# Male rock singers with the highest or most feminine voices? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2009, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452 "2009-05-24T09:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [May 24, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/41 "2009-05-24T20:41:00Z")
Roger Hodgson of Supertramp in “The Logical Song” or “Goodbye Stranger.” And, of course, the winner of them all is Tiny Tim (who could rock when he felt like it – he did a nice version of “Great Balls of Fire,” for instance). ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/42 "2009-05-24T20:42:40Z")
I could never figure out if the singer in “Virtual Insanity” by Jamiroquai was a man or woman. I know there was a guy in the video, but he could just be a dancer or something. I always thought the singer sounded like a black woman. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/43 "2009-05-24T21:13:14Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Man, thanks for that link! One of my new fave songs now. Why oh why can’t they make music like this anymore?!?! People do. Check out [Priestess](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cfahXQh-X8), for example. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/44 "2009-05-24T21:22:27Z")
I forgot to add that when I first heard them, I could not believe that Violent Femmes had a guy singing. Gordon Gano’s voice is so high pitched, so breathy… there was just no way it was a guy singing. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/45 "2009-05-24T21:39:43Z")
OK, pop instead of rock, but Johnny Nash - [I Can See Clearly Now](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkwJ-g0iJ6w) As for a rock song, the singer of this recent song sounds kind of feminine to me (and some of the people who left comments on the video) [Panic Switch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8fugqFn9Q) ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/46 "2009-05-24T22:20:41Z")
I was shocked to find out, years later, that Chris Montez, the singer of 1960s hits [Call Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsdy27AqTKg) and [The More I See You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tLownOQwNA), was a male. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/47 "2009-05-24T22:45:28Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I forgot to add that when I first heard them, I could not believe that Violent Femmes had a guy singing. Gordon Gano’s voice is so high pitched, so breathy… there was just no way it was a guy singing. I did not know the lead singer of the Violent Femmes was a man until right this second. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/48 "2009-05-24T22:59:13Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > I did not know the lead singer of the Violent Femmes was a man until right this second. LMFAO Hey Ma! I’m fighting ignorance! And this time, I’m winning! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/49 "2009-05-25T00:27:11Z")
David Surkamp’s voice (from the band Pavlov’s Dog) is like Geddy Lee’s, only more so. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/50 "2009-05-25T00:38:04Z")
Geddy Lee Robert Plant Sebastian Bach Dan McCafferty (Nazareth) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/51 "2009-05-25T01:19:27Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I just found out that the song [Hot Child In The City](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFMlvUyBq-0) was sung by a man, Nick Gilder. This is like a mind blowing revelation to me. My whole life I’ve heard this song, since I was 5, and I always assumed it was a woman singing it. This guy wins the award for THE most feminine sounding male voice in rock and roll, EVER. Even more so than Michael Jackson. I would guess that if you played this song to someone who had never heard or heard of it before, and asked them what gender the singer was, 99 percent of them would say female. > > What other male rock singers have outrageously high-pitched and feminine voices? Besides Rush and Coheed and Cambria (who have high, but not feminine sounding, voices IMO.) I was gonna say Coheed and Cambria. The guy sounds indistinguishable from a girl to me. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/52 "2009-05-25T01:20:22Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > I did not know the lead singer of the Violent Femmes was a man until right this second. I always knew he was a man and don’t think he sounds especially feminine, but I can see how the band’s name would add to potential confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/53 "2009-05-25T01:52:05Z")
[Philip Bailey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Bailey) from _Earth, Wind & Fire_ and _Easy Lover_ (duet with Phil Collins) fame. His falsetto is legendary, particularly in several EWF numbers. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/54 "2009-05-25T01:58:12Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Big John Wallace did the alto voice on Harry Chapin’s, “Taxi”. That was pretty high and I thought it was a woman singing. I thought it was pretty funny when I saw them on PBS once. This great big fat man, with a beard, singing like a woman. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/55 "2009-05-25T02:32:02Z")
Morten Harket of a-ha has the highest voice that I can think of, and he can still hit those notes. I honestly believe that one of the reasons that virtually no covers of “Take On Me” exist (that are “serious” covers, anyway) is that at some point the singer has to either try to outsing Harket as he does that last line: “I’ll be gone… in a day!” See also “I Wish I Cared” for an example of his high register. There’s a song on their last album, _Analogue_, called “Over The Treetops,” where Harket’s voice is double-tracked and it sounds almost like it’s one of those deals that Prince used to do where he’d sing a part really slow in the normal register and speed it up. After checking out a YouTube clip, it appears that Graham Nash is singing backing vocals on the song. If that’s the case, he might be able to sing in a higher register than Harket! But he doesn’t sound feminine. Totally agree about Nick Gilder, though. I found out he was a guy not long after the song came out - I saw a video or live performance and remember thinking what an ugly chick that was singing that song. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/56 "2009-05-25T05:15:34Z")
We took a friend of ours to see a Canadian band called Wide Mouth Mason whom he’d never heard of. At the show, surprisingly, he sang along with almost all of the songs! When asked he said knew all the songs from the radio but he thought they were sung by a girl!😃 …another vote for Nick Gilder! ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/57 "2009-05-25T08:12:18Z")
I am amazed that no one has mentioned Jon Anderson! ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/58 "2009-05-25T08:16:51Z")
Good one. Also, from the 80’s Christian Rock band Stryper, Michael Sweet. ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/59 "2009-05-25T12:20:01Z")
Randy Jackson from [Zebra](http://www.thedoor.com) really gets up there, but isn’t very feminine sounding, though. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/60 "2009-05-25T13:13:32Z")
I remember as a child being astonished to find out the Newbeats’s “Bread and Butter” was sung by a guy. [Larry Henley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Henley) and I just found out he co-wrote Wind Beneath My Wings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452.md?page=4)