# Singers with speech impediments **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2007, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654 "2007-11-16T06:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/1 "2007-11-16T06:30:55Z")
In every interview I’ve seen with Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he seems to have a noticeable lisp. (It is not as apparent in his singing.) Are there any other singers who have lisps or other speech impediments? ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/2 "2007-11-16T07:28:28Z")
Well, there’s Mel Tillis. Terrible stutter, but you don’t hear it at all when he sings. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/3 "2007-11-16T07:34:36Z")
[Linda Thompson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Thompson_%28singer%29). She suffer(ed/s?) from hysterical/spasmodic dysphonia. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/4 "2007-11-16T07:35:02Z")
Tommy Shaw of Styx has one that I’d never heard until their live album from a year or two ago. It’s not apparent on any of the old catalogue Styx albums where he sang lead. He has bad problems with sibilants. It sort of makes you wonder how they disguised it for all those years. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/5 "2007-11-16T07:57:53Z")
I read the thread title and thought, “that guy from Red Hot Chilli Peppers!” Because I found the lisp \*very \*noticeable on ‘Under the Bridge’, though none of my friends did. Apart from strong brogues from some celtic groups, which is more accent than impediment, I got nuthin’. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/6 "2007-11-16T08:49:56Z")
Thom Rapp of '60s acid folkies Pearls Before Swine (and later a solo artist) has a very strong lisp. John Wetton of King Crimson/Asia sometimes seems to sing with a lisp, but I’ve never been quite sure if it’s him or just the way his voice is recorded. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/7 "2007-11-16T09:02:23Z")
[Gareth Gates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Gates) was the runner up in the first UK series of Pop Idol. He had a very severe stammer, now overcome via the McGuire program. When he was interviewed/questioned during the show, it really was very difficult. But he could sing, and deserved to get to the final. His career since then has been less than spectacular, mostly involving a really poor choice of material and acquaintances (Jordan :smack: ). His interviewing since 2004 has been great, but you can still hear the _catch_ as he copes with the stammer. I have a lot of respect for him as a person, but I don’t like his music. Si ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/8 "2007-11-16T11:05:05Z")
Bob Dylan? I’m serious. I really think the guy is tone-deaf and if you’ve ever heard him live, I’d bet you would agree. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/9 "2007-11-16T11:11:06Z")
But tone-deafness isn’t a speech impediment. Unless maybe you’re trying to speak Vietnamese or something. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/10 "2007-11-16T12:04:12Z")
I’m with **maggenpye**. I’ve _always_ heard Keidis’ lisp very clearly in his singing. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/11 "2007-11-16T12:36:09Z")
I think **Mick Jones** of **The Clash** had some kind of lisp thing going on. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/12 "2007-11-16T13:40:17Z")
**Richard Carpenter’s** lisp is pretty pronounced. You can hear it on the chorus of “We’ve only just begun”. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/13 "2007-11-16T13:53:25Z")
Cookie Monster? Not only is he a singer himself (“C is for Cookie, That’s Good Enough For Me”), he has inspired dozens of death metal vocalists. ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/14 "2007-11-16T14:28:03Z")
[QUOTE=eulalia] Well, there’s Mel Tillis. Terrible stutter, but you don’t hear it at all when he sings. [/QUOTE] My impression about Mel is that he really plays it up for humorous effect when he’s on a talk show. Years ago I saw him being interviewed about a serious subject (I think it was about the death of some other musician) and his speech wasn’t nearly so bad. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-with-speech-impediments/426654/15 "2007-11-16T17:18:48Z")
John Fogerty has a bit of a lisp. Richard Thompson was a stutterer who managed to mostly get over it, but he retains the odd facial quirks (especially very pronounced blinking) common to many former stutterers. And apparently he still stutters at times, especially on the phone.