| sandrativadar 30.03.2010 12:41 |
One of the most poignantly sung songs of all time, "We Are The Champions," features one of the greatest frontmen, if not the greatest frontman, of all time, Freddie Mercury. It is that song, and "Bohemian Rhapsody," that come to mind whenever the name Freddie Mercury -- or Queen, the band he fronted for over 20 years until his death in 1991 -- is mentioned in my presence. It is the ascending power and the heartfelt emotion behind the lyrics that come to the fore and pulls the listener in on many of Queen's songs, because Freddie Mercury, first and foremost, was a great vocalist letting voice sell his music. So it was with some surprise that I read that Q magazine in Britain had published a poll where Freddie Mercury placed third on the list of greatest frontmen of all time. To be clear, it wasn't so much that Freddie Mercury placed third, it was who placed first that produced a feeling of puzzled incredulity. In a poll of Q readers, Liam Gallagher of Oasis had placed first. Liam Gallagher? Really? The readers of Q magazine thought more highly of Gallagher than Bono (U2), too , placing him second. Other famed frontmen were listed in the Top 20 as well: David Albarn of Blur (4), Chris Martin of Coldplay (5), Matt Bellamy of Muse (6), Jim Morrison of the Doors (7), Bob Marley of the Wailers (8), Paul McCartney and John Lennon (9 and 10, respectively) of the Beatles, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones (13), Morrissey of The Smiths (14), James Brown (16), Bruce Springsteen of the E Street Band (17), and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin (18). There are listed some great names but any list of great lead singers is suspect when it contains singers like Deborah Harry of Blondie (12) and Robbie Williams of Take That (11). The list is British band-centric as well. And where was Roger Daltrey of The Who? Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath? Jon Bon Jovi of Bon Jovi? Eric Burdon of The Animals? John Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival? Prince of the Revolution? Steven Tyler of Aerosmith? Regardless, with the exceptions of Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, John and Paul, James Brown, Springsteen, and Robert Plant, the list has a decided feel of inauthenticity. link |
| rhyeking 30.03.2010 19:29 |
These polls are are a steaming pile any way you look at it. Even if Freddie won, by their very nature, such polls are of little to no value. There is no prestige in being voted greatest frontman or hottest actress or best guitar player by a magazine. The results do not reflect anything other than the taste of the readers who took the time to cast a vote. A Rolling Stone poll next month might have a completely different result, followed by Mojo magazine providing yet another completely different result. Besides, what criteria do you use to assess such 'greatness'? Singing skill? Stage presence? Tabloidal awareness? Longevity? Current popularity? Continued career momentum? You could argue Alice Cooper has all those as well, or did in his prime (and still does amongst his fans...kind of like us with Queen). Before you chime in that I'm wrong about AC, remember that Alice Cooper was the band's name before Vincent Furnier went solo with it. And he's still putting out albums after 40 years. But like I said, it's all moot anyway because such polls are B.S. |
| mike hunt 31.03.2010 11:17 |
these lists are a joke....liam better than freddie mercury, mick jagger and robert plant?....lol. Even rob halford and bruce dickinson are better than this clown. |
| Soundfreak 01.04.2010 09:07 |
The funny thing in this case is, that no one noticed so far that Liam Gallagher wasn't the frontman of Oasis at all. I once saw them live in their big days and he was "just the singer" who even sat down on the drum riser when he had nothing to sing (!). So most of the time he wasn't even physically "fronting" the band. It was his brother Noel who did the announcements and communicated with the audience.... |
| Jean_Luc2000 04.04.2010 06:55 |
Actually I'm more annoyed that Freddie came in one place behind BONO! Bono of all people, just not Bono. |
| beachj 04.04.2010 22:49 |
I am amazed he got even that high.That publication has rubbished Queen for years, I have reviews for Innuendo which declared the band 'Bonkers' and just basically wrote a load of tat. A Q reporter did actually ask Freddie for an interview once,and the reply was F*** OFF. Anyway,I do believe that Freddie found Mr Gallagher 'quite refreshing' a sort of modern day Sex Pistols 'take no shit' band.Not the best singer in the world,but they played well and wrote some fab singles.Shame they ended it,really. |
| brENsKi 05.04.2010 17:52 |
beachj wrote: I do believe that Freddie found Mr Gallagher 'quite refreshing' a sort of modern day Sex Pistols 'take no shit' band.Not the best singer in the world,but they played well and wrote some fab singles.Shame they ended it,really. where in the name of insanity do you get your information from? how on earth do you come to conclusions like this? Liam Gallagher didn't even come to the awareness of the music public until 1993 - that's two years AFTER Freddie died!!!! how the f*ck do conclude that "Freddie found" anything after November 1991? |
| mike hunt 06.04.2010 07:50 |
