Do bands nowadays have multiple singers?

Cafe Society
1

I don’t listen to bands anymore, because I’m more interested in solo artists, mainly female, but some male. The thread on the Beatles got me to thinking about how it used to be more common to have more than one lead singer in bands. Lots of bands have background singers, but to have multiple hits by different singers, does that happen anymore?

For example, the Beatles had hits with Paul McCartney singing lead, John Lennon singing lead and George Harrison singing lead. I can’t think of a Beatles hit with Ringo Starr singing lead, but I wouldn’t be surprised that I’ve just forgotten. I know he had solo hits.

The Monkees had multiple hits with Davy Jones singing lead, Mike Nesmith singing lead and Mickey Dolenz singing lead. I can’t think if Peter Tork sang lead on a hit.

Fleetwood Mac had multiple hits with Christine McVie singing lead, Stevie Nicks singing lead, Lindsey Buckingham singing lead and Peter Greene (?) singing lead. I know there were more singers (Bob Welsh, Dave Walker, Danny Kirwan, and Jeremy Spencer, but I don’t know if they had hits).

Kinda speaking of, I know of bands who had multiple singers on albums, but those songs weren’t singles and therefore weren’t hits. For instance, when Peter Gabriel was lead singer of Genesis, Phil Collins sang lead on a few album songs, so it wasn’t totally out of the blue when he took over vocals when Peter left. Back then he sounded a lot like Peter anyway.

So, what are some other examples, and does it ever happen today? I realize that today, “hits” aren’t exactly what they were back in the olden days.

2

The Goo Goo Dolls has Johnny Rzenic (sp?) and Robbie Takac (sp?). Robbie never gets played on the radio though, so you only hear Johnny.

3

Lacuna Coil
Nightwish
Beyon-D-Lusion
Made Out of Babies
Linkin Park

4

That’s an interesting question. I have a lot of modern music with multiple singers singing in harmony, but not different songs by different singers.

Valete,
Vox Imperatoris

5

Shiny Toy Guns had Chad Petree and Carah Charnow on their first album, and Petree and Sisely Treasure on their latest one. I wouldn’t call them a hit group, but I’ve heard songs featuring all three of them on the radio at various times.

6

Further example: The Eagles.

7

Belle & Sebastian has Stuart, Stevie, Sarah and Isobel (formerly) as singers.

The Squirrel Nut Zippers have Katharine and Jimbo as singers. Previously they had Tom too.

Barenaked Ladies have both Ed and Steve.

And I don’t know if it counts, but most rap groups (Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, etc) and R&B groups (Destiny’s Child, En Vogue, etc) have multiple singers but that’s because other than DJ rapper/singer is the only other position in the group :slight_smile:

8

Thanks everybody, it’s nice to know that it’s still going on.

Thanks for the example of Eagles, SA. I’m only remembering Glenn Frey and Don Henley from the band, and don’t know who sang what songs.

9

In that case, I can’t recommend highly enough that you pick up, at your earliest convenience, a copy of The Eagles - Farewell 1 Tour - Live From Melbourne, and your memory will be jogged in a most delightful way.

Everyone I’ve shown that concert to has been absolutely blown away by it. It’s fun to watch people who have become so-so about the Eagles just sit there stunned, mouths agape in wonder at the talent on display. It’s a beautifully filmed and edited concert, the sound is excellent, and the guys and their backing musicians are all in top form. It’s worth five times the price. Seriously.

10

Timothy B. Schmit is best known for his vocals on “I Can’t Tell You Why.” Joe Walsh’s songs on lead vocal are lesser known, but include “In the City” from The Long Run and “Guilty of the Crime” and “Last Good Time In Town” from their latest album, The Long Road Out of Eden.

