ROADRUNNER RECORDS NAMES THE TOP 50 GREATEST METAL FRONTMEN OF ALL TIME
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 10:35am by Vince Neilstein
The fine lads and ladesses over at Roadrunner Records have compiled a list of the Top 50 greatest metal frontmen of all-time for you, me and everyone to endlessly argue over (like, seriously: we still get comments on a daily basis on our ages-old posts about Metal Hammer’s Best Death Metal Songs of All Time list and Rolling Stone’s Best Guitarists of All Time list.) What’s interesting about Roadrunner’s list is that in the interest of journalistic integrity all Roadrunnner Records artists have been excluded from the list. How ’bout them apples? The editors of the list also took care to point out that this is a list of the greatest “front-men,” not “singers,” an apt distinction indeed.
After the jump, Roadrunner’s entire list. Followed by your comments.
1. Robert Plant (Band of Joy, Led Zeppelin, Rockestra, The Honeydrippers, Page and Plant, Strange Sensation, Alison Krauss)
2. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden, Samson)
3. Ronnie James Dio (Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven and Hell)
4. Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses, Hollywood Rose, L.A. Guns, Rapidfire)
5. James Hetfield (Metallica)
6. Angus Young (AC/DC) (Argue it if you don’t agree!)
7. Alice Cooper (Alice Cooper)
8. Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)
9. David Lee Roth (Van Halen)
10. Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath, Ozzy)
11. Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Tomahawk, Peeping Tom, Lovage, John Zorn, Kaada/Patton, Dillinger Escape Plan, Hemophiliac, Maldoror, General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners)
12. Gene Simmons (Kiss, Wicked Lester) (Argue it if you don’t agree!)
13. Dee Snider (Twisted Sister, Desperado, Widowmaker, S.M.F.’s (Sick Mother Fuckers) )
14. HR (Bad Brains, Human Rights)
15. Rob Halford (Judas Priest, Fight, 2wo, Halford, Bullring Brummies)
16. Sebastien Bach (Madam X, Skid Row, Frameshift, Damnocracy)
17. Iggy Pop (The Stooges, The Iguanas)
18. Henry Rollins (State of Alert, Black Flag, Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters, Rollins Band)
19. Marilyn Manson (Mrs. Scabtree, Marilyn Manson)
20. Serj Tankian (System of a Down, Serart, Axis of Justice,)
21. Phil Anselmo (Superjoint Ritual, Christ Inversion, Down, Arson Anthem, Viking Crown, Pantera)
22. Lemmy (Motörhead, The Rockin’ Vickers, The Head Cat)
23. Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails Pigface, Tapeworm)
24. Kerry King (Slayer) (Argue it if you don’t agree!)
25. Danzig (Misfits, Samhain, Danzig)
26. Zach De La Rocha (Rage Against the Machine, Inside Out, Hardstance, One Day as a Lion)
27. GG Allin
28. Scott Ian (Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death, Damnocracy, Pearl) (Argue it if you don’t agree!)
29. Rob Zombie (White Zombie, Scum of the Earth)
30. Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates, Disfear, The Great Deceiver, The Crown, Skitsystem)
31. Maynard James Keenan (TexA.N.S., Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty, Tool, Green Jellÿ, Tapeworm, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer)
32. Gaahl (Gorgoroth, Trelldrom, Wardruna)
33. David Coverdale (Whitesnake, Deep Purple)
34. Doro (Snakebite, Warlock)
35. Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan)
36. Vince Niel (Mötley Crüe)
37. Wendy-O-Williams (Plasmatics)
38. Lita Ford (The Runaways)
39. Conrad Lant (Venom, Cronos, Probot)
40. Mike Muir (Suicidal Tendencies, No Mercy, Infectious Grooves)
41. Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom, Sinergy, Kylähullut, Impaled Nazarene)
42. Jeff Walker (Carcass, Blackstar, Brujeria, Electro Hippies)
43. Tom G Warrior (Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Apollyon Sun, Triptykon)
44. Wino (The Obcessed, Spirit Caravan, St. Vitus, Wino)
45. Joey Demaio (Manowar)(Argue it fuckers!)
46. Chuck Billy (Testament, Dublin Death Patrol)
47. Mike Monroe (Hanoi Rocks, Demolition 23)
48. Dead (Mayhem, Morbid)
49. Sakevi (GISM)
50. Till Lindemann (Rammstein, First Arsch)
those dudes obviously haven’t seen bad brains in quite some time.
this list is fucked.
