Actually, about what is R & R. But as I said I am willing to listen to arguments for other definitions.
I am inclined to count both Paul Rodgers and Robert Plant as R & R. Hey I am not making any great distinctions here. The question I asked is about the greatest R & R singer you have ever seen. Realizing this distinction might be hard to make in a lot of cases I gave everyone plenty of room. I gave a cutoff date of 1970 unless the work done after that is clearly derivative of those performers who preceded that date. I realize all of the Chess performers such as Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf etc. are strictly speaking blues based, but I would include them and any of their followers. I would include the Stray Cats and other derivatives of Rockabilly, or derivatives of Swamp Rock or DooWop or whatever. Too broad? Too narrow? Too uninteresting? Let it die. I was just curious who might have seen whom and who they thought was average, good, great or transcendent.
Count me in for Freddy. The motherf-ing range and power are unmatched.
Van Morrison tops my list too, but here’s some more that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing live not mentioned yet:
Jerry Lee Lewis
Peter Wolf
Southside Johnny
Ray Davies
Chrissie Hynde
Gregg Allman
Grace Slick.
That I saw live. Hm. Three chords, two fingers, one asshole.
Ladies and gentlemen, Joey Ramone was that asshole.
Now, you may quibble, as he played punk, but the punk he played was rock and roll.
I’m going with Bruce Springsteen. Best live show in R&R history, and still going strong.
Did see in person, and agree wholeheartedly.
The best rock and roll singer I ever saw live?
Roy Orbison, at the Austin Aqua Festival, a few months before he died. He looked ridiculous, but hit EVERY high note, and sounded absolutely magnificent.
Another vote for Freddie Mercury.
Stevie Winwood
Robin Zander of Cheap Trick has always been my favorite.
There used to be a time when I would join this thread with great enthusiasm.
… Now I’m reading it and thinking “there’s a difference between ‘rock’ and ‘rock and roll’?”
My answer: Bono. Because he doesn’t fit anything that the OP wants. 
I should have known “the greatest” wouldn’t be restricted to one choice.
The other two “the greatest rock and roll singer” I saw and heard in person:
John Lennon (with The Beatles, August 1965)
Linda Ronstadt (Stone Poneys, 1967)
Yeah, Linda Ronstadt is up there. I guess I prefer female voices.
Wow it’s refreshing as hell (even shocking) to bump into someone else who gets that “rock” and “rock n roll” are not interchangeable terms.
That said, Van Morrison rock n roll? I think not. And and pretty poor singer overall, actually. That said, I like a lot of his stuff.
Elvis is your winner, closely followed by McCartney, with Bob Seger a respectable third, tied with Rondstadt (who easily wins for female singer).
Really focusing on just “rock n roll singers” narrows it down a lot. Frankly many mentioned don’t qualify.
? Rock n roll is a subset of the broader “rock,” which also includes hard rock/metal, soft rock, southern rock, etc etc. Rock n roll didn’t “end” in the 60s. Seger in fact is a great example of that.
I can’t imagine why. Neither were. Also both quite overrated singers IMO. Rodgers can’t improvise or carry a note to save his life and Robert “I sing like I took way too much speed” Plant…puh-leez. Fingernails on a chalkboard.
At least nobody said Neil Young :rolleyes:
Roy Orbison is probably the most gifted but Freddy Mercury had so much… I can’t [del] easily [/del] put it into words.
Billy Squier has the same qualities as Mercury and reminds me of him in way’s I again can’t put into words. That would be one hell of a concert.