Legendary '70s Singers We Think Are Way Overrated

A good voice to beg bacon

In rock and roll, “great singing” is subjective. Mick Jagger cannot be said to have a particularly operatic voice, but what he does works within the context of the Rolling Stones. And besides, even the most ardent Stones fans don’t go around saying Mick sounds like Pavarotti.

Then you have singers whose reputations are all out of proportion to what they can actually do. Some are slightly overrated and some are massively overrated, but either way, they just don’t deserve the hysterically overwrought plaudits that they receive from fans, plaudits that declare them the greatest singers on earth. Here’s our list of singers we believe don’t live up to the hype.

1. Stevie Nicks

On-again-off-again Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks is often hailed as one of rock music's most accomplished and distinct voices. We agree with the "distinct" part because the minute the "Gold Dust Woman" herself starts going off about "the white-winged dove" in her raspy and high-pitched voice, well… we know it's her! We don't want to be totally negative about her, though, so in an effort to clear her name, we will say that the urban legend about her, cocaine, and a straw is not true.

2. Gregg Allman

One of the two guys who gave the Allman Brothers Band their name (guitarist Duane was the other one), Gregg Allman was a gifted keyboard player who could hold his own against some of the finest musicians in the world. He was also hailed as a skilled singer with a unique voice, and while he can certainly carry a tune, there’s not much else going on there to justify the veneration. He also married Cher and released an album with her called “Allman and Woman,” which may be the single worst LP ever made by anybody.

3. Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens was a British folkie who made beloved albums during the 1960s and 1970s, but after a near-drowning experience, he got religion, changed his name to Yusuf Islam, and devoted his life to Allah. What did not change was his profoundly annoying singing voice, which has sent many people running for the exits over the end credits of “Harold and Maude.” He returned to the headlines in 1989 when he appeared to support a fatwa declared against author Salman Rushdie, and has had to explain ever since that he never supported it.

4. Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy Sainte-Marie, an Indigenous North American singer who's been at it since the 1960s, charted high with “Mister Can’t You See” and has been unrelenting in her musical activity ever since. She’s regularly referred to as a great singer, and yes, she can carry a tune without too much trouble. However, her singing voice is so warbly and goofy that first-time listeners can be forgiven for thinking they’re being punked.

5. Joan Baez

Joan Baez has been folkie royalty since the 1960s, and it must be said that during that period, she walked the walk and talked the talk, using her celebrity to highlight social causes and fight for justice. While she did a lot of good in that arena, listening to her vibrato-laden singing voice recalls a small child who learned to throw vocal sounds while drinking a glass of water. It's unique, but Ella Fitzgerald she is not.

6. Van Morrison

Van Morrison is the Eric Clapton of singing, a purveyor of vanilla retreads of music done better decades earlier. He’s not doing anything that wasn’t done by Ray Charles and a host of other people, but where he really commits atrocities is with his original songwriting, exemplified by “Brown-Eyed Girl.” Awful, awful, awful. In 2020, he decided he was a doctor and began calling social distancing measures put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic “pseudo-science.”

7. Robert Plant

Robert Plant was the voice of Led Zeppelin, and we're not going to pretend that he did a lousy job with them, but he appears regularly on lists of "the greatest singers of all time," and he just isn't. We believe he’s called one of the world’s greatest singers because he was part of Led Zeppelin, not because he particularly distinguished himself as a virtuoso. Besides, by 1975 his voice was completely shot, and he could never hit those high notes again.

8. Madonna

Madonna Louise Ciccone, known for decades simply as Madonna, is a barely competent singer who struggles mightily to stay within the parameters of whatever vocal melody she’s supposed to be singing. Yes, she’s a big star, her music videos were iconic, her controversies were fun to hear about, and she should especially be given credit for her allyship with the gay community, which has been so ride-or-die that The Advocate named her “the greatest gay icon” in 2012. Having said that, she can barely sing.

9. Celine Dion

Celine Dion has excellent technique as a singer, and nobody in their right mind would ever say she's no good at it. However, there is such a thing as "doing the Lord's work with the devil's methods," which is a good way of describing her entire career. What does it matter if her voice can scale the highest highs if she uses it to sing stuff like "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" or this physically painful rendition of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”? She even worked with R. Kelly!

10. Amy Winehouse

British singer Amy Winehouse clearly loved her 1960s R&B idols, but the most she could manage was a pale imitation. Winehouse famously struggled with substances, ultimately succumbing to alcohol poisoning in 2011 at 27. Maybe if she had lived long enough to make more than just two studio albums, she could have developed into a genuinely original artist in her own right, but it wasn’t in the cards.

This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.