News today of a follow-up to yesterday’s survey on the greatest vocal ranges in music that firmly establishes none other than Mike Patton as the man with best pipes in the business.
Concerthotels.com published a better than average piece of PR puffery on Tuesday that showed that Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses had the greatest vocal range of popular singers (i.e. the list was restricted to those singers who had made Rolling Stones’ 100 Greatest Singers and the nominees for this year’s Billboard Music Awards and included those whose range had been analyzed on The Range Place).
Vintage Vinyl News followed up with a subsequent survey of their own as they broadened out the group of singers to “a broad sampling of other vocalists on The Range Place’s site”.
The result saw Mike Patton move ahead of the artist formerly known as William Bailey to the top of the list with a reported range of 6 octaves.
Vntage Vinyl News add: “We found that Axl Rose is still a formidable force, but he is not the artist with the biggest vocal range. He drops to number 2 on our list behind Mike Patton of Faith No More who was the only singer we found with a range greater than six octaves”.
We mosied over to the Range Place to find out more and delicately dipped a toe into their bewildering if informative forum.
I staggered away mystified, bamboozled by blue notes and non-modals, but there were countless examples there that showed off the range. But nothing shows it off better than this compilation:
Here is the VVN list of the vocalists with the largest range, limited to those with 4 octaves or more.
01. Mike Patton – 6 octaves, 1/2 note (Eb1 to E7)
02. Axl Rose – 5 octaves, 2-1/2 notes (F1 to Bb6)
03. Mariah Carey – 5 octaves, 1 note (F2 to G7)
04. Roger Waters – 4 octaves, 6-1/2 notes (B1 to Bb6)
05. Nick Cave – 4 octaves, 5-1/2 notes (B1 to G#5)
06. Siouxsie Sue – 4 octaves, 5 notes (F2 to D7)
06. Tina Turner – 4 octaves, 5 notes (B2 to G6)
06. Roger Daltrey – 4 octaves, 5 notes (B1 to G5)
06. Lou Gramm – 4 octaves, 5 notes (B1 to G5)
06. Chris Isaak – 4 octaves, 5 notes (B1 to G5)
11. Prince – 4 octaves, 4 notes (E2 to B6)
11. Beyonce – 4 octaves, 4 notes (A2 to E6)
11. Damon Albarn – 4 octaves, 4 notes (B1 to F5)
11. Kate Bush – 4 octaves, 4 notes (B2 to F6)
[…] performers, this was not the case this evening in the Sydney City Recital Hall. Also the fact that ‘the greatest voice in rock’ (Mike Patton was recently voted as the singer with the biggest vocal range in rock) managed to get […]
Thanks for that
@Brian
That’s a C#6. And a very brief, non sung one at that.
Mike’s highest note is a solid, SUNG E7 from “Abraxas”, which is over an octave higher.
Ignore what the video says about the F#7, it’s actually an Eb7 and was pitched incorrectly.
“And most of the song is lower than Patton has ever growled”
No. The growling bottoms around E3, which is 2 octaves higher than Patton’s lowest SUNG note, which is an Eb1.
Screaming counts if it is sung, and tasteful, or just shows the abilities of the vocalist. Obviously sung notes are preferred.
Apologies – a bit of a throwaway line.
I like Mike Patton and all, but I hardly think that screaming counts as a top note. In that case, I would nominate Johnny Davey from Job for a Cowboy.
Case in point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63OZi4_FfZI
0:25 is way higher than Mike Patton has ever screamed. And most of the song is lower than Patton has ever growled.
It’s not a smug forum. And we don’t consider ourselves experts in any way although some users may be actual singers. Also, some of us have been thinking of trying to stop perpetuating the myth that a big vocal range = great singer. A big vocal range may be an indication of talent, but doesn’t contribute to how good a vocalist is, as has been shown time and time again by different singers around the world, for example Frank Sinatra. This is why it says “A forum for vocalist discussion and their abilities” at the top.
However, I’m happy to see Mike finally getting recognition for his talent. That video is over a year old. Plus it was made by one of the more respected members of the forum.
I experienced the delight (and the terror) of witnessing Mike Patton perform Litany IV in a large room with a glass panel ceiling not too long ago. He belted out a couple of what I guess is called a “tonal G6” which caused the makeshift sound system to go into a feedback loop. It was loud, it scared half of the audience away, and I couldn’t help but fear the glass above us would shatter.
Good times! I agree with the list for the most part. Surprised Tiny Tim wasn’t on there.