No takers for Aaron Neville? Looks like a longshoreman, sounds like a castrato.
Also, Jay Siegel of The Tokens, who sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
“I’m Going to Make You Love Me” by Diana Ross and the Supremes. Half of the verses are sung by Ms. Ross, the other half by one of the others. Ms. Ross’ voice is recognizable, but the other one sounds like a man singing falsetto.
Thought that was Smokey Robinson.
The guy from Air Supply
It’s Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations. That song is by the Supremes and the Temptations combined.
My husband and I are constantly having to delete YouTube comments for this video because it seems like every other one is of a “Wow, is that a dude?/Sounds like a guy/It’s a man, right?” nature with nothing else added to make the comment even partially worth reading. We just delete those now. The video got discovered by Bowie fans thanks to a Cat Power commercial and though most of the Comments are great, some people apparently only listened to the first few seconds before Commenting, because it sure doesn’t sound like a dude later in the song. The much better-sounding color version doesn’t get as many of those types of comments, but then, it doesn’t get as many hits either.
This song features both her very low and very high voice. This one too.
I mainly know Carole Pope from this song (“All Touch”) which got lots of play in MTV back in the olden days when they actually cared about music. I hadn’t heard “High School Confidential” until a few minutes ago. I like “All Touch” much better. I never thought she was a man, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if someone had told me she was a transvestite. Not that it mattered either way. She’s very cool.
Speaking of transvestites, it’s a running joke with HTR, and has been her entire career. Here’s a funny story she told in concert about being thought a transsexual (the story continues after the song).
a) This is the first one mentioned in this thread that I thought sounded like a girl.
b) It makes Bread and Butter a LOT less interesting.
The guy from **Simply Red **? *Holding Back The Years *is the song, I think S R’s the name of the band.
His voice is not just high but also feminine IMO.
Another from the other side of the coin: when I first heard Yazoo I had no idea the lead singer was a woman. Now I wish I could sing like Alison Moyet!
Err, what AqualungBats5th said but with a bonus link!
Nick Gilder (first I’ve heard of him) doesn’t sound like a woman, to me, but then, I’m a sucker for high-pitched, androgynous vocals. When I heard Russel Mael of Sparks sing for the first time at age 15, I was blown away. As ambiguous as it gets (couldn’t find ‘Equator’ on YouTube, which is the pinnacle of Mael’s vocals but below are two other classics):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hSldOricDE
Not a lead vocalist, but Sweet’s guitarist Andy Scott could reach incredible heights with his vocal harmony shrieks. Past Halford and Dickinson, I think, and very cool-sounding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1tMyVXpZmI (listen to the intro at 0:10)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUQscmCkM1g (chorus harmony starting at 0:40).
Phil Everly. No contest.
Haven’t read the whole thread, but how about the dude from Steelheart?
Whoever was the lead singer for German one-hit (barely) wonders Lake.
I gotta go with the one mentioned in the first response, Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups.
I think it’s really the two of them meeting in the middle, but Steven Tyler and Janis Joplin can sound very similar sometimes. There have been a few of her songs that I only recognized as hers only because I have a ton of Aerosmith and figured I’d know it if it were them.
Little Jimmy Scott.
Technically not a rock singer, but since he appears on a Lou Reed album, I’ve gotta toss him in.
Great choices so far. My pick whom I don’t believe has been named yet:
Timothy B. Schmidt, from the Eagles. For ages (before I knew it was an Eagles song) I thought I Can’t Tell You Why was sung by a woman. Fabulous song, too.
For an unknown (at least to most people): Drew Sarich. He actually has a heavier rock voice, but when he wants to, he can go angelic and delicate. An astonishing range.
These lyrics in the song TAXI by Harry Chapin are sung by a man. I swear. I saw him on American Bandstand.
Baby’s so high that she’s skying,
Yes she’s flying, afraid to fall.
I’ll tell you why baby’s crying,
Cause she’s dying, aren’t we all.
Unless maybe it was a bearded woman.
Mick Hucknall. I never thought of him as a woman, or as Black - I’ve heard people say this about him.
I agree with this.
This song, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xBZ3kjeG-A
And this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0yNiWOipIo