# Any particular vocalists who annoy you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2026, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540 "2026-04-24T22:31:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/21 "2026-04-25T00:02:44Z")
A Doper not seen in a long time once likened Mariah Carey’s voice as “being caught in a bear trap”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/22 "2026-04-25T00:10:03Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > Whitney Houston’s style is like a guy on a high powered motorcycle sitting at a red light and revving it up higher and higher. She has no nuance, just an on/off switch I’d say she’s now stuck in the off position. One I don’t care for, Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine. Every time I hear her singing I want to shove something in my ears. The best way I can describe her vocal style is a mix of yelling at kids to stop jumping on furniture and an old carnival barker introducing a sideshow act. I guess if you put instruments behind it, you can trick people into thinking it’s some form of singing. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/23 "2026-04-25T00:11:40Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It’s the people who are clearly aping another singer that bug me like the innumerable Sinatra clones (Michael Bublé, Harry Connick Jr.. etc.) Ditto re: Seth MacFarlane. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/24 "2026-04-25T00:14:06Z")
Prince. Sue me. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/25 "2026-04-25T00:26:11Z")
Van Morrison. James Taylor. Bruce Springsteen. I gave him another chance after his recent awesome behavior, but no. I hate it. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/26 "2026-04-25T00:39:10Z")
Paula Abdul, she couldn’t sing her way out of a paper bag. She should have stuck to dancing. She’s good at that. I figure that’s why I’ve only had to endure one song by her. That plays on the station(seems to have a loop of about 70 songs that play on a loop) Hubster listens to in the car. Bleh. I loathe Rush with every fiber of my being, mostly because of the lead singer’s nails on a chalk board voice, but their whole sound stinks. Seriously, Bob Dylan couldn’t carry a tune on an air craft carrier. Though he is one of the premier song writers of the last generation. I can admire the artistry of the likes of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, good pitch and fantastic range. I mean Carey sings in the whistle register and that is exceedingly rare. However, the trilling up and down the register for virtually every note is a pet peeve of mine. Now everyone and their grandma has to sing like that. Though I love All I Want for Christmas is You. One of the best contemporary Christmas songs I’ve heard. David Lee Roth, I hate his voice sooo much. Jump makes me want to punch him right in the face. That freakin’ scream he does constantly and always the same. That and he comes off as a dick. Ugh! I don’t get the Carol King hate. I like her quite a bit. I agree with Buble’ though it’s too bad the guy has a pretty good voice, good control, and pitch. He also seems to be a nice guy. He needs to branch out into more contemporary styles. I’m sure there are more singers I hate, but I can’t think of 'em right now. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/27 "2026-04-25T00:52:33Z")
I had a funny feeling lately that this topic would be broached, again. [Singers that make you reach for the dial](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480) [Who are the five worst singers of pop music in the second half of the 20th century?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-five-worst-singers-of-pop-music-in-the-second-half-of-the-20th-century/776037) I thought there was a third one in there somewhere, search fu failed to find it oh well. Without reading the replies yet, I’ll hereby predict: Male tenors will get the bulk of the dislike here, no matter how on-key they are or how rich their voices are. Robert Plant, Geddy Lee, and Jon Anderson are the ur-examples here and I am certain at least one will have shown up before my post. By contrast, female Altos (such as Annie Lennox) will not. The examples will all skew from the 60’s to the 80’s, with virtually nobody mentioned who hit the big time post 1990, most notably the endless parade of off-key tuneless indie whiners that came into vogue by the middle of the decade, something NEVER discussed, here or anywhere. Tl;dr: If you think Geddy Lee is worse than Thom Yorke, I dunno what else to tell you. * * * And it’s Robert Plant by 2 lengths over Geddy Lee! Note I like all 3 even if Jon hasn’t gotten any love yet. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/28 "2026-04-25T00:59:11Z")
I cannot stand Dylan’s voice, I do enjoy Carol King though. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/29 "2026-04-25T01:06:00Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > By contrast, female Altos (such as Annie Lennox) will not. > > The examples will all skew from the 60’s to the 80’s, with virtually nobody mentioned who hit the big time post 1990, most notably the endless parade of off-key tuneless indie whiners that came into vogue by the middle of the decade, something NEVER discussed, here or anywhere. I’ve complained on this board about breathy little girl voice singers. And you haven’t read the thread if you didn’t see alto Natalie Merchant named. I’m naming Michael McDonald. I cannot stand the tone of his voice. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/30 "2026-04-25T01:06:49Z")
Never liked Jim Morrison. Pity, because the Doors were an awesome band. Pretty sure that was due to Ray Manzarek, because Morrison always struck me as not musical in any way; at least, not in the way Manzarek was. Somewhat similarly, Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip. Again, the band was great, but Downie couldn’t sing. He spoke/shouted everything he did, which I guess was necessary because he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/31 "2026-04-25T01:24:28Z")
