# Who's the worst famous singer? Who really sucks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235 "2005-08-09T04:04:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/21 "2005-08-09T06:36:58Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > Englebert Humperdinck always struck me as a pretty crappy singer. He’s dead now, you know. Not really. [nods] ---
**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:** [August 9, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/22 "2005-08-09T06:38:27Z")
Tom Waits. Like Dylan, has a following that thinks all he does is wonderful, but to the uninitiated one is left pondering - who told him he could sing? ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/23 "2005-08-09T07:06:07Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Ridiculous. You may hate Celine Dion - I sure do - but it’s preposterous to say she can’t sing. She can certainly carry a tune and has great control and projection. > > Paula Abdul, I thought, was a pretty logial choice; she never really could sing, and what you hear in her songs was very heavily fixed up electronically to sound good. Jennifer Lopez is the same thing. Avril Lavigne is an infamously inept singer live whose voice sounds mysteriously fixed up in recordings. Bob Dylan, say no more. > > A choice I’d throw out that hadn’t been picked yet is ghe guy who heads up Green Day. Jesus. Yes, Dion may have projection and control, but there is something about her voice which I cannot stand. Every time I think it’s finished grating on my nerves, it takes a barbecue brush and continues scrubbing harder. Her music is cheesy and hackneyed. And my mother plays it very, very often. Now, Green Day on the other hand, _that_ I’ll agree with you on. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/24 "2005-08-09T09:22:55Z")
From what I can tell most of you all just seem to be choosing singers you don’t like, or otherwise annoy you. Dick Dale, for instance, is someone who truly can’t sing. Heck, even his attempts to just grunt clashes with what he’s playing. Actually feel sorry for the fellow–if he’d been able to sing even a little, he probably would have been 20 times more famous. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/25 "2005-08-09T11:49:35Z")
Listening to Joni Mitchell sing Big Yellow Taxi is like fingernails down a chalkboard. At least to me. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/26 "2005-08-09T12:01:28Z")
Michael Bolton. Esp. when he took on opera. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/27 "2005-08-09T12:06:24Z")
The guy in **The Jesus and Mary Chain** couldn’t sing his way out of a paper bag. Same goes for the guy in **Birdland**. The guy in **Cake** and Fred from the **B-52s** have a similar somewhat atonal style. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/28 "2005-08-09T12:13:49Z")
[Florence Foster Jenkins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Foster_Jenkins) . (Though Jenkins _did_ have one concert at Carnegie Hall, which sold out. And her [recordings are still in print.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003F97/qid=1119059395/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-7648669-5211153)) What do _I_ win? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/29 "2005-08-09T12:14:53Z")
Oh, sorry, probably not famous or “serious” enough. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/30 "2005-08-09T13:16:12Z")
Nick Cave, like many mentioned here, is not a GOOD singer, but he & they have a certain character to their voice that make it listenable. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/31 "2005-08-09T13:19:06Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > From what I can tell most of you all just seem to be choosing singers you don’t like, or otherwise annoy you. > Dick Dale, for instance, is someone who truly can’t sing. Heck, even his attempts to just grunt clashes with what he’s playing. Actually feel sorry for the fellow–if he’d been able to sing even a little, he probably would have been 20 times more famous. “Miiiiister Peppermint Maaaaaaaaaan!” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/32 "2005-08-09T13:19:29Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > [Florence Foster Jenkins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Foster_Jenkins) . (Though Jenkins _did_ have one concert at Carnegie Hall, which sold out. And her [recordings are still in print.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003F97/qid=1119059395/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-7648669-5211153)) > > What do _I_ win? 😃 You win my admiration for listing this cow. Darlene Edwards (Jo Stafford) at least had tongue in cheek (making the singing rather difficult) when she tried to outdo FFJ. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/33 "2005-08-09T13:34:00Z")
My local radio station was able to electronically isolate Linda McCartney’s voice from a Wing’s concert. Good grief, was it ever horribly off key and shrill! I was positively embarrassed for her. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/34 "2005-08-09T13:35:10Z")
Neil Diamond _might_ have an inoffensive singing voice if he didn’t have so many annoying mannerisms. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/35 "2005-08-09T13:37:20Z")
Coincidentally, **The Loud Family** had a CD called [The Tape Of Only Linda](http://www.loudfamily.com/ttool.html)…nothing to do with Linda McCartney herself, but a hilarious album title. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/36 "2005-08-09T13:39:31Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > My local radio station was able to electronically isolate Linda McCartney’s voice from a Wing’s concert. Good grief, was it ever horribly off key and shrill! I was positively embarrassed for her. There was (may still be) an internet audio file of that very clip! Horrible. The site also had Shatner’s abomination about Lucy in the Sky. Worth searching for. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/37 "2005-08-09T13:43:24Z")
This would probably carry more weight if I knew his name, but, I nominate **the guy from Canned Heat**. He sings like Kermit the Frog with his genitals caught in a car door. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/38 "2005-08-09T16:00:16Z")
I would just like to point out that whether someone is a good or bad singer, and whether they have a good or bad voice, are two very different things. And that it’s not fair to call someone a bad singer just because they sing in a _style_ that you don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/39 "2005-08-09T16:18:09Z")
The screeching horror of the singer from Evanescence. I will never understand why people like her. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235/40 "2005-08-09T16:23:36Z")
Oh, how it pains me to say this, but **Gord Dow** nie of **The Tragically Hip**. They are my favorite band and he’s a fantastic singer to **watch** and I love their songs, but my friend’s brother doesn’t call them The Tragically Tonedeaf for nothing. I ignore the quality of his singing, as the rest of the music is kick-ass and more than makes up for it! He \*can \* scream, though. See them live. It’s a treat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-famous-singer-who-really-sucks/316235.md?page=3)