Although not a bassist, and not a lead singer, my vote goes to the late Greg Ham (RIP), saxophonist for Men at Work. That man could tickle the ivories.
The Go Go's. I think the bassist did most of the lead singing. I could be mistaken though.
You are mistaken. Kathy Valentine doesn't sing lead on any of their songs (that would be Belinda Carlisle, who doesn't play an instrument), but she did write some of their best songs like Vacation, We Don't Get Along, and Can't Stop The World.
Someone that should be on the list for sure is John Cowan from Newgrass Revival. Back in the day, Newgrass was holding auditions for a bassist, not a lead singer. John auditioned, got the job, and asked the lead singer at the time, Sam Bush, if he could sing along to a song....well, he blew everyone away with is singing chops and from then on was the lead singer. And, if extra credit can be given for hair, he might just to top the list hands down. Callin' Baton Rouge - Newgrass Revival
Ok my vote is for Geddy Lee/Rush. But I gotta shout out to 2 underappreciated bassist/vocalists and their bands:
1. Martin Turner/ Wishbone Ash (original lineup). Their 1972 album Argus was epic!
2. John Wetton/Asia (original lineup). When "supergroups" were written off and ridiculed, their first album was an unexpected massive hit. Ironically, John Wetton replaced Martin Turner for Wishbone Ash's Number the Brave album just before forming Asia.
Think the list has to start with the Police. McCartney wasn’t the full time lead singer (in fact many consider Lennon THE lead singer). Geddy Lee’s voice is grating to some. And didn’t Clapton do the vocals on a fair number of Cream songs? I know he did that great live version of Crossroads.
Sting was a great singer, and the Police were a popular and innovative band. Lots of classic songs, and one of the biggest bands of the 80’s.
1) What does it mean to be "the" lead singer? Does that mean The Beatles are included in consideration, or any of the other bands with part-time bassist/lead singers?
2) How do you what to measure "greatest" band? By record sales? Number of #1 or top 100 hits?
Assuming The Beatles are included, the thread is done because who could be "greater" than them with any reasonable metric?
You are correct. If the Beatles count, this thread is done. If The Beatles do not count, the answer is Tin Lizzy, and what are we doing here.
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