Best singer/musician ever?

• steubbigred

  gut;1612574 wrote:I agree with many of those. But what I'm really going for is Clapton is widely regarded as a top-5 guitarist. Maybe not the greatest vocalist, but he's sold 79M albums. Phil Collins is not nearly that highly regarded as a drummer, but he's a name that will come up in top-25 - 63M albums as a soloist and another 63M with Genesis. McCartney is considered a great bass player, and well no need to talk about how many albums he's sold.
  
  Stevie Wonder, for example, I'd have to give a decent edge to vocally and instrumentally over Ray Charles, but Ray has a lot of "x-factor" to his credit.

  Louis Armstrong,Miles Davis,Ray Charles,Eddie Van Halen,Randy Rhodes are a few more instrumentally.
• Mohican00

  

  reclegend22;1612599 wrote:In addition to Richard Ashcroft, I'd also nominate Thom Yorke.

  oh man, I love Muse. Favorite is the "Woo hoo" song. Wooohooo
  

  reclegend22;1612599 wrote:greatest alt rock band ever (personally, I prefer the The Verve)

  We were only freshmen
• reclegend22

  

  Mohican00;1612605 wrote:oh man, I love Muse. Favorite is the "Woo hoo" song. Wooohooo
  
  
  
  We were only freshmen

  None of this is accurate in relation to anything, but I'm assuming you already know that.
  
  In case not, The Verve and The Verve Pipe are two totally different things and the "Woo hoo" song was performed by Blur, not Muse.
• steubbigred

  Parliment,Liberace,Freddy Mercury,Chuck Berry,Fats Domino,Steve Perry from Journey are a few more greats.
• Mohican00

  

  reclegend22;1612607 wrote:None of this is accurate in relation to anything, but I'm assuming you already know that.

  oh, The Verve. My favorite song of theirs is Bittersweet Symphony featuring Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
• reclegend22

  

  You mean a music group sampled the work of another music group. Oh my God.
  
  Richard Ashcroft's catalog of work, namely with The Verve, is amazingly good stuff. Don't be obtuse. The Verve is one of the great alt rock bands and Ashcroft one of the great singers in the world.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Mohican00;1612613 wrote:oh, The Verve. My favorite song of theirs is Bittersweet Symphony featuring Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

  Lol this fucking guy
• pmoney25

  

  I like The Verve but lets not get crazy and put them on the same level as Radiohead.
• reclegend22

  

  pmoney25;1612618 wrote:I like The Verve but lets not get crazy and put them on the same level as Radiohead.

  Radiohead is definitely the more accomplished and critically-acclaimed band. I just personally prefer The Verve (though I like both). The Verve's overall catalog and stature is obviously hurt by the fact that the group just stopped making music after Urban Hymns in 1997, before the band even had the chance to reach its peak. The Verve was in their 20s when they quit.
  
  As far as singer-songwriters go, though, I think a case can be made for Ashcroft over Yorke. Ashcroft is a tremendous lyricist and vocalist. I like Yorke a lot as well, however. Fake Plastic Trees is probably my favorite alternative rock song ever.
• Mohican00

  

  reclegend22;1612615 wrote:You mean a music group sampled the work of another music group. Oh my God

  Sampled? Funny how they made a song and another record label made all royalties off of it. They basically wrote a song for another label, lol
  
  Honestly I've only listened to Urban Hymns which is ok. Now his wife's old band....
• Classyposter58

  

  reclegend22;1612615 wrote:You mean a music group sampled the work of another music group. Oh my God.
  
  Richard Ashcroft's catalog of work, namely with The Verve, is amazingly good stuff. Don't be obtuse. The Verve is one of the great alt rock bands and Ashcroft one of the great singers in the world.

  Haha I knew you'd be the guy who loves that kind of band. You seem like a 90s guy
  
  I'm going with Bob Dylan for greatest musician
• Commander of Awesome

  

  Kevin Barnes from of Montreal is my favorite, but I realize he won't be the crowd pleaser.
• reclegend22

  

  Classyposter58;1612623 wrote:Haha I knew you'd be the guy who loves that kind of band. You seem like a 90s guy
  
  I'm going with Bob Dylan for greatest musician

  If by that kind of band you mean a group of people who make awesome music, then yeah. Ha. I was a kid during the '90s so I do possess a certain nostalgia for that period, notably rap music and the NBA. There are a lot of alternative bands today that are really good, if not as good or better than stuff from the '90s. That cannot be said of hip-hop, though there are plenty of groups and artists I enjoy today. They just aren't on that same level.
• mcburg93

  

  Waylon Jennings
• gut

  reclegend22;1612599 wrote:I'd also nominate Thom Yorke. An acclaimed multi-instrumentalist on the piano, guitar, bass and electronic keyboard and one of the best singer-songwriters of all-time...

  I'd allow that. Definitely something to be said for excelling on several instruments, even if not as highly accomplished as others on any one piece.
  
  Another interesting angle would be if any of the contenders here have written more than a few hits for other artists....that would give Carole King a seat at the table, anyway.
• GOONx19

  

  Chad Kroeger is up there.
• Mister Twister

  Barry Gibb, David Gilmour, Carole King. Just a few that came to mind when I read the thread title.
• BR1986FB

  Belly35;1612598 wrote:Freddie Mercury

  This
• isadore

  Karen and Richard Carpenter
• Dr Winston O'Boogie

  

  ccrunner609;1612565 wrote:A great performer but he didn't write any of his songs. Neither did Elvis.

  Michael Jackson wrote a lot of his own music.
• Ironman92

  

  ccrunner609;1612863 wrote:1. Dylon
  2. Dylon
  3. Dylon
  4. Dylon
  5. Dylon

  Who?
• pmoney25

  

  Assuming that is Bob Dylan. I thought this thread was about people who can sing and play an instrument well.
• Mohican00

  

  It's from a Chappelle Show skit
  
  [video=youtube;Z9lg6HqJeY0][/video]
• GOONx19

  

  Ironman92;1612879 wrote:Who?

  It's a Chapelle Show skit.
• Cat Food Flambe'

  

  Assuming we're discussing rock/pop artists, I'd have to say Jimi Hendrix. His skills as guitarist were unearthly, and his songwriting still sounds fresh 45 years later.
  
  Your average symphonic musician has musicanshipskills beyond compare, but as noted in the thread title, being able write -and- play at that level is a different ball game.