I'll list a few of mine:

- King Diamond (King Diamond & Mercyful Fate)

- Peter Steele (Carnivore & Type O Negative)

- Dio (Dio & Black Sabbath)

- Ozzy Osbourne (particularly in Black Sabbath)

- Chuck Schuldiner (Death)

- Martin van Drunen (particularly in Asphyx)

- Glen Benton (Deicide)

- Big Boss (Root)

- Quorthon (Bathory)

- James Hetfield (Metallica)

- Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) (Controversial, I know)

- Phil Anselmo (Particularly in Pantera) (Only his studio work though bc his live performances are historically terrible)

- Dead (Morbid & Mayhem)

- Warrel Dane (Particularly in Sanctuary)

- Rob Halford (Judas Priest)

- Tim Aymar (Control Denied & Pharoah)

- Tom G. Warrior (Celtic Frost) (OUGH)

That's all I can remember at the moment, and also I don't think I should name too many.

I probably will not elaborate, since it turns out I can't write my way out of a paper bag when it comes to music, but some of my favorites include:

EYE
Dio
Russell Allen
Ida Haukland
Floor Jansen
Hansi Kursch
Adrienne Cowan
Peter Steele
Jorn Lande
Tim Aymar

For what purpose?

Eh, to make it easier I think I'll list them by genre.

Heavy Metal: Ozzy. He's simply the best, my number one choice and the first voice that comes to mind when I hear/read "best vocalist".

Black Metal: Shagrath. I also like Abbath a lot, same with the guy from Enslaved, but Shagrath is my favorite. I like all the voices he can produce, his high pitched screams, the gutural lows, and his clean vocals are really nice, too.

Thrash Metal: Kenn Nardi. Anacrusis has a very dark, brooding vibe which is, in part, due to Nardi's insane vocal range, it's like he's 3 vocalists in one: one of them is depressed, the other one is schizophrenic and the third one is possessed.

Death Metal: Jason Mendonça. A Death Metal singer who can actually sign, rather than simply scream or growl. His charismatic performance is always a highlight in the entire Akercocke catalog.

Power Metal: The hardest to pick since Power Metal probably has the highest concentration of good vocalists of all genres, but my choice is Hansi Kürsch (closely followed by Daniel Heiman)

Gothic/Doom: Peter Steele. He is Doom incarnated.

Andre Matos
Michael Kiske
Anders Zackrison
Kai Hansen
Bruce Dickinson
Rob Halford
Ronnie James Dio
Graham Bonnet
Gary Barden
Joe Lynn Turner
Rob Rock
Alan Tecchio
Dave DeFeis
Warrel Dane
John Arch
Jeff Scott Soto
Ray Alder
Tom Keifer
Don Dokken
Danie Powers
Roy Kahn
Midnight
Uzzy Unchained
Ralph Scheepers
Buddy Lacky
Tony Moore
Arno Menses
Tony Martin
Michael Knoblich
Timo Koltipelto
Blackie Lawless
Zak Stevens
Klauss Mein
Steven Percy

If I had to make a Mount Rushmore of Metal Vocalists, i would be:

James Hetfield, Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford and Mikael Akerfeldt (even though his voice is hit and miss these days, he was the first Metal Vocalist to kind of scare me when I heard Demon of the Fall for the first time. Runner up would be Dani Filth).

Yes, I know this controversially leaves Bruce Dickinson, Ozzy and Lemmy off. There isn't room for everyone on the mountain, and these are my picks.

I don't really have a lot favorites of extreme metal vocalists besides Peter from Vader.

Male vocalists
Matt Barlow
Daniel Heiman
John Yelland
Mathias Blad
Jarmo Pääkkönen
Jens Carlsson
Tim Aymar
Vintersorg
Jake Rogers
Piet Sielck

Female vocalists
Laura Binder
Mercedes Victoria
Barbara Blackthorne
Carolina Pérez
Adrienne Cowan
Sara Squadrani
Ivett Dudás
Sarah Teets
Sabine Edelsbacher
Fabienne Erni
Brittney Slayes
Elisa C. Martín

Metal:
Jon Arch
Mathias Blad
Robert Lowe
ICS Vortex
Dio
Tom Englund
Roy Kahn
Jorn
Martin van Drunen
Bruce (during his 80s prime years)
Geoff Tate (during his 80s-90s prime)
Eric Wagner
Ray Alder (particularly later in his career...Redemption era)
Jan Kenneth (In the Woods)
Nemtheanga (sp?) - Primordial
Aaron Stainthorpe
Warrel Dane
Matt Barlow


Rock:
James Dewar
Steve Marriot
Ian Gillan
Jack Bruce
Paul Rodgers
Steve Winwood
Robert Plant (particularly up to ~1975)
Rod Stewart (up through the 70s)

Rock/metal crossover:
Joe Lynn Turner
Glenn Hughes
Jeff Scott Soto
Don Dokken (up the ~2000)

Silenius and Protector (Summoning) - because they never feel repetitive or overused like most black metal vocals do. Having two vocalists helps with this, but they also have great range of expression. I can also occasionally understand what they say, which is a minor miracle.

