# Singers who sound like... other singers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059 "2012-01-29T04:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [January 29, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/1 "2012-01-29T04:42:54Z")
Everyone knows that Ripper Owens sounds just like Rob Halford (at least in certain ranges). My jaw dropped tonight when I heard a Helloween song for the first time, and realized that the band’s second singer Michael Kiske sounds like he’s lip syncing to Geoff Tate from Queensryche. [Apparently I’m not the only one who thought so](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ge6xFOB9rg&feature=watch_response_rev) (skip ahead to 0’30"). You can hear the whole Helloween song that clip is from [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu_laO2TvOE). I have every Queensryche record up to the 2000s and I would have bet my house it was Tate singing that song. [Here’s the full version of the Queensryche song, The Warning](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBlpE3ZuNZ0); not one of their best songs, but a good vehicle for showing off Tate’s voice. So, any others? ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/2 "2012-01-29T04:49:53Z")
On, “A Horse with No Name”, by _America_, to many people, the singer sounded like Neil Young. > **[A Horse with No Name | Reception](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Horse_with_No_Name#Reception)** > > Despite the song being banned by some U.S. radio stations because of supposed drug references to heroin use ("horse" is a common slang term for heroin), the song ascended to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and the album quickly reached platinum status. The song charted earlier in Ireland (reaching number 4), the Netherlands (reaching number 11) and the UK (reaching number 3, the band's only Top 40 hit in the country) than it did in the United States. > The song's resemblance to some of N... ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/3 "2012-01-29T08:18:27Z")
Ronnie Lane sounds a lot like Bob Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/4 "2012-01-29T13:06:29Z")
_[1985](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vos-mjUWgGw)_-Bowling For Soup Sounds like Weird Al. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/5 "2012-01-29T22:05:07Z")
I remember playing the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack for someone when it was pretty much brand new, and when Tim Blake Nelson sang In The Jailhouse Now, they swore it was Merle Haggard. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/6 "2012-01-29T22:14:20Z")
It took me years to find out the difference between the lead singer of Journey and Rod Stewart. I probably still couldn’t tell if you had me listen to a song that I had never heard before ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/7 "2012-01-29T22:45:29Z")
There are lots of copycat bands. For example, the singing and music on [Camouflage’s “The Great Commandment”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXODGahChBM) sounds very close to Depeche Mode. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/8 "2012-01-29T22:59:15Z")
Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel Bonn Scott always sounded like he was imitating Steve Marriot (Humble Pie). Some people confused Rindy Ross (Quarterflash) with Pat Benatar. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/9 "2012-01-29T23:01:29Z")
I know a lot of people thought (and still think) that [Stuck In The Middle With You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DohRa9lsx0Q) is sung by Bob Dylan. I’m not sure if that’s what Gerry was going for though, his other songs don’t sound like that. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/10 "2012-01-29T23:01:54Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > On, “A Horse with No Name”, by _America_, to many people, the singer sounded like Neil Young. > [A Horse with No Name - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Horse_with_No_Name#Reception) And no matter how many times I’m told it’s not Neil Young, it remains that way in my memory. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/11 "2012-01-29T23:04:25Z")
I’ve occasionally mistaken Tom Petty for Bob Dylan, except that you can actually understand what he’s singing. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/12 "2012-01-29T23:24:11Z")
The first few times I heard “The Waiting” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, I was convinced it was an old Byrds song (Roger McQuinn). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/13 "2012-01-30T01:38:11Z")
Sometimes Harry Connick Jr. sounds like a sloppy Frank Sinatra. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/14 "2012-01-30T03:37:02Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > On, “A Horse with No Name”, by _America_, to many people, the singer sounded like Neil Young. > [A Horse with No Name - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Horse_with_No_Name#Reception) I loved the Napster days, when random kids would have to label their songs for sharing. A lot of America was labelled “Neil”; every Motown song was “Temptations” or “Supremes”; every parody song was “Weird Al”; you even had Van Morrison songs labelled “Dylan” (huh?) _“Wow, I didn’t know Dylan covered “Caravan”… THIS I’ve gotta hear…Oh.”_ Now, Dire Straits maybe… Knopfler can be Dylanesque (esp after he produced and played on Bob’s _Long Train Running_). Take a listen to [Romeo and Juliet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-G-GHTFoX4). ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/15 "2012-01-30T04:51:33Z")
Jamiroquai sounds like Stevie Wonder to me, but just in a coincindental way. OTOH, Scott Stapp’s deliberate Eddie Vedder imitation is just pathetic. Mmmmyyaarrrrlllll. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/16 "2012-01-30T04:52:17Z")
I think Trisha Yearwood often sounds like Linda Ronstadt (and has covered some of the same songs, as well as citing Ronstadt as an influence). I like them both, so the similarity is pleasant to me. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/17 "2012-01-30T05:06:51Z")
First few times I heard Adele singing _Rolling in the Deep_, I thought: “Nice K.T. Tunstall tune. I was wondering what she’d been up to.” ---
**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:** [January 30, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/18 "2012-01-30T05:16:16Z")
Rumer sounds like Karen Carpenter. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/19 "2012-01-30T07:08:03Z")
On the first Counting Crows album, lead singer Adam Duritz sounded like Van Morrison. On the group’s second album, he mostly stopped being a Van Morrison imitator. However, he now sounded like he was channeling Jackson Browne. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/20 "2012-01-30T12:27:17Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > It took me years to find out the difference between the lead singer of Journey and Rod Stewart. > > I probably still couldn’t tell if you had me listen to a song that I had never heard before Really? Most people would characterize Steve Perry’s voice as “clear, almost Broadway-trained”, and Rod Stewart’s as “smoky and raw”. (But if you hear a similarity, that’s cool.) Back in the early 80s, there was a singer named Kim Carnes who had one hit, “Bettye Davis Eyes”…now _she_ sounded like Rod Stewart, as many observed at the time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059.md?page=2)