the best solo artist from (the most) famous band is john lennon. i think paul would come second. freddie third cause he hasn't really had long solo career and it was all while he was still in queen. and george harrison of course(yes i'm beatles fan). john and paul came out of the beatles and made respectable and succesful solo careers and with the beatles thing behind them it was almost impossible to do. and george also, such a genius, if he was in any other band his talent would be so much more present. he was always the quite one in the middle. i think david grohl also made it, he was in this famous band and now he made it with his new band and made a name for himself.
Freddie wouldn't be in any "best solo artist from a band". Lennon / McCartney / Peter Gabriel / Phil Collins etc had great success as a solo artist, Freddie's success was very minor (aside from the three or four big hits like Barcelona, Great Pretender or LOMO93). Same goes for Brian and Roger.
Ozzy Osbourne
Justin Timberlake
Melanie Chrisholm
Eric Clapton
Phil Collins
Peter Cetera
Bono
Glenn Frey
Freddie Mercury
Michael Jackson
Robbie Williams
Paul McCartney
John Lennon
not in a specific order, but i just wanted to know how many i could cough up in one minute :P
OZZY defitelly, even though I don't like his solo stuff- nevertheless he was really succesful first with Sabbath (the stuff I reall, reall love0) and then solo...
Also Gabriel after quiting Genesis did pretty well... Unfortunatelly Genesis with Collins were awfull....
My top ten:
1.John Lennon
2.Michael Jackson
3.Paul McCartney
4.Ozzy Osbourne
5.Justin Timberlake
6.Eric Clapton
7.Phil Collins
8.Peter Gabriel
9.Beyonce
10.Robbie Williams
Sorry, but Freddie was not a "very" successful solo artist, not for me (not for my "top ten")
Damn, how could I forget Ozzy :o
I really like his solo stuff, very good guitarists in his band. Like the vocals better than when in Sabbath.
And Jackson 5 does count, since it was famous, and that's what the question states. Quality wasn't a requirement.
And if I may believe Beavis, Tito totally rocks!!!
I think the question was "best solo artists" - doesn't mean "the best selling". Also, the question was about the solo artists from famous bands, not a solo artist from the start.
However, in terms of both, I think George Micheal (as far as I know). Both Wham and his solo career have a lot to be appreciated.
I don't know about the sales, but Freddie had a very fascinating album as well. His tended to go pop, but it wasn't any pop you could hear from any artist. Songs like "A Kind of Lover" or "In My Defence" are very classic and have a lot of potentials. He had an excellent sense of sound and melody as well as effective vocals (and chorus/backing harmony of his own lead vocal).
I read in some site that Freddie's solo album was the most interesting album in the world and that Brian or Roger made Queen boring (!). I thought that was sort of rubbish, but we are not to deprecate Freddie's solo career. He really really had a lot to offer - time was just too short.
"like 'A Kind of Lover' or 'In My Defence' are very classic and have a lot of potentials. "
Maybe you should buy the album and then you'll see that it ISN'T a brilliant album. Barcelona is great, but Mr Bad Guy has some really bad eighties-crap on it IMO.
Pim Derks wrote: "like 'A Kind of Lover' or 'In My Defence' are very classic and have a lot of potentials. "
Maybe you should buy the album and then you'll see that it ISN'T a brilliant album. Barcelona is great, but Mr Bad Guy has some really bad eighties-crap on it IMO.
I do happen to have the entire album. The song that I think is closest to '80s crap' is Let's Turn It On... (and I still like the song.) Made In Heaven and I Was Born To Love You are songs that are used later in Queen album. Foolin' Around and Living On My Own are my favorites, '80s crap' or not. I like Your Kind Of Lover for two reasons: the intro piano, and the intro vocal. Mr Bad Guy is a little simplistic... repetitive. Man Made Paradise and There Must Be More To Life Than This are the two 'most likable' songs in the list. (Man Made Paradise for the last bit of falsetto and There Must Be... for the entire song - reminds me of One Year of Love).
I'm not quite sure what '80s crap' means anyways. I understand how 70s and 80s Queen differ - arrangement, multi tracking and programmed sounds. FM solo could be improved a lot better by having a good instrumental part or mix. But I still like the album really a lot. There's no reason why his album should be called 'crap'.
My Love Is Dangerous
Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow
Corrections to last post, since I can't seem to edit my own message.
I forgot two other songs My Love Is Dangerous and Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow... I really appreciate the latter one but the former, I don't care for it a lot.
And In My Defence/Great Pretender/etc. are all contained in another album (Great Pretender)... and I like that album also.
But you are right in one aspect - if I didn't know anything about Queen, I wouldn't have gotten the album.