Martin van Drunen (Asphyx) - because he is just perfect for the band he's playing in, sounding like he's having the life squeezed out of him and being asphyxiated. First time I heard him I was in both terror and fascination, wanting to turn it off but unable to.

Harry Conklin (Jag Panzer) - The word operatic comes to mind, and an essential instrument in his band. I also find him very balanced, between power and restraint. Let's face it, power metal is a silly genre and it's best when the singer indulges us without taking it too seriously.

Rob Darken (Graveland) - If an equalizer that showed the level of emotions were a thing, then Darken's would show every other emotion at +0 and hate, malice, contempt, wrath and fury at +10. For me he taps into that depth of being where the darkness cries out to be freed. His growl expresses the spirit of the dog/wolf in predator mode.

Michael Kiske
Mike Patton
Dio
Joey Belladonna

Screamers, grunters or vocalists from punk bands would be another list

Iron Maiden
Metallica
Burzum

Don Dotty (Dark Angel)
Martin Walkyier (Sabbat)

Halford above all.

Some others I enjoy would be Warrel Dane, Johan Langquist, Hansi Kursch, Mark Shelton, in terms of clean vocals at least.

In no particular order...


Black Metal

Jon Nödtveidt
Abbath
Quorthon
Gaahl
Kvarforth
Maniac
Erik Danielsson
Ravn
Malo Civelli
Pest
Gleb Sysoev

Death Metal

L-G Petrov
George ''Corpsegrinder'' Fisher
Peter Tägtgren
Matti Kärki
Dmytro Kumar
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Glen Benton
Jeff Walker

Thrash Metal
Mille Petrozza
Max Cavalera
Tom Angelripper
Pat Lind

Metal:

John Arch (80s – ∞)
Rob Halford (70s, 80s)
Bruce Dickinson (80s, 00s)
Jon Oliva (80s)
Ozzy Osbourne (70s, 80s)
Messiah Marcolin (80s)
Geoff Tate (80s, early 90s)
King Diamond (80s)
Ray Alder (80s – ∞)

More extreme stuff:

Tom Araya (80s, 90s)
Snake (80s, 90s)
Tom G. Warrior (80s)

Hard rock:

David Coverdale (70s, 80s, early 90s)
Robert Plant (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s)
Tony Martin (80s, early 90s)
Ray Gillen (80s)
David Lee Roth (70s, 80s, early 90s)
Ian Gillan (70s, 80s)
Bob Catley (70s, 80s, early 90s)

The creme de la creme (including aor, pop, rock / progressive rock) (no ranking):

John Arch (80s – ∞)
Rob Halford (70s, 80s)
David Coverdale (70s, 80s, early 90s)
Robert Plant (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s)
Tony Martin (80s, early 90s)
Bob Catley (70s, 80s, early 90s)
Steve Walsh (70s)
Peter Gabriel (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s)
Kate Bush (70s, 80s, 90s)
Ann Wilson (70s, 80s, early 90s)

...plus those I could and would have mentioned but didn't for various reasons (including the one that starts with "muddle" and ends with "headedness").

Ross Dolan

Jander from Nagelfar and Blackie Lawless from W.A.S.P.

Yeah, list threads are boring. I'm not reading through a bunch of names without any kind of context as to why they are your favorite vocalists...

I was going to say James Rivera but then I opened that New Wave Gone Metal thread hehe

Ronnie James Dio.

Before their last album, I'd answer this question with one name and one name only: Kobi Farhi.

Now that the man has taken up a supremely unusual singing style, but one the echoes are familiar to me in not so good ways, I dunno. He still is probably the best when it comes to being versatile - singing and growling - but man this ululating style Orphaned Land found on Unsung Prophets is just...too weirdly close and familiar, and yet one I think he doesn't excel at nearly enough with his crystalline, frankly beautiful baritone I got used to over the years.

The growl (a throaty, full roar that was always so, so good) is there, it definitely is - it's just that (and here's a devil's advocate approach) this singing style was NEVER, to my knowledge, implemented as widely as it was on that album (no one really sounds like that). A completely unique thing, one that's irksome to me for specific reasons too. Wouldn't be the first time this bands makes metal history, as their strings, played by a Turkish ensemble I think, from ORWarrior onwards literally have no counterpart in the history of metal. None.

Yet - no way around it. He's it, most definitely, taking all things into consideration.

Might be nostalgia though.

Russ Anderson

Christian Augustin (Sortilege)
John Stewart (Slauter Xstroyes)
Harry Conklin (you know)

No others even come close to those three.

Other than some of the legends everyone knows I'd like to mention:

Alen Islamović of Divlje Jagode fame. He has a nice melodic rasp that gives their songs a unique colour.


