# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/61 "2009-05-25T13:19:57Z")
Question: Are female singers who sing in a lower register more likely to be percieved as masculine, than male singers who sing in a higher register are to be percieed as feminine? This thread might lead one to make that conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/62 "2009-05-25T13:27:10Z")
Suprised no one has mentioned [Geoff Tate](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQeitJiBDlA). ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/63 "2009-05-25T13:29:45Z")
Psst, did anybody mention the Bee Gees? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/64 "2009-05-25T14:46:18Z")
I wouldn’t characterize Chris Isaak’s sound as feminine (despite the flamingo suit), [but he does have a kickin’ falsetto](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uw4V5yt1-w). ---
**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, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/65 "2009-05-25T15:02:16Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > Psst, did anybody mention the Bee Gees? Yes, they were already mentioned. How about… David Gates from Bread C. J. Snare from Firehouse Joey Tempest from Europe /hijack - What about the other way around? For example, “High School Confidential” by Rough Trade, I remember being shocked when I finally saw Carol Pope was the lead singer!? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/66 "2009-05-25T16:30:34Z")
Definitely not feminine sounding but Rob Halford from Judas Priest and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden were both well known for a pretty wide range going up into the high notes. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/67 "2009-05-25T17:51:32Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > Psst, did anybody mention the Bee Gees? I never thought that the Bee Gees (or Frankie Valli, for that matter) sounded particularly feminine – they did sing really high, but did not sound like women, in my opinion. Robert John, who had a big hit in 1979 with “Sad Eyes” (he also did a great cover of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in 1972), sounded a bit more feminine when he got into falsetto register. And I agree with many other posters about Nick Gilder – he definitely had a “girly” vocal style! ---
**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:** [May 25, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/68 "2009-05-25T18:16:17Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > Are female singers who sing in a lower register more likely to be percieved as masculine, than male singers who sing in a higher register are to be percieed as feminine?. Outside of Tracy Chapman, I don’t think so. There was a female country singer, though, whose name I never learned, who had an extremely low voice. To my knowledge I only ever heard one song by her, and I thought it was a man. The song went like this: _Jose Cuervo, you are a friend of mine I like to drink you with a little salt and lime_ and thinking it was a man singing, I was really confused by the lines that said, _Did I kiss all the cowboys? Did I shoot out the lights? Did I dance on the bar? Did I start any fights?_ I finally came to the conclusion it was a woman, as I couldn’t see country radio stations in the '80s playing a song about a man getting drunk on tequila and kissing all the other men 😃 As for male singers with high voices, the most impressive I’ve ever heard is Eric Adams, vocalist for metal band Manowar. But he sounds distinctly masculine doing it. [Mountains](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juHuFWMXfag) (gotta hear the whole song to appreciate it). ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/69 "2009-05-25T20:02:52Z")
Listen to the Raspberries. Eric Carmen wins this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/70 "2009-05-25T20:27:03Z")
For a long time as a kid I thought that “I’m the only one” by Melissa Etheridge was sung by Journey. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/71 "2009-05-25T20:46:33Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Limahl, the former lead singer for Kajagoogoo. He doesn’t always sound effeminate, but when the theme song from _The NeverEnding Story_ was on the radio, I would have sworn it was sung by a woman. Seeing his face on an album cover was a shock. This was what I was going to mention. I’ve heard this song since the movie came out when I was a kid and just found out it was a woman maybe three weeks ago. My mind was blown. For fun, the reason I discovered it was sung by a man was because I looked up Limahl after chancing upon this [beauty](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASkfs_dBgd4&feature=channel_page) of a cover. This guy has like 400+ covers and they’re all equally… fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/72 "2009-05-26T00:53:18Z")
Larry Gowan, who now sings lead with Styx, has a voice that’s up there a bit. Not feminine sounding, but he can belt 'em out there. And they don’t call Bruce Dickenson “The Air Raid Siren” for nothin’🆒 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/73 "2009-05-26T12:02:41Z")
Dennis DeYoung, who used to front Styx. He had a soaring, high voice\*. More androgynous than feminine, but what the hell… \*IMS, he had some classical training and then pursued a rock career. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/74 "2009-05-26T13:33:33Z")
Speaking of fighting ignorance, I didn’t till now know that Jackie Blue was sung by a guy. > [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > 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.) Have you heard anything from The Second Stage Turbine Blade from Co&Ca? He sings so high on certain tracks, and in a noticably affected way, that I believe he is _trying_ to sing like a woman to fit the character portrayed in the songs. Yet he _still_ doesn’t sound like a girl, and thankfully they grew out of that after that album. ---
**Author:** ![mrpayday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@mrpayday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrpayday)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/75 "2009-05-26T14:00:31Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Me too. > > And I never thought Nick Gilder sounded like a woman. He doesn’t sound remotely feminine to me. > > Frankie Lymon got pretty high, too. But as someone else noted, I don’t think most of these male singers, despite being able to sing high pitches, sound like women. Well Frankie Lymon was a teenager at the time but I’ll concede that he got very, very high. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/76 "2009-05-26T15:19:05Z")
Cedric Bixler-Zavala? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1T9eMKxjiLc/hqdefault.jpg "The Mars Volta - Tetragrammaton (live) - part 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T9eMKxjiLc) He can get to a pretty high register, but I don’t think his voice is particularly feminine. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/77 "2009-05-26T15:24:52Z")
Geoff Tate from Queensryche doesn’t have a high voice, but does have some very high notes in his range, as shown pretty early on here: [http://www.last.fm/music/Queensrÿche/\_/Queen+of+the+Reich](http://www.last.fm/music/Queensr%C3%BFche/_/Queen+of+the+Reich). His voice is by far the most unique in rock, for my money. ETA: I see **Crafter\_Man** beat me to it! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/78 "2009-05-26T15:54:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Geoff Tate from Queensryche doesn’t have a high voice, but does have some very high notes in his range, as shown pretty early on here: [http://www.last.fm/music/Queensrÿche/\_/Queen+of+the+Reich](http://www.last.fm/music/Queensr%C3%BFche/_/Queen+of+the+Reich). His voice is by far the most unique in rock, for my money. This is probably only the 2nd Queensryche song I’ve heard, after silent lucidity (and I actually quite like it btw.) Sound a lot like Bruce Dickinson and Tobias Sammet to me, though. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/79 "2009-05-26T15:55:52Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > There was a female country singer, though, whose name I never learned, who had an extremely low voice. To my knowledge I only ever heard one song by her, and I thought it was a man. The song went like this: > > _Jose Cuervo, you are a friend of mine > I like to drink you with a little salt and lime_ [Shelly West](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelly_West), daughter of country legend Dottie West. She had a few other hits, but that song was definitely her claim to fame. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452/80 "2009-05-26T16:01:15Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > This is probably only the 2nd Queensryche song I’ve heard, after silent lucidity (and I actually quite like it btw.) Sound a lot like Bruce Dickinson and Tobias Sammet to me, though. _Queen of the Reich_ was the first Queensryche single, and they were basically going for an Iron Maiden instrumental sound at the time. They became much more progressive (and creative) later on. Lots of people have accused Tate of being a poor man’s Bruce Dickinson, but he was fronting Queensryche before Dickinson replaced Paul Dianno. Listen to _Take Hold of the Flame_ if you want a better representation of Tate’s normal sound. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-rock-singers-with-the-highest-or-most-feminine-voices/497452.md?page=5)