Axl Rose. I’ll leave it at that ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/32 "2026-04-25T01:30:38Z")
OH, Yeah, ruined the Doobies. I hate that guys voice booorrrrinnnggg. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/33 "2026-04-25T01:33:16Z")
Suzi Quatro could get a little yell-y. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/34 "2026-04-25T01:53:02Z")
Agree. Never had any use for Prince. Always hear about what an _amazing musician_ he was. Umm, ok? His songs were insipid, his voice was…ok, I imagine his instrumental skills were good. I think mostly he was just kind of out-of-the-box for the era. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/35 "2026-04-25T01:54:34Z")
So, I don’t think this is a thread shit, though I’m willing to accept a gentle hand slap if so. But mostly the answer to the OP is no. I mean there are perhaps a handful of exceptions I’ve heard where the attempt at vocals literally make me wince. This bit of [vintage Brazilian psychedelia is just awful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNzKqh0TRn4). But those are far outside the mainstream of success and it has to be pretty mangled to the level of my own singing (terrible, unlistenable caterwauling). Even then, I often find I don’t mind so much if something else interesting is going on. [Daniel Johnston](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pza_pORulA) is really just as bad, probably even a lot worse than the above. But his lyrics are so fascinating (like a lower rent Dylan, I suppose) that I can look past his horrible off-key warbling. Though on that one I’ll be honest and admit I’d far rather listen to [Yo La Tengo’s cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DciOPjRJQKE). But extreme exceptions like that aside, mostly no - I have found I really don’t much care about vocal quality. I can tell better singers from worse ones, but I find it doesn’t seem to bother me when folks objectively kinda suck as vocalists. Billy Corgan? I mean, [objectively not so good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwNpipZp9tc). But I still really like the Smashing Pumpkins regardless and his voice in inextricably linked to my enjoyment as part of the whole. I’ve likely mentioned it before that there was some anecdote I remember about Johnny Winter talking with his wizard of a technician kid brother Edgar about some old blues musician. Edgar was complaining how out of out of tune/key the musician was and Johnny replied something like “yeah, but just listen to the feel.” Lord knows [Edgar has the chops to criticize](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af0rV6dli_o) (whether you care for his own vocals or not), but I’m pretty much in Johnny’s camp. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/36 "2026-04-25T02:17:56Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Though on that one I’ll be honest and admit I’d far rather listen to [Yo La Tengo’s cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DciOPjRJQKE). Wilco also has a great [cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fONwsZg3nYw) of his True Love (Will Find You in the End). ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/37 "2026-04-25T02:25:14Z")
Joanie Mitchell in her falsetto thing sounds like Julia Child would after dropping a frozen turkey on her toe. James Taylor and Cat Yusef Islam Stevens always seemed to have creepy old man voices. I suppose they’ve aged into them by now. Peter Cetera sounds like a cross between Peter Lorre and Walter Brennan. Van Morrison’s muffled mumblings- I just don’t get why he was so popular. Oh, yeah- Jon Anderson sounds like Geddy Lee on estrogen. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/38 "2026-04-25T03:21:11Z")
Christopher Cross, except in “Ride Like the Wind.” Everything else he sings makes him sound like a whiny little wuss. David Lee Roth. Specifically that horrible “screamy” thing he does. I don’t even have words to adequately describe how much I hate that noise. Contrary to many of you, I like Geddy Lee. I am a massive Rush fan, though. His voice is distinctive, but that’s okay with me. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/39 "2026-04-25T03:25:36Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > Seriously, Bob Dylan couldn’t carry a tune on an air craft carrier. Though he is one of the premier song writers of the last generation. That’s why I was in favor of giving Bob a Pulitzer Prize. But I think we should also give anyone who did good covers of his songs a…what? A Wurlitzer Prize? My favorite covers are All Along The Watchtower, and all the Dylan covers the Byrds did. Same with Jerry Garcia. Inoffensive voice, but that’s why I don’t like it (a musician friend told me that that’s because Jerry had no vibrato). So my favorite album is DEADICATED, with covers by Los Lobos, Bruce Hornsby, Burning Spear … and Lyle Lovett doing Friend of the Devil. ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1CDuQmhTyD4/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/1CDuQmhTyD4?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLDVVwifXkWvR37bhwI2aGQzXRbEhHKiGQ ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540/40 "2026-04-25T03:46:32Z")
[Roy Orbison](https://youtu.be/D6Aw3ZnqQrY?list=RDD6Aw3ZnqQrY) and [Aaron Neville](https://youtu.be/VdCFXkQYgQo?list=RDVdCFXkQYgQo). Their voices both have a high, thin, unsupported quality to me that always feels like passive aggressive whining. It gets right under my skin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-particular-vocalists-who-annoy-you/1029540.md?page=3)