And I'd second Graham Bonnet. His performance on Stand in Line by Impellitteri was amazing in particular. Very passionate.

Well first and foremost has gotta be Matti Way. Matti is the original gutteral king of sickness. I still say to this day that no one has topped his performance on the Cranial impalement album, massivly influential and never duplicated.

In terms of other favorites I love the pure aggression and intensity of Frank Mullen, I love the smooth tone of Steven Tucker and Jon Vesano. Mike Beams of Exhumed is criminally underrated.

As far as new guy David Simonich and CJ Mcreery both of Signs of the Swarm fame have utterly sick and incomprehensible lows, also shout out to Dave who not only has an incredible stage presence but is a very cool humble down to earth dude. Cant say enough about him, supreme talent and class act.

OZZY
James hetfield
Phil anselmo
Maniac
Mikko
Peter O'toole
Jus oborn
Jens kidman
The curator

My bad LMAAOO i meant Peter Steele

If I had to pick a few...

*a list of 2000 names*

Weirdly, my favourite style of singing, the Lemmy-Whisky-voice, isn't that common in Metal as I would hope. But I find some unique examples in other corners of the music-world - Tom Waits, Frankie Stubbs (Leatherface) or E from the Eels...

Also my second favourite kind of singer, the bariton-to-bass crooner has a more prominent place elsewhere - Elvis, Jim Morrison, Dave Gahan, Morrissey, Dave Vanian and so on. But here, "we" have Danzig, Pete Steele and a lot of Goth-Metal-singers.

For the rest:

60s/70sHard Rock:
- Arthur Brown
- Doug Ingle (Iron Butterfly)
- Dickie Peterson (Blue Cheer)
- Ian Gillan
- Phil Lynott
- Ozzy
- Ian Anderson

Trad. Metal
- Lemmy
- Paul Di'Anno
- Rob Halford
- Brian Ross (who btw sounds a lot like Dave Vanian)
- J.D. Kimball
- Mark Shelton (maybe less for his vocal-skills as for his "wise epic-storysteller"-persona)
- Mike Scalzi (Sough Feg)
- Professor Black
- Algy Ward


Old-School-Death-/Black-/Thrash-/Speed-Stuff
- 80s James Hetfield
- Tom Araya
- Cronos
- Mille
- Quorthon
- Tom Angelripper
- Tom Warrior
- Tony Portaro (Whiplash)
- the guy from Repulsion

Surely there are more, but often, the whole package is more important to me than the voice per se.

For this to make sense, I have to make a scale of 1-5 on vocal harshness. 1 being totally clean or nearly clean singing, 5 being when there are extremely complex lyrics with five syllable words but the vocals sound like "uhh uhh uhh uhh uhh uhh uhh uhh uhh" in straight 16th note rhythm.

5 -- I don't have one

4 -- Mike Williams (EYEHATEGOD) Some people say like he sounds like a guy yelling a bus stop, but his tone gives me the emotional extremity I look for in music whether metal or not.

3 -- tie Simon Barr (Dawn Ray'd) and Satyr (Satyricon, etc) I'll probably get knocked for this because they are not the most extreme in the genre, but I'm a sucker for mid-ranged hissing demon vocals that I can still understand the lyrics with.

2 -- Kirk Windstein I want to be reincarnated with this guy's voice.

1 -- Ozzy Osbourne Yeah, random chance made one of the first one of the best. He always sounds as if he knows whatever is hauting him is right behind him, but he knows he just . . . shouldn't .. .look

(Yes, I like doom and sludge, and I'm hopelessly trapped in the 90's)

This is always fun. I'd love to make an official ranking sometimes but in the meantime here are my favs in no particular order (I'm also listing a few non-metal as well as I put them all in the same cauldron of greatness) :

- Layne Staley (Alice In Chains)
- John Arch (Fates Warning)
- Bobby Blitz (Overkill)
- Andrew McDermott (Threshold)
- Damian Wilson (Threshold)
- Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
- Biff Byford (Saxon)
- Messiah Marcolin (Candlemass)
- John Fogerty (CCR)
- Michael Grant (Crescent Shield)
- John Tardy (Obituary)
- King Diamond (Mercyful Fate)
- Ronnie Munroe (Metal Church)
- Scott Weinrich (The Obsessed)
- Steve Grimmett (Grim Reaper)
- Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
- Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz)
- Michael Sweet (Stryper)
- Luc Lemay (Gorguts)
- Grutle Kjellson (Enslaved)
- Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow)
- Travis Meeks (Days Of The New)
- Mike DiSalvo (Cryptopsy)
- Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots)
- Rick Hughes (Sword)
- Ian Astbury (The Cult) [Starting to learn about him. Great singer!]
- Chris Cornell (Soundgarden)
- Gord Downie (The Tragically Hip)
- Michael Kiske (Helloween)
- Eric Knutson (Flotsam And Jetsam)

Eric Adams.