BACKING VOCALISTS

You know, we're always talking about folks like Ronnie James Dio, Robert Plant, Steve Perry and Robin Zander and how good their vocal ability is. I heard a song on my lunch break today that made me think about who I thought the best backing vocalist is in rock music. Not which bands have the best backing vocals, like The Eagles, Def Leppard, The Beach Boys and so on, but which individual is the best. I'll list my top 3, but who do you think should be at the top of this list?

1. Michael Anthony (Van Halen/Chickenfoot) - To me, he's hands down the best. Especially during his time with Van Halen. The proof is in the pudding, so just listen to the pudding.

2. Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) - Again, this is an easy choice for me. His backing vocals are very recognizable and on songs like "Wanted Dead Or Alive", he just brings the song to a new level. By the way, the song that made me think of this is "Bed Of Roses" by Bon Jovi.

3. I don't know his name, but the guy who provided backing vocals for Rick Springfield in his heyday. I just always thought his voice really helped these already good songs by Rick.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jon on September 3, 2010 at 6:17pm

1. Michael Anthony cause he's a puddinghead?

2. Roger Taylor--Distinctive background voice with Queen

3. Dave Davies--Like Roger Taylor, but with The Kinks

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Niels (Mod) on September 4, 2010 at 6:40am

My absolutly favorite backing-vocalist is Paul McCartney!!!

What he did with some of Lennon's songs was magic. A good example is "The Ballad of John & Yoko". His backing-vocals improves that song ca. 50%. He also did a good job on the drums, on that song, by the way.

You mention Def Leppard, RJhog, and I agree that their backing-vocals are great, but I do believe that one of the best backing-vocals comes from their (one-time) producer "Mutt" Lange. Just listen to some of the backing-vocals on some of the other albums, he has produced: Foreigner's "4", The Cars "Heartbeat City" and Bryan Adams "Waking up the neighbours". They sound pretty similar to me, and that's because "Mutt" Lange is a great backing-vocalist too.