# Singers whose singing voice sounds nothing like their speaking voice **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977 "2019-02-04T23:07:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/1 "2019-02-04T23:07:03Z")
Adam Levine Bruce Springsteen ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/2 "2019-02-04T23:23:59Z")
Jim Nabors ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/3 "2019-02-04T23:25:16Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Jim Nabors That’s the one that immediately springs to mind, although I assume that his normal speaking voice was a lot less extreme than his Gomer Pyle character. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/4 "2019-02-04T23:27:29Z")
Every death metal vocalist that has ever existed, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/5 "2019-02-04T23:55:42Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > That’s the one that immediately springs to mind, although I assume that his normal speaking voice was a lot less extreme than his Gomer Pyle character. Seems to me that “Lugs” in _Stroker Ace_ is close to his normal speaking voice. I searching for that scene of him singing and Burt poking fun but couldn’t find it online. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/6 "2019-02-05T00:05:31Z")
Ozzy. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/7 "2019-02-05T01:15:25Z")
Sting. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/8 "2019-02-05T01:16:03Z")
Shirley Manson ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/9 "2019-02-05T01:55:54Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > That’s the one that immediately springs to mind, although I assume that his normal speaking voice was a lot less extreme than his Gomer Pyle character. I saw an interview with him where he said that although as as an actor he had trained himself to not sound southern, Gomer was just a slight exaggeration of his “normal” speaking voice. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/10 "2019-02-05T01:57:51Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Adam Levine > Bruce Springsteen Springsteen? I would have thought the topic was _Singers whose singing voice sounds exactly the same as their speaking voice._ ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/11 "2019-02-05T02:43:11Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Springsteen? I would have thought the topic was _Singers whose singing voice sounds exactly the same as their speaking voice._ I am basing that on an [interview I heard on NPR](https://www.npr.org/2016/10/05/496639696/bruce-springsteen-on-jersey-masculinity-and-wishing-to-be-his-stage-persona) (Fresh Air) where I listened for at least five minutes before I realized who it was, out of context. If you hear him talk between songs at a concert (I have never seen him live) I suppose it sounds like his singing voice but in this interview, not at all. I’m not going to put a line in the sand on this, I may be in the minority. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/12 "2019-02-05T03:02:19Z")
Tiny Tim ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/13 "2019-02-05T03:02:28Z")
Frankie Valli [singing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pWBnodrR1M) and [speaking](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YRnVFu_O_M) ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/14 "2019-02-05T03:21:46Z")
Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) - sings in a nasally, whiny tone. Actually has a fairly deep, more sedate speaking tone. Slightly related: I always thought Steven Tyler from Aerosmith sounded COMPLETELY different in “Dream On” versus any other song I’ve heard from them. And it’s good, too! ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/15 "2019-02-05T03:25:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Frankie Valli [singing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pWBnodrR1M) and [speaking](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YRnVFu_O_M) Thanks for that link! Great tumble down memory lane! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/16 "2019-02-05T03:32:36Z")
> [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](#): > > Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) - sings in a nasally, whiny tone. Actually has a fairly deep, more sedate speaking tone. Huh. I thought of him for a second, but I think his speaking voice is actually pretty close to his singing voice. There’s no “how does that guy make those sounds while singing” type of reaction from me. The one that first comes to me, for whatever reason, is Steve Perry. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/17 "2019-02-05T03:42:36Z")
Dylan. You listen to the Bootleg series and he speaks before the music starts and you go “Who’s that? The sound engineer?” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/18 "2019-02-05T04:00:25Z")
The Mongolian guy on The World’s Best. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/19 "2019-02-05T04:00:32Z")
Reaching back a bit, but the first person to come to my mind is Michel’le. Her big hit [No More Lies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1_CZusajb0) from 1989 has both her speaking and singing voices on display. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977/20 "2019-02-05T12:54:07Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > Reaching back a bit, but the first person to come to my mind is Michel’le. Her big hit [No More Lies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1_CZusajb0) from 1989 has both her speaking and singing voices on display. Thanks for reminding me of that song 🙂 My first thought, which has already been mentioned, is Jim Nabors. But, I think [this guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ) probably qualifies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voice-sounds-nothing-like-their-speaking-voice/828977.md?page=2)