brENsKi wrote:beachj wrote: I do believe that Freddie found Mr Gallagher 'quite refreshing' a sort of modern day Sex Pistols 'take no shit' band.Not the best singer in the world,but they played well and wrote some fab singles.Shame they ended it,really.where in the name of insanity do you get your information from? how on earth do you come to conclusions like this? Liam Gallagher didn't even come to the awareness of the music public until 1993 - that's two years AFTER Freddie died!!!! how the f*ck do conclude that "Freddie found" anything after November 1991? lol, I was thinking the same thing. |
| LocustIvy 06.04.2010 07:54 |
This is a joke, right? Nevermind - it doesn't matter. We all know who is and will always be Number 1. Freddie forever! |
| fredericosaturnio@gmail.com 06.04.2010 09:11 |
I don't believe that they recorded only three songs You don't fool me, mother love and A winter tale in 1991. I is impossible. I am not naive Roger and Brian are millionaire thanks to Freddie Mercury. They recorded one by one songs each day from May to November 1991 They recorded much more music during four years.Did they recorded 200-400 songs? |
| fredericosaturnio@gmail.com 06.04.2010 09:16 |
Queen had songs with vocal of Freddie Mercury recorded (performed) from 1988 to 1991 from solo albums Roger Taylor, Brian May and the Cross. |
| fredericosaturnio@gmail.com 06.04.2010 09:17 |
from solo albums of Roger, Brian and the albums of the cross |
| brENsKi 06.04.2010 17:02 |
<2>fredericosaturnio@gmail.com wrote: I don't believe that they recorded only three songs You don't fool me, mother love and A winter tale in 1991. I is impossible. I am not naive Roger and Brian are millionaire thanks to Freddie Mercury. They recorded one by one songs each day from May to November 1991 They recorded much more music during four years.Did they recorded 200-400 songs? have you been going to the same English language night-school as "Community"? or have you been sniffing too many permanent-marker-pens? |
| TeresaLatio 06.04.2010 20:19 |
Are you kiddding me!!! Freddie was and still is the man!!!!! what a joke of gaintintic preporous!! (misspelled).. anyway!! What dufus did this poll and IT had to be rigged, maybe laim paid someone off....to get this!! |
| FREDDIEKINGOFQUEEN 26.05.2012 01:24 |
Is ev in the UK all on crack? What the hell is the matter with them?!? FREDDIE MERCURY IS THE GREATEST FRONTMAN OF ALL TIME!!! Just look it up! Under the definition, there will be Freddie's picture and bio. Freddie is The Frontman! In fact, I bet he made up the word because there's no one like him - before, since, or ever! He's the best thing that ever happened to music. He's the one everyone emulates and would love to be. But they broke the mold when they made him! Btw, I was curious to see what the big deal was about LG.....was it his disgusting rants? Or his notorious fighting w/ ev? Or, perhaps it was his lackluster, hands behind the back singing, when he wasn't swearing his head off? Ya, that must've been it. So full of....um, passion? No, that's not it; just full of it! Unfreakingbelievable!!!!! And when he speaks, he really needs subtitles, to translate! LOL FREDDIE MERCURY IS THE GOD OF ALL FRONTMEN!!! He makes LG look like he's napping. Actually, he might be, w/ that idiotic pose. LOL No one else even matters! FREDDIE IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!! |
| AlbaNo1 26.05.2012 05:44 |
Q spent about 2 decades being a U2/REM/Oasis fanzine. Im suprised Freddie even got that high. Having said that I seem to remember he did top another poll in Q a few years ago, best rock star or greatest showman or something like that. |
| tomchristie22 26.05.2012 21:44 |
Haha! Look at all these illiterate people with one or two posts in total sharing their much valued opinions. I personally don't see Freddie as the 'best frontman' ever, or singer for that matter. Though he's one of my favourite ones. |
| dysan 27.05.2012 04:12 |
Q is rubbish so this is no surprise. |
| matt z 27.05.2012 07:46 |
Shows how stupid some folks are out there... How in fucks sake did Dappy get considered anything significant lately? How could "Take That" generate faster ticket sales than a mega super happy incredi- mega star like Michael Jackson??? I won't even READ the bullshit article... Will someone however clarify to me when and where there was such a "baby-boomer" generation that exploded with a short attention span and godlike worship for cheap pop bands that somehow generated only two or three truly good songs? (I'm not saying GREAT songs, merely saying "good") Somethings horribly wrong; I don't suggest getting Nazi on the musical culture, but surely there must be a rampant outbreak of idiotic hero worship fad-ness-ness... Surely someone could explain this shit. Its horrible, its ugly, its demeaning to art. That would be like "ROLLING STONE" (another example of bullshit) calling Nicki Minaj a greater soul singer than Etta James. I'm not making ANY exaggeration here; this comparison is some hispter bullshit equivalent....what is wrong with y'all??? Wow. Wow. |
| dysan 27.05.2012 08:55 |
It's a result of the 'ironic' 00s doing more to damage the UK than the generation of lager louts produced by the 90s and those driven by greed in the 80s. |
| malicedoom 29.05.2012 11:43 |
"Freddie Mercury Loses Out to Liam Gallagher" I literally spit my drink out just reading this headline. Quite amusing |