Fuck GG Allin. Drunk drugged out shit slinging (literally) wreck of a human being.
Kerry King? How is he a great frontman on stage ALL of Slayer just stands there. Not going to deny the band is fucking amazing even though King is an asshole, but seriously…
Mike Patton is way too high. HR, yeah right. Rob Halford is far too low. His lyrics do kind of suck, at least in the 80s, but as a frontman he was revolutionary. And where is Ripper Owens? He’s a killer frontman!
GG was punk, not metal. Nor Is Insurance Pop.
And where’s Al Jourgensen?
All Respect to Mayhem, but please: “48. Dead (Mayhem, Morbid)”
The dude is an album cover at best.
Greg Puciato ahead of Mike Muir? Oh crap, let the fighting begin.
Why do Kerry King, Gene Simmons & Scott Ian have “argue if you don’t agree” beside them? I mean, these people were clearly the most influential of their bands. EVERYONE knows who Gene Simmons is, whether or not they’ve ever heard KISS, they know the image of Gene, but not as much anyone else.
Everyone who’s ever heard of Anthrax knows Scott Ian, because he’s just such a.. well, regular guy XD
Kerry has babies crying to let him out, come on.
Rob Halford IS kind of low, I personally think he should be up there with Dickinson or Dickinson should be lower, with him. They’ve got about the same amount of effect out there.
#50, Till Lindemann surprised me. Didn’t really expect that. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Rammstein (regardless of its simplicity, shh), though I wouldn’t really say he belongs up here. They put on an interesting show, but as for the band, he’s made it pretty well known that he’s not the single driving influence of it. He’s also not that recognizable to the world (even WITH his shirt off).
Phil Anselmo should have been higher on the list. 10 ten at least.
@ DanyLektro
We’re supposed to argue about Kerry King and Scott Ian because they might not be considered the “frontmen” of their respective bands (Tom Araya > Kerry King imo). Gene Simmons we’re supposed to argue about because this is a list of METAL frontmen, and KISS doesn’t really fit the bill.
Also, I’d squawk about the presence of Manowar, but these lists are always so flawed that it’s not really worth the effort.
Bernie Lomax!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.videodetective.com/photos/108/004538_2.jpg
Where is Max Cavalera?
Robert Plant is the 2Pac of rock music, except for the whole being alive thing. Anyway, they need to stop riding his dick, and a lot of those guys don’t even belong on that list.
Hahaha @ Belladonna not being top 50.
Also, there are too many people ahead of Phil Anselmo.
fuck arguing, anyone wanna beer?
So I’m kind of confused. Is King Diamond just not included or is he not included because he used to be an RR artist?
This list is pretty weak.
A couple I think should be on the list are Corey Taylor and Randy Blythe
Hmm…Iggy Pop is pretty low…
Dead…really?
REALLY?!
He recorded a SINGLE.
A FUCKING SINGLE.
I appreciate Gaahl…and the fact that they thought to include Mayhem…but seriously, anyone with brains knows that Attila is more interesting than Dead…and he’s recorded LP’s…
This list sucks ass. Not because of any one frontman’s position, but because there are too many artists on Roadrunner Records left out: COREY TAYLOR (Love or hate Slipknot or Stone Sour (I happen to love both), that mothafucker can work a crowd), Dani Filth, Dez Fafara, Howard Jones, Dave Mustaine, Mike Williams…etc. etc.
This list is fucked in general because half the frontmen on it have never been in a metal band.
Led Zepplin were never a metal band, neither are Nine Inch Nails, The Stooges, AC/DC, Tool, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Manson, Rage Against The Machine. I mean seriously, these are all rock bands, half these bands were playing straight up rock music before metal was even concieved.
Whilst I’d accept that they are in bands that may have an influence on metal bands, having an influence on a movement is not conducive to actually being a part of it.
lol @ Serj Tankian #20.
There is no way Anselmo is not in the top ten. Say what you want about his later years, but when he was on top of his game, Pantera were absolutely unstoppable.
MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN should be at the top of the list….
how could roadrunner not name any of their own artists?!
Shagrath anybody?
Max Cavalera was left out because he his a Roadrunner Artist, which the article said they left out for journalistic integrity.
“in the interest of journalistic integrity all Roadrunnner Records artists have been excluded from the list.”
some people need to read the fine print.
also, they screwed one thing up: Lemmy is supposed to be number 1. The rest of the list doesn’t really matter.
We read the “fine print”, and the “journalistic integrity” ruins the list.
This was a pretty solid list. Some punk front men (and women!), some people I certainly wouldn’t qualify as good front men (Kerry King?), and some notable exceptions (I know, he’s on Roadrunner, but KING FUCKING DIAMOND?). Also, Till Lindemann puts on a damn good show and is a very commanding front man, maybe the fact that he refuses to sing/give interviews in English got him a spot at #50? Oh well, at least he was included.
Also, to the people talking about Dead, there’s an album on Soulseek called “Out From The Dark” which is a recording of Dead’s last rehearsal with Mayhem. It’s not a proper release, but it is easily the best performance of those songs. Way better than Messiah, Atilla, or Maniac. He was also on the proper Mayhem release “Live In Sapsborg”, which was the audio equivalent of sucking ranicd panda anus. And by all accounts, Dead was a strong and forceful presence onstage during his time with the band.
Holy shit! Did I really just write a paragraph defending Mayhem? Damn you, party liquor!
ya i agree with CJ, cept i do hate shitknot. and to owen your a moron, you realy need to learn the roots of metal.
Lists are stupid in general and arguing over who belongs where stupider. But how do Scott Ian and Kerry King get listed as frontmen? Ian is surely a showman, but not a frontman. And King stands back, always looking bored until it’s turn to play yet another blistering, unmusical solo, still looking bored.
I didn’t know Megadeth was a Roadrunner band?
Half the guys on that list aren’t even metal. Fuck it, another shitty list. But what else could we expect from Roadrunner?
Megadeth has been on Roadrunner for years, retard.
List would be better if they included RR artists.
Tom Warrior is criminally low on the list. And no Varg? Burzum has more right than Mayhem for the black metal sympathy vote.
Dee Snider is ahead of Rob Halford, Lemmy, Glen Danzig and Phil Anselmo.
Just think about that for a second.
rob zombie doesnt sing for scum of the earth, ex- white zombie guitarist riggs does
alexi laiho?
LMFAO!
why the fuck is lemmy not number one on this list?
I understand this list is has no particular order, so why is all the arguing?
It’s been said, but I’m really surprised Roadrunner didn’t put their own Corey Taylor on there…
“What’s interesting about Roadrunner’s list is that in the interest of journalistic integrity all Roadrunnner Records artists have been excluded from the list.”
Oh.. right hahaha i should read shit first
some good picks, Dio, Lemmy, Gaahl, Cooper, but wheres KING DIAMOND!
part of being a frontman is putting on a show. to all you people that are going on about ‘death’ not deserving it, he put a shitload into his stage presence- burying clothes, being really corny etc etc etc. i mean cutting urself on stage that takes balls.
its not a best singer list either.
what annoys me is that freddie mercury isnt up there.
last point: rob halford doesnt deserve to be up there that high. dont get me wrong he is probably one of my favourite singers, and judas priest are also one of my all time fav bands. that said, he is very boring on stage, and is quite boring in many cases: sitting on a harley, sitting at the edge of the stage, sitting anywhere he can etc etc etc.
lol @ that guy that said led zeppelin arent metal
Led: They aren’t, though they heavily influenced some of the more…flagrant, forms of metal, so I guess their frontman deserves a place.
Overall shit list, Ronnie ahead of Ozzy, typical “We have to be cool” cocksucking, and a bunch of obscure shit black metal, more have to be cool cocksucking.
The duality is amusing, we have “We have to suck the dick of people who want popular artists regardless of genre”
“We have to suck the dick of people who want obscure shitty metal”
Leading to a suckass list that contradicts itself.
I do like Dio, but he is a little high on the list. Sure, he sings like a champ live, but overall he’s certainly doesn’t have the stage presence to be #3. I would have expected to see him in the 10-15 range.
That sounds more in line what another list had him at, I do believe they linked it here before, months and months ago.
