# 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:** 2
**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, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/21 "2012-01-30T12:28:39Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/22 "2012-01-30T12:46:12Z")
christina aguilera idolized Etta James and sounds a lot like her. Especially when she sings Etta’s hits. singing At Last – Etta’s Funeral [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aviEAI_NgYc/maxresdefault.jpg "Christina Aguilera at Etta James Funeral") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aviEAI_NgYc) ---
**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 30, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/23 "2012-01-30T13:03:16Z")
[LeAnn Rimes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbgPyws4-Wc&feature=related) sounds like [Patsy Cline](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tKcTIshuwQ&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/24 "2012-01-30T13:04:12Z")
Lea Michele is just now finding her own voice, at just about the same age good singers usually do. Up until now, her career has been one extended homage to Barbra Streisand. I think the glimpses I’m hearing are far better than Barbra, and I’m quite excited to hear what she matures into. (I saw her as Young Cosette when she was a wee little thing, so I have a bad case of Hipster Pride surrounding Lea. Go, Lea!) Lady Gaga, of course, is middle Madonna in vocal tone and singing style. Not as “bright” a young Madonna, not as smooth as elder Madonna, but nails that middle portion of her career when she was doing Vogue et al. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/25 "2012-01-30T14:14:58Z")
I remember when Dire Straits brought out _ **Sultans of Swing** _. Hearing it on the radio, I thought “Alright, Dylan’s back and he’s rockin now’!” ---
**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 30, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/26 "2012-01-30T14:22:30Z")
> [@digs](#): > > 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). > [@campp](#): > > I remember when Dire Straits brought out _ **Sultans of Swing** _. Hearing it on the radio, I thought “Alright, Dylan’s back and he’s rockin now’!” Weird. I always thought Mark Knopfler sounded like Chris Rea (and/or vice versa - I thought _Road to Hell_ was a Dire Straits song for years). > [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > Jamiroquai sounds like Stevie Wonder to me, but just in a coincindental way. Jamiroquai is a band. The singer’s name is Jay Kay. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/27 "2012-01-30T16:38:06Z")
Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters can sound a lot like Elton John. When I first heard Ben Harper I thought he sounded just like Cat Stevens, though I probably wouldn’t make the same comparison today knowing the catalog a little better. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/28 "2012-01-30T17:23:20Z")
I never thought Rod Stewart sounded anything like Steve Perry. Now, several people HAVE sounded like Rod Stewart, including Bonnie Tyler! And several guys have sounded like like Steve Perry, including Dave Bickler, who sang “Eye of the Tiger” with Survivor. And Tony Lewis, vocalist of the Outfield, always sounded a lot like Sting to me. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/29 "2012-01-30T17:53:54Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Sometimes Harry Connick Jr. sounds like a sloppy Frank Sinatra. Sometimes? I thought that was his schtick. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/30 "2012-01-30T17:56:37Z")
I think Russell Watson sounds exactly like Rod Stewart when singing Faith of the Heart, but that may have been by design. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/31 "2012-01-30T18:45:21Z")
They don’t sound exactly alike, but when I first heard Adele and Duffy on the radio I though, “Oh, I suppose they’re hedging their Amy Winehouse bets.” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/32 "2012-01-30T19:53:50Z")
> [@digs](#): > > 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.”_ Yeah, a lot of stuff was mislabeled “Kate Bush”. Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue’s song [“Where The Wild Roses Grow”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPmJYt1QgbY) by someone who apparently couldn’t believe that Kylie would sing a murder ballad with Nick Cave. J-Pop singer Sandii of _[Sandii and the Sunsetz](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEZSpj5R5L4)_ really seemed to be consciously imitating Kate in both vocal and visual style. More amusingly, [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ziLXJQPpF0) by a female singer was mislabeled as a _duet_ between Kate Bush and Annie Lennox. I presume _[The New Radicals](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7-CKirWZE)_ send Todd Rundgren half of their royalties. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/33 "2012-01-30T20:37:43Z")
David Sylvian has always sounded like a slightly slowed-down Bryan Ferry. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/34 "2012-01-30T20:42:00Z")
Despite their different genres, I always thought that Garth Brooks and Chris Gaines sounded similar. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/35 "2012-01-30T21:53:09Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’ve occasionally mistaken Tom Petty for Bob Dylan, except that you can actually understand what he’s singing. > [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > 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). I can see both of these. It amused me greatly when Petty and the Heartbreakers toured with Dylan in the mid-80s (and then Dylan and Petty were together in the Traveling Wilburys)…get all your nasal flat rock singers in one place! 😃 > [@Simmerdown](#): > > Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters can sound a lot like Elton John. I’ve heard someone describe Scissor Sisters’ “Take Your Mama” as “the best Elton John song which Elton John didn’t actually do”. I have always thought that, on “Levon” (particularly on the choruses), Elton John sounds an awful lot like Cher. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/36 "2012-01-30T22:04:30Z")
When I first heard “Never Gonna Give You Up”, I thought it was by [Teddy Pendergrass](http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/7b9028d16fedbd7620de50ace680916d/102058.jpg). Er, no, it was by [Rick Astley](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9b/Rickastleyposter.jpg/220px-Rickastleyposter.jpg) who looks _nothing_ like Teddy. 😃 ---
**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 30, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/37 "2012-01-30T22:39:12Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > Despite their different genres, I always thought that Garth Brooks and Chris Gaines sounded similar. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/38 "2012-01-31T18:45:31Z")
Last week I had an argument with my boyfriend about whether “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” was by Trace Adkins or Toby Keith. I swore Toby Keith sang it because clearly this was the same guy who sang “I Wanna Talk About Me.” I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/39 "2012-01-31T19:12:03Z")
Susan Tedeschi with a [Janis Joplin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xigwtXcrXBA) edge. And then using [Bonnie Raitt](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlcP3FOTM0U) flavor sounding like [herself](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXvinNxNPiE) ---
**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:** [January 31, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059/40 "2012-01-31T20:44:29Z")
Every 1980s male English pop singer that came out after Duran Duran sounded just like the singer from Duran Duran. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-who-sound-like-other-singers/611059.md?page=3)