Mitchell's loss of vocal range beginning in the 80s is very evident but she's a heavy smoker.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 17:04 (five years ago) link
I remember hearing that a lot 10-15 years ago re: Bjork - "if she keeps singing like that, she's gonna lose her voice"
― frogbs, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 17:09 (five years ago) link
Pre:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbn6a0AFfnM
Post:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnf46boC3I
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 17:11 (five years ago) link
i actually think Kylie has improved over the years.someone could suggest studio based tweaks, however, Sundays performance (and last years Hyde Park show) would definitely contest that idea.she has learnt how to use her range really well.
― mark e, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 17:14 (five years ago) link
shit. wrong thread ! ooops.doi repost over in the other one ?
― mark e, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 17:15 (five years ago) link
Thread title Should be “...Voices” no?
― calstars, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 18:03 (five years ago) link
It’s actually kinda crazy to me how affecting I find ferry’s fucked old guy voice
― shhh / let peaceful like things (wins), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 18:12 (five years ago) link
Lucinda Williams. She's always had that drawl/slur thing going on to some extent, but over the past four or five albums it's increased to the point where I can hardly stand to listen to her any more. A couple of years ago she re-recorded Sweet Old World and the difference in her singing from the original album is excruciating.
― van dyke parks generator (anagram), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 19:57 (five years ago) link
Waits is the rare performer who "found" the voice they're most commonly associated with well into their recording career.
― Simon H., Wednesday, 3 July 2019 20:08 (five years ago) link
Post-2005 Tori Amos.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 20:11 (five years ago) link
Being a huge Echo & the Bunnymen fan, I've seen loads of discussions around Ian McCulloch's voice, and obviously I have to admit that he doesn't sing like he did in the 80's - up to and including his first solo album Candleland.But his voice is still unlike any others and he changed his style to match it, he still does amazing things with it and, while it's not what you hear on those classic records, he's a treat to hear live.
― Valentijn, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 20:56 (five years ago) link
Paul Banks
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 22:37 (five years ago) link
A notorious one : Maria Callas
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 4 July 2019 05:54 (five years ago) link
Waits is cool because he spent most of his career trying to sound like a wise, bitter old hobo and now his voice fits the persona he was working on all these decades, so the older he gets, the - i don’t know if better, but - more organic his older material sounds when he performs it.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 4 July 2019 06:08 (five years ago) link
Thom Yorke has sadly lost much of his higher tones and he sounds like he’s whining more often than not when he attempts it. Vocals break constantly live when he has to go there.
The more he losses his voice the more he likes to use it as a texture or loops inside songs and it makes for a frustrating listen to me. There’s way too much whining and mumbling that wasn’t there or at least not as noticeable in his younger years.
He’s still a pretty great vocalist but I wouldn’t mind if he toned down the high notes and the mumbling.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 4 July 2019 06:19 (five years ago) link
Two singers who literally lost their voices:
Linda Thompson (though she eventually got it back)Sheila Chandra
― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 4 July 2019 06:31 (five years ago) link
Sheila Chandra's story is rather grim, apparently the burning mouth syndrome means she can't even speak, let alone sing?
― Tuomas, Thursday, 4 July 2019 07:34 (five years ago) link
A rapper example (which is rare !) : the D.O.C.It doesn't really fit the thread premise though since he didn't sustain his success afterward...
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 4 July 2019 08:53 (five years ago) link
Shirley Collins too
xxp
― van dyke parks generator (anagram), Thursday, 4 July 2019 09:06 (five years ago) link
DMC also lost-lost his voice (the D.O.C. in a car crash, DMC damaging his through shouting and alcohol), with Run forbidding him from performing on their last record & him switching to croaky blues gasping as a solo artist
― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 4 July 2019 09:09 (five years ago) link
Milli Vanilli
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 4 July 2019 09:10 (five years ago) link
A sad case of someone whose voice is only a shadow of what it used to be, without finding a new style to match it (like Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits): Stephen Stills.
― Valentijn, Thursday, 4 July 2019 09:33 (five years ago) link
Andy Bell from Erasure
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 4 July 2019 10:09 (five years ago) link
Boy George
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 4 July 2019 10:10 (five years ago) link
It’s actually kinda crazy to me how affecting I find ferry’s fucked old guy voice― shhh / let peaceful like things (wins), Thursday, 4 July 2019 4:12 AM (fifteen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― shhh / let peaceful like things (wins), Thursday, 4 July 2019 4:12 AM (fifteen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
Yeah that cover of Johnny and Mary where he sounds frail and ancient is really special, def my favorite late-career Ferry thing.
