# Can You name Famous lead singers with a deep bass voice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 21, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939 "2018-03-21T02:58:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/21 "2018-03-21T05:08:38Z")
Couldn’t name him, but I could google him. Larry Hooper, on Lawrence Welk, [Mr. Bass Man.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkBpcwT8pfk) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/22 "2018-03-21T05:24:46Z")
Marc Broussard? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FuWPseegaKw/maxresdefault.jpg "Marc Broussard - Home (Closed Captioned)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuWPseegaKw) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/23 "2018-03-21T05:54:52Z")
I think a lot of people here are confusing baritone with bass. ---
**Author:** ![Egnu\_Cledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@Egnu\_Cledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Egnu_Cledge)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/24 "2018-03-21T05:56:52Z")
Calvin Johnson from [Beat Happening](https://youtu.be/dsIZg74mLt8) went pretty deep. But they weren’t remotely famous. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/25 "2018-03-21T10:42:41Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I’m musically inept and tone deaf. But, Stan Rogers? Is he a true bass? No, he was a baritone. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/26 "2018-03-21T10:55:31Z")
Levi Stubbs. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/27 "2018-03-21T10:57:48Z")
Peter Steele of Type O Negative ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/28 "2018-03-21T11:29:31Z")
Hoppy Jones of the Ink Spots, even though he was actually the second lead singer and spoke rather than sang the bass verses. Ricky Ricks of The Ravens, who pioneered the sound of a bass lead voice with a tenor backup. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/29 "2018-03-21T11:40:57Z")
Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, Future Bible Heroes, The 6ths, Gothic Archies and The Three Terrors. The man has a lot of projects. Isaac Freeman of the Fairfield Four had a solo album with a supporting group (Isaac Freeman and the Bluebloods). ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/30 "2018-03-21T11:43:40Z")
[Arthur Prysock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Prysock) had a pretty deep voice. Smoother jazz and R&B singer. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/31 "2018-03-21T11:48:29Z")
Chrissy Hynde. I **know** it doesn’t count, okay! But she’s still got the deepest, most resonant and beautiful voice a woman has ever had! Leave me alone. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/32 "2018-03-21T12:30:20Z")
Hello children, how about Isaac Hayes? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/33 "2018-03-21T13:16:34Z")
Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship had a fairly deep voice. Ron “Pigpen” McKernin of the Grateful Dead also had a growly voice. Country singers Josh Turner and Scotty McCreery both have deep bass voices. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/34 "2018-03-21T13:26:24Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Chrissy Hynde. > > I **know** it doesn’t count, okay! But she’s still got the deepest, most resonant and beautiful voice a woman has ever had! > > Leave me alone. That’s Chrissie. I am reading her book finally and will post a review when I’m done. And yeah, she and Karen Carpenter have such rich alto voices. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/35 "2018-03-21T13:45:03Z")
John “Bowzer” Bauman of Sha Na Na, who replaced Alan Cooper as the bass singer. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/36 "2018-03-21T13:53:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I think a lot of people here are confusing baritone with bass. True, but baritone voices are rare enough in, well, at least rock music. Basses on lead vox are virtually unknown except as a stunt. David Bowie was a natural baritone who could capably hit bass notes (thinking specifically of the deeper parts of “Little China Girl”). Not a famous names, but [James Dewar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g9Hs3rnd6s) (sang lead on much of Robin Trower’s solo work) was another baritone lead vocalist in rock. I’m pretty sure he could reach down into the bass notes even lower than Bowie. I could look around some more and find better examples of Dewar going lower. Again, another baritone that is not a natural bass … but a name for sure: [Axl Rose has a very broad vocal range](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtpOEug8kqk)\*\*. He’s done some spoken-word recording on a few tracks (“[There Was a Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHMcXmYYgw4)”) that indicate an ability to reach bass notes. \*\*\* That video is worth the 11 minutes if you like Guns & Rose even a little bit.\* ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/37 "2018-03-21T14:30:52Z")
Mr. Chester Arthur Burnett aka Howlin’ Wolf. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/38 "2018-03-21T14:38:15Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Tom Scholz doesn’t sing. Bradley Delp did, and they’ve used other counter-tenors who could hit operatic-soprano notes since his death. > > Ian Curtis of Joy Division wasn’t well known on this side of the pond, but he definitely had a bass voice. Thank you for the clarification. Wikipedia wasn’t clear who sang tenor for Foreigner. I see Issac Hayes got mentioned. Shaft! R&B and Soul often uses baritone and bass lead singers. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/39 "2018-03-21T14:50:07Z")
Uh Boston. It’s early. Shouldn’t post before my first mug of coffee. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939/40 "2018-03-21T15:25:28Z")
Captain Beefheart could [hit the low notes.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyw3GIayapk) (at 1:00 in). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-name-famous-lead-singers-with-a-deep-bass-voice/810939.md?page=3)