11

Not to turn this into an Eagles appreciation thread, but here is the playlist in the hope that thinking about these songs will spur you to get the DVD. :slight_smile:

Disc One

  1. The Long Run (Henley)
  2. New Kid In Town (Frey)
  3. Wasted Time (Henley)
  4. Peaceful Easy Feeling (Frey)
  5. I Can’t Tell You Why (Schmidt)
  6. One Of These Nights (Henley)
  7. One Day At A Time (Walsh)
  8. Lyin’ Eyes (Frey)
  9. The Boys Of Summer (Henley - from solo album)
  10. In The City (Walsh)
  11. Already Gone (Frey)
  12. Silent Spring (intro)
  13. Tequila Sunrise (Frey)
  14. Love Will Keep Us Alive (Schmidt)
  15. No More Cloudy Days (Frey)
  16. Hole In The World (Four-part harmony - inspired by 9/11)
  17. Take It To The Limit (Frey)
  18. You Belong To The City (Frey)
  19. Walk Away (Walsh)
  20. Sunset Grill (Henley - from solo album)

Disc Two

  1. Life’s Been Good (Walsh - from solo album)
  2. Dirty Laundry (Henley - from solo album)
  3. Funk #49 (Walsh - from solo album)
  4. Heartache Tonight (Frey)
  5. Life In The Fast Lane (Henley)
  6. Hotel California (Henley)
  7. Rocky Mountain Way (Walsh - from solo album)
  8. All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Henley - from solo album)
  9. Take It Easy (Frey)
  10. Desperado (Henley)

Bonus Feature: Eagles Interviews

12

If you dig this kind of thing, definitely definitely DEFINITELY check out The Rescues. Four songwriters, all four of whom sing lead, two dudes, two gals.

13

Ringo sang lead on “With a Little Help from my Friends”, a classic if not a hit. 10cc had four competent vocalists, Sweet had four, Queen had three, Gentle Giant had three, Deep Purple had two, as did Kansas…off the top of my head. Almost everyone above played an instrument (or several) in addition to singing, offering mind-boggling live performances. [rant]I often feel talent severely lacking in today’s music, where lousy singers do nothing else than grab a mike, yet are considered worthy lead vocalists - back in the '70’s, no-name bassists in obscure bands were better singers, damn it. [rant] (I’m a tired old luddite, yeah).

14

No one has mentioned The Band yet?
In a modern context, what about The Dixie Chicks?

15

Ringo sang lead on “Yellow Submarine,” so all four Beatles sung lead on #1 singles.

I was also going to mention the Band.

16

Gomez has three singers. Ian (Get Myself Arrested), Ben (Get Miles ), and Tom (Girlshapedlovedrug) all take turns being lead vocalist.

17

Thank you for clearing that up for me…I listened to that song on the radio last weekend for the first time in quite a while and was wracking my brain trying to remember who was singing lead. It sounded like Ringo but that didn’t seem right to me, and of course I have been too lazy to look it up.

18

Don’t forget the band Santana is named after the lead guitarist who, to the best of my knowledge, never sang. Carlos has brought in a bunch of excellent lead singers over the last 40 years.

19

Theater of Tragedy
Lacrimosa
(not really the same as the Beatles - both have female and male lead singers taking turns during a single song. Lacuna Coil and Nightwish often do this as well)

Didn’t Meg White sing lead in a few songs ?

ETA : not to mention an untold number of rapping crews, of course

20

For whatever reason, the majority of my favorite bands are like this—maybe it makes for more vocal variety, or better vocal harmonies. Other examples of bands with three or more lead singers include The Beach Boys, The Moody Blues, Styx, and Trip Shakespeare. In They Might Be Giants, John and John both sing lead (and backing vocals). Madness has more than one vocalist. Though Freddy Mercury was “the” lead singer of Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor each took turns on lead vocals. In the Kinks, Ray Davies was lead singer but Dave usually took lead vocals on a couple of songs per album. And the Alan Parsons Project used numerous lead vocalists.

The fact that this sort of thing doesn’t seem to happen nearly as much today may be part of What’s Wrong With Music Nowadays.