# Blackest sounding white singer and whitest sounding black singer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335 "2006-10-21T14:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/1 "2006-10-21T14:39:22Z")
I nominate: Blackest sounding white singer - [Rick Astley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Astley) Whitest sounding black singer - not sure - I was going to say [Johnny Mathis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mathis), but he doesn’t really “sound” white even if his material is sugary, easy listening pop. Who do you nominate? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/2 "2006-10-21T22:12:11Z")
For “whitest” black singer, I’d nominate Arthur Lee, the late lead singer of sixties psychedelic act Love. He had a wispy voice on ballads without a hint of bluesiness, and bluesiness and low-pitched voice is what we assume a “black voice” sounds like. (Yeah, I know Love did a few garage rockers, but Love’s voice sounds more gruff than low pitched). I really don’t think Johnny Mathis qualifies since his voice tends to be lower pitched than most pop vocalists. For “blackest” white singer, I really don’t think any white act approaches the timbre of a “black voice” on close examination. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/3 "2006-10-21T22:17:34Z")
Well, there’s British white girl Joss Stone, about whom Patti LaBelle said, “She was born like that. She didn’t practice it. It just happened that she opened her mouth and a big black woman comes out.” And there there’s Canadian black girl Fefe Dobson, whose alternative hard rock stylings don’t sound “black” at all. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/4 "2006-10-21T22:22:47Z")
Antony of Antony of the Johnsons is a white male harbouring the ghost of Nina Simone. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/5 "2006-10-21T22:28:35Z")
[QUOTE=installLSC] For “whitest” black singer, I’d nominate Arthur Lee, the late lead singer of sixties psychedelic act Love. He had a wispy voice on ballads without a hint of bluesiness, and bluesiness and low-pitched voice is what we assume a “black voice” sounds like. (Yeah, I know Love did a few garage rockers, but Love’s voice sounds more gruff than low pitched). I really don’t think Johnny Mathis qualifies since his voice tends to be lower pitched than most pop vocalists. For “blackest” white singer, I really don’t think any white act approaches the timbre of a “black voice” on close examination. [/QUOTE] Have you ever hear Rick Astley? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/6 "2006-10-22T01:18:03Z")
Charley Pride, a country music singer, never sounded “black” to me. I guess because he was in country music, I foolishly expected he was white, until I saw his picture. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/7 "2006-10-22T01:34:06Z")
Two votes for black-sounding whiteys: Delbert McClinton Nikka Costa ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/8 "2006-10-22T01:49:59Z")
I thought of Rick Astley the second I read the thread title. Many of you remember the shock of seeing the guy in a music video and doing a double-take- I mean, I expected a guy who looked like Aaron Neville, not some skinny white kid! I imagine the previous generation had the same reaction when they saw Little Stevie Winwood. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/9 "2006-10-22T02:23:34Z")
The blackest white I’ve heard is Jack Sheldon, a jazz singer who’s best known for singing the _Schoolhouse Rock_ classics _Conjunction Junction_ and _I’m Just A Bill._ ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/10 "2006-10-22T03:05:12Z")
Jamiroquoi tries so hard to look and sound black that technically he’s a minstrel. Actress Erika Christensen has a singing voice that’s kind of a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/11 "2006-10-22T03:16:39Z")
White guy Van Morrison. And you wouldn’t guess from listening to fellow Irishman and [Thin Lizzy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FmPhJkdTwU) frontman Phil Lynott that he was half black. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/12 "2006-10-22T06:56:24Z")
[QUOTE=astro] I nominate: Blackest sounding white singer - [Rick Astley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Astley) Whitest sounding black singer - not sure - I was going to say [Johnny Mathis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mathis), but he doesn’t really “sound” white even if his material is sugary, easy listening pop. Who do you nominate? [/QUOTE] Previous discussion on this topic, [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=390046) My nomination is Ali Campbell of UB40. I still don’t believe he’s White. He’s mixed or something. No White boy sings reggae like that! I forget the band, but they had a song called “She Likes Me For Me” or something like that. The singer was Black and I was shocked, shocked, I tell you, to learn this. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/13 "2006-10-22T08:08:27Z")
Pop-singer Anastacia sounds like a powerful black woman but is a petite youngish white one. And I second Joss Stone, who sounds way to old/mature for her (?) 19 years. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/14 "2006-10-22T09:31:45Z")
Yeah I do remember Rick Astley. I’m only 31, and in the small town I grew up in Top 40 was about the only contemporary music we got to hear. But as regards his hits like “Together Forether” and “Cry For Help” his voice lacks the note bending and other bluesy attributes we’d expect a black singer to have. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/15 "2006-10-22T11:06:56Z")
Lisa Stansfield Lenny Kravitz? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/16 "2006-10-22T12:30:51Z")
As I mentioned in the previous thread, Eliot Sloan from Blessid Union of Soul sounds so white that even when he sung about being a black man, I still thought he was white. I didn’t know that Bobby Cadwell was white until very recently. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/17 "2006-10-22T16:20:12Z")
[Snow](http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/snow/bio.jhtml) is the answer to both questions. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/18 "2006-10-22T16:21:57Z")
[QUOTE=flight] Have you ever hear Rick Astley? [/QUOTE] Rick Ghastly doesn’t sound black; he just sounds bad. His voice is 80% knob twirling. (As is his love life, no doubt . . .) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/19 "2006-10-22T16:44:50Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Rick Ghastly doesn’t sound black; he just sounds bad. His voice is 80% knob twirling. (As is his love life, no doubt . . .) [/QUOTE] Oh come now, [he’s a fabulous dancer](http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=4i-e38r79nk)… well a pretty good swayer anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335/20 "2006-10-22T16:55:35Z")
[QUOTE=astro] Oh come now, [he’s a fabulous dancer](http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=4i-e38r79nk)… well a pretty good swayer anyway. [/QUOTE] You should’ve included a warning with that link. How do you get vomit off of a keyboard? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackest-sounding-white-singer-and-whitest-sounding-black-singer/377335.md?page=2)