# Singers whose singing voices sound way different than their speaking voices **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293 "2010-01-17T05:38:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/21 "2010-01-18T10:44:42Z")
> [@rolandgunslinger](#): > > Mel Tillis. I got that, you know. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/22 "2010-01-18T13:01:26Z")
A lot of the classic metal screechers actually have normal speaking voices because their singing voices are this sort of nasal falsetto. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/23 "2010-01-18T14:22:24Z")
Rick Astley and Michael McDonald - white guys with soul voices. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/24 "2010-01-18T14:28:32Z")
I also thought of Jim Nabors right off. Thing is, with all the studio wizardry these days, how many singers these days _have_ to sound like themselves? How can we tell when someone’s voice is being electronically distorted or enhanced? I would venture there’s a lot more singers today that sing differently than they speak then there ever was. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/25 "2010-01-18T14:48:38Z")
Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins has a speaking voice that sounds nothing like his singing. Although his nasal screech works well in the context of SP, I sometimes wonder what he could do if he sang using his normal voice. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Real\_Regency\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@The\_Real\_Regency\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Real_Regency_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/26 "2010-01-18T15:15:52Z")
Joe Elliot from Def Leppard has a VERY deep (and rather soothing) speaking voice. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/27 "2010-01-18T16:49:53Z")
> [@BomTek](#): > > Was John Mayer around the pop scene before Dave Matthews? I thought it was the other way around, but I don’t really like pop that much. I was talking about more examples for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/28 "2010-01-18T17:19:32Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Rick Astley and Michael McDonald - white guys with soul voices. When those phone company (AT&T, maybe) commercials came out that had Michael McDonald singing on them, my husband happened to be home on a day off when he saw one for the first time. He E-mailed me (at work), “Michael McDonald is white?!” This from a guy who liked the music of the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and McDonald’s solo work, mind you. It took me a few minutes to reply because I was laughing so hard. I was going to nominate the lead singer of [Opeth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opeth), but that’s a cheat. He does mostly very low, growled vocals, but has a rather lovely “clean” tenor singing voice when he chooses to use it, like on their _Damnation_ album. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/29 "2010-01-18T17:45:08Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > When those phone company (AT&T, maybe) commercials came out that had Michael McDonald singing on them, my husband happened to be home on a day off when he saw one for the first time. He E-mailed me (at work), “Michael McDonald is white?!” This from a guy who liked the music of the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and McDonald’s solo work, mind you. It took me a few minutes to reply because I was laughing so hard. > > I was going to nominate the lead singer of [Opeth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opeth), but that’s a cheat. He does mostly very low, growled vocals, but has a rather lovely “clean” tenor singing voice when he chooses to use it, like on their _Damnation_ album. Michael McDonald is not, and never has been, in Steely Dan. Or did I misinterpret something here? Anyway, let me be the first to say that Ozzy is a phenomenal rock singer, IMHO. But the guy can’t even speak in coherent sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/30 "2010-01-18T17:56:34Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Michael McDonald is not, and never has been, in Steely Dan. Or did I misinterpret something here? [Wiki disagrees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_McDonald_(singer)), although it does say “adjunct member”: > [@](#): > > Michael McDonald first gained wide attention as an adjunct member of the group Steely Dan, providing back-up vocals on tracks for 1975’s _Katy Lied_. He would return on subsequent Steely Dan recordings including 1976’s \*The Royal Scam \*as well as both “Peg” and “I Got the News” from the 1977 album _Aja_. He also played keyboards on some Steely Dan tracks. McDonald continued to do background vocals for Steely Dan up to their 1980 release, _Gaucho_. He also was a member of the final incarnation of the early '70s Steely Dan touring band, playing keyboards/piano and singing backup. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/31 "2010-01-18T18:06:17Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > [Wiki disagrees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_McDonald_(singer)), although it does say “adjunct member”: Yeah, he wasn’t a major member, but apparently helped enough that I thought somewhere, along the way, my dear husband might have seen Michael McDonald identified as such. Nope. Not until a commercial not that long ago - Googling around I see it was apparently for MCI in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![gang\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@gang\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gang_green)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/32 "2010-01-18T18:09:10Z")
Over 30 posts and nobody has mentioned Susan Boyle? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/33 "2010-01-18T18:43:37Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > [Wiki disagrees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_McDonald_(singer)), although it does say “adjunct member”: I did not know that. I suppose I should have Googled it instead of jumping to conclusions. Sorry. Apologies to **Ferret Herder.** ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/34 "2010-01-18T18:47:34Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I did not know that. I suppose I should have Googled it instead of jumping to conclusions. Sorry. > > Apologies to **Ferret Herder.** No need, it surprised the hell out of me when I first learned it, too. And, I was unclear in how I presented the information. ---
**Author:** ![Coalcracker0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b38774/32.png) [@Coalcracker0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coalcracker0)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/35 "2010-01-19T02:01:19Z")
Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/36 "2010-01-19T02:19:17Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I got that, you know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/37 "2010-01-19T04:03:56Z")
> [@rolandgunslinger](#): > > Mel Tillis. > [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I got that, you know. ??? ---
**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 19, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/38 "2010-01-19T04:13:05Z")
Kristin Chenoweth. Her speaking voice is squeaky (she refers to it as a “chipmunk voice”), but her singing voice is very clear and strong (at least, unless she’s trying to make it squeaky). ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/39 "2010-01-19T04:13:33Z")
Eric Clapton. When he talks, he sounds like the Brit he is, but when he sings, he sounds like he could be from over here in the colonies. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293/40 "2010-01-19T05:28:12Z")
Any number of Scot singers: Edwyn Collins, Jim Kerr, Stuart Adamson… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-whose-singing-voices-sound-way-different-than-their-speaking-voices/525293.md?page=3)