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).
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.
People do. Check out Priestess, for example.
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.
OK, pop instead of rock, but
Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
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
I was shocked to find out, years later, that Chris Montez, the singer of 1960s hits Call Me and The More I See You, was a male.
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!
David Surkamp’s voice (from the band Pavlov’s Dog) is like Geddy Lee’s, only more so.
Geddy Lee
Robert Plant
Sebastian Bach
Dan McCafferty (Nazareth)
I was gonna say Coheed and Cambria. The guy sounds indistinguishable from a girl to me.
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.
Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind & Fire and Easy Lover (duet with Phil Collins) fame. His falsetto is legendary, particularly in several EWF numbers.
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.
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.
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!
I am amazed that no one has mentioned Jon Anderson!
Good one.
Also, from the 80’s Christian Rock band Stryper, Michael Sweet.
Randy Jackson from Zebra really gets up there, but isn’t very feminine sounding, though.
I remember as a child being astonished to find out the Newbeats’s “Bread and Butter” was sung by a guy. Larry Henley and I just found out he co-wrote Wind Beneath My Wings.