Which Singer Has Fallen The Farthest Since Their Glory Days?

This is from Reddit. Great question, but dumb premise arguing that people like Jon Bon Jovi and Axl Rose don't have strong voices anymore. Hogwash on that.

For my money, I'd say Vince Neil and Paul Stanley have vocally fallen the farthest, although neither were ever great technical singers. Glam is more about the entire package and both had it in their respective heydays.

There for awhile, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard was struggling but he's seemed to turn a corner. Def Lep is always fun live and still enjoys playing to large crowds. All those hit records help!

Probably the biggest vocal fall of them all goes to Stephen Pearcy of RATT. Agree?

Which singer has fallen the farthest since their glory days? from r/hairmetal

Comments

[Gary]

Don Dokken’s voice has definitely gone “into the fire” over the years.

[Bkallday]

Steven Tyler has never been great but it's worst than ever, now. Not only that but he can't decide whether he wants to be a rocker or a country bumpkin! Not to mention, he looks like a tranny at times, these days.

[crued]

@metalboy,Him,Bkallday think his voice is diminished?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOSMx94pzJQ&t=0s&list=FLZD6skETk7ev5qH1vwfgVYQ&index=16

[crued]

sorry here's a current version boys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxYvNIcDO74

[crued]

Question? has Rob Halford's voice diminished?

[crued]

I don't know if you guys do twitter but David Coverdale is pretty funny on it from time to time

[Anhony]

I would say Paul Stanley because you have to actually be able to sing well in order to fall. Having seen Stephen Pearcy at the height of Ratt's glory, I can say with confidence that he was NEVER any good so to say he's fallen is a reach. Same with Vince Neil. Jon Bon Jovi has certainly lost a step or two which he seems to have solved by going more of the country route.

[Bob]

Anhony is square on the money. Paul stanley did have a good voice back in the day, and now, he can bearly croak out a note. He easily has fallen the farthest vocally.

[CanadianMetal]

I can agree on much of the original post , but the line about Paul Stanley never being a great singer , is total BULLSHIT :

He was awesome in the 70's and got even better as a singer in the 80's and 90's .

When I saw him perform during his long lead run in Phantom Of The Opera , he sounded fantastic and got a standing ovation for his technical singing prowess.

The decline in his singing in the past decade , should not diminish the memory of the amazing ability he had shown for decades. Even with the relentless touring and recording cycles that KISS did , just their first 2 decades alone would have killed the average non superhuman singer.

As a comparison : in THREE decades Motley put out 8 Albums (with Vince)

And Paul in just ONE decade 74-83 put out the 12 + album and kicked ass all the tours In between.

[Gary]

@crued Thanks for that. 😎 Dare I say that the his current version of The Snake is right there in talent with the Sykes version in sheer musical talent? Ain't a weak link in that chain in the Still of the Night video you posted. Can I just say that Tommy Aldridge never freaking ages. Guys a monster. Lol

[steverox]

Great question. Stephen Pearcy is who comes to my mind first. Vince still sounds pretty much the same as he did, but only sings every third word so there's that. Joe Elliot's voice has seen better days. David Lee Roth's voice is shot, as well as Mike Matijevic (Steelheart), and he was a GREAT singer. How about Geoff Tate, he's seen better days as well. One more: Tom Keifer.

So let's do the opposite here as well. Which singer's voice has withstood the test of time? Don't laugh, CJ Snare of Firehouse still hits every high note he used to. And Klaus Meine (Scorpions) is still quite good.

[Bkallday]

How about ol Axl?

[Metalboy!]

1) Don Dokken
2) David Coverdale
3) Paul Stanley
4) Steve Perry
5) Rob Halford
6) Ozzy Osbourne
7) Vince Neil
8) Steven Pearcy
9) Joe Elliott

Axl was still belting it out a couple of years ago. I still cannot believe his superhuman performance in AXL/DC when I saw them live in Atlanta a couple of years.

Of course, it may have been key he had a vocal coach with him plus I heard he didn’t drink or go out after the shows, which may not necessarily be the case on the Gn’R tour.

[Metalboy!]

Also, though Joe Leste’s voice was rough to begin with, I saw him singing loud and clear and sounding exactly like the record with b*lls to spare back in ‘90 with Bang Tango opening for KIX at Limelight in NYC. Slash also hopped on stage to do 2 numbers with them at the end of their set, which was TOTALLY amazing.

Cut to present day and a cement mixer would sound better than what he can barely muster now.

[Dj]

Stephen Pearcy hands down. I saw him solo last summer and his voice was completely shot, worse than any other singer mentioned in my opinion. I dont understand how he can go out and promote his solo band or even Ratt for that matter when his voice is completely gone, and on top of that he was lacking energy and enthusiasm to be up there, no energy at all whatsoever, I guess he needed a check.
But his last solo album was really good, I'll give him that, he still knows how to write a great song.

[Gogmagog]

@steverox Tony Harnell of TNT fame has kept his voice in amazing shape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pOaMmdEoIA

Bruce Dickinson still sounds very good, but on the other hand, what's happened to Tony Bennett? ... oh, wait. He's 92. :)

[fletch]

The lead singer of Angel. 😋😋😋

[Him]

Gogmagog has a point about Harnell. The recently released live (from 2017, I believe, before he left again) DVD from TNT sounds great and doesn't sound like it was 'sweetened up' that much, if at all. I'd say he is in the same league as Winger these days. And I wouldn't have said anything like that back in the day!

I dunno. Something sounds 'off' on that 'live' cut that Crued posted. Maybe it is just me, but even with the great job the others do filling in where Coverdale can't, hmm . . . it sounds 'odd'.

Personally, I think Udo's voice has fallen the most. Where are those operatic sweeps and flourishes that we so long came to expect? And Malmsteen has also lost a step.

With vocalists (not singers) like Pearcy, Neil, and even Roth, you have a doubled-decay: the showmanship isn't the same and the antics were part of what they sounded like. Same goes for Dokken. Meine is a singer, and he is an interesting case. He has gotten higher, but also tends to sound more out of breath. Halford is much the same. Say what you want, but he has lost a step. That is no slag on him either. But he isn't the same either. And why would he be? Dickinson isn't either. Tate? Well, let's just skip that (even though he has done a bit of a reboot recently, in much the same way that Elliott has).

Is it age? Is it a rock n' roll lifestyle? Is it fickle fans wanting something that never was (when it comes to live vs. tape vs. good nights and bad)? All of the above and partially true.