― umsworth (emsworth), Thursday, 4 July 2019 10:18 (five years ago) link
I haven’t heard Boy George since Somebody To Love Me (nine years ago!), but he still sounded wonderful there, if deeper & not as liquid as his 1985 self
― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 4 July 2019 10:23 (five years ago) link
Xp In fact generally like rock voices cracked with age, my favourite parts of seeing Paul McCartney recently were the bits where he sounded like an old man. I like the honest sound of this pop cultural moment heading into its dotage.
Oh and Perry Farrell was the one that came to mind for me. Last time i saw Jane's he was doing a really good sleight of hand job but it was clearly not really there. He made up for it with showmanship and somehow suggesting his old voice and I think as an audience you sort of fill in the gaps. Occasionally he would really go for a crucial note. It must be super hard to no longer be able to do the thing that defines you, and i did feel for him a little having to put in such effort to even approximate his old performance.
― umsworth (emsworth), Thursday, 4 July 2019 10:29 (five years ago) link
Re : Ferry, yeah I love his jazz/big band stuff. arguably one of the peaks of his career imo.
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 4 July 2019 10:34 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2hzLpZftLQ
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 4 July 2019 11:05 (five years ago) link
George Clinton!
― Carly Jae Vespen (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 4 July 2019 12:04 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQVaRudcClc
Compare and contrast :(( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCpWh8Yi9Uc
― Carly Jae Vespen (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 4 July 2019 12:06 (five years ago) link
OMG
― Vini C. Riley (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 4 July 2019 12:40 (five years ago) link
Ian Anderson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QeDpONKs0U
― Zeuhl Idol (Matt #2), Thursday, 4 July 2019 12:50 (five years ago) link
Walter White's flute skills have improved though
― bendy, Thursday, 4 July 2019 14:36 (five years ago) link
Stipe sounds pretty bad in that 2008 clip and the RRHOF induction from the previous year, IMO
― stan by me (morrisp), Saturday, 6 July 2019 00:18 (five years ago) link
Man this makes me sad. I heard only a little bit of the latest album but it was autotuned to oblivion and I figured it was probably the case that his voice is gone
― Vinnie, Saturday, 6 July 2019 15:05 (five years ago) link
Chris Conley from Saves the Day was one of these, I think.
― ☮ (peace, man), Saturday, 6 July 2019 15:22 (five years ago) link
Re: Andy Bell. It’s not just the autotuning, it’s the way that he actually sings now - seems like something changed in his technique when he did the Pop Star to Opera Star TV show. Does make me a little sad to listen back to the earlier Erasure records and hear how good a voice he had.
― michaellambert, Saturday, 6 July 2019 15:23 (five years ago) link
I think Stipe's hitting an e4/f4 on "air". He struggles on the scale around A-C before getting back to being comfortable. Which feels like he's not getting a chance to breathe. One could say he's trying not to breathe.
― KPH, Sunday, 7 July 2019 00:44 (five years ago) link
literally!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioQLg5Aodjw
― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal), Monday, 10 February 2020 03:00 (four years ago) link
I looked at the source video expecting it to be some negligible thing that stupid youtube channel blew up into a thing but nah, he legit was nowhere near the mic and his voice came in at same volume. also I know what he sounded like 4 years before that clip was recorded and it...wasn't that good.
― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal), Monday, 10 February 2020 03:04 (four years ago) link
linda ronstadt, to degenerative palsy.
― andrew m., Monday, 10 February 2020 16:40 (four years ago) link
Aw :(
― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal), Monday, 10 February 2020 16:45 (four years ago) link
I mean, dude was always pitchy and inconsistent even in his prime, but this is....o_O
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tobKbYRCJOo
― ain't nothin but a brie thing, baby (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 05:10 (four months ago) link
Linda Thompson has a new album that's entirely guest vocalists due to her dysphonia.
― JoeStork, Wednesday, 1 May 2024 05:35 (four months ago) link
Phil Ochs!
"One night, Ochs was attacked and strangled by robbers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which damaged his vocal cords, causing a loss of the top three notes in his vocal range."
― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 07:17 (four months ago) link
I ran across the final Demis Roussos album the other day, and by 2009 there was absolutely nothing left of his former semi-operatic voice, it's reduced to a sub-Joe Cocker rasp.
Also, it's quite something to bookend your 40-year career of sappy baroque balladry with a 9+ minute epic called "Who Gives A Fuck" (last track on his last album).
― Siegbran, Wednesday, 1 May 2024 10:22 (four months ago) link
Wow.
― I've left the box of soup near your shoes (Tom D.), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 11:23 (four months ago) link
Hoo boy @ Sebastian Bach
― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 11:24 (four months ago) link