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRAP………..FOR STARTERS…..
max cav
king diamond
chuck schuldiner
rob zombie
micheal akerfeldt
devin townsend
george fisher/chris barnes
lord worm
jason mendonca
abbath
karl sanders
serj tankian
IM SURE MOST OF THESE ARE BETTER THAN AT LEAST 10 OF THE ENTRIES, AND I KNOW A FEW ARE ROADRUNNER BUT JESUS CHRIST IF CHUCK SCHULDINER CANT GET ON YOUR LIST AS KURT COBAIN OF DEATH METAL (in that hes gone RIP not the druggie bit) THEN…..U SUCK
btw maynard is the best metal frontman
Wow. Dio over Ozzy? Granted I think Ozzy is way overrated, and possibly the biggest metal sell-out of all time, but still………………..wow. And the fact that Mikael Akerfeldt isn’t on the list, let alone in the top half, is a travesty. And if Phil from Pantera is on there, then so should Rob Flynn from Machine Head. And Tom Araya should be on there instead of Kerry King (sings and plays bass as opposed to plays one of the two guitars and has badass bald head tatoos). And why in the name of all that’s unholy would you put Dead on the list? And please, is Venom being represented as some sort of sick, sadistic joke (I almost stabbed my eyeballs when I saw it)?? And is Aerosmith metal? No. And is Van Halen Metal? No (well, the person is). Twisted Sister sucked. Sebastian Bach sucked. Whitesnake did and will forever suck. Henry Rollins is punk. James Hetfield should be #2. Where’s Max Cavalera? Jesus, at this point I’d even be a little relieved to see Dave Mustaine for Christ sake. And I fucking hate Kiss, but I guess it’s mandatory to put Gene on there.
Now what I agreed with:
-Iggy Pop. The Stooges weren’t metal, but the shit he did onstage definitely was. Props.
-Maynard James Keenan being middle of the pack. One of the greatest voices ever but not much of a showman onstage.
-Cradle of Filth was not represented.
-Poison was not represented.
-Fred Durst was nowhere to be found (I’m really searching for things now)
……imo
Fuck that Phil should be higher.He is a great frontman plus he is the only famous metal guy with the balls to say how he really feels about worthless niggers.Their are some guys who aren’t even metal or aren’t on his level ahead of him.Like Steven Tyler?He is a ok ROCK vocalist but not metal.Robert Plant?I like Zep but they weren’t metal.Serj?He’s annoying.Dee Snider?T.S had maybe two good songs.They sucked.Gene Simmons?I like maybe 4 Kiss songs.He sucks.Iggy Pop is punk and Henry Rollins and the bad brains nigger are Hardcore Punk.
Angus?When did Ac/Dc become “Metal” they’re a pretty good rock band but no.Mike Patton?Faith No More was a good alt.metal band and I think he should be on the list but a little bit lower.Manson?Alright he is a good showman but the music sucks.Axl Rose?GnR was alright but I think he should be way lower because Pantera is a way better band and Phils voice is better than Axl’s.
Phil was the frontman for Pantera one of the best metal bands out their and Down who are really good to.
Guys come on, this is not the best singer, its the best FRONTMAN! And Rob Halford should be maybe even lower than this when it comes to frontman! Now well done for the list btw… But Bruce Dickinson could easily switch place with Robert Plant…
I disagree with a number of you who say that Dead doesn’t belong on here. Official Recordings don’t make someone “special”. I love Motorhead, but half their catalogue is crap. The early spirit of Black Metal in late 80’s early 90’s can be found in Dead. I’ve been around long enough to remember the days of tape trading, especially with my European friends back in the “day”. He was already legendary due to the live shows Mayhem performed and luckily I had people who taped the shit, which I still have. Not great production, about as good as “Leipzig”-but he was the essence of BM at that time. Per leaving Morbid also set into motion the formation of the real “Entombed”-he afftected in different ways the future of two legendary bands.
I love Frost, I truly LOVE Frost. They were great when I saw them with Anthrax many moons ago. I think Tom G is right where he should be.
No Araya? Now that is hard to understand
so where`s Mustaine, Rob flynn,Tom Araya,Danny filth…Fernando Ribeiro,.?you´re f***crasy men!
I like Metal Edge’s more