David Yow.

I win.

I'll take Yow with a side order of Tom Verlaine. Richard Hell for dessert.

tim kinsella is definitely a singer who CAN NOT sing. doesn't mean he's a good one, he just sings, when he definitely can not. i think he is the worst on thie whole list, except for maybe kim gordon. she is bad. real bad.

Aiden Moffat.

tommydski wrote:i actually liked his rock band desaparacidos. honestly. that was my summer album years ago. toe-tapping.

I wouldn't claim that everything he does is bad, it's just that wavery fucking voice annoys the hell out of me.

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:A lot of people say Bob Dylan cannot sing. These people are wrong. You may not like his voice, but the man has some serious pipes. On those Rolling Thunder Revue shows, he was roaring like a fucking foghorn.

correction: he cannot sing anymore. and i don't mean this like you mean it... back in the day, you're right, he could sing, just not properly. he was good at what he did, though. but nowadays... fuck, i saw him a couple years ago, and he just sorta croaks. he has a range of about four notes.

Stephen Malkmus i'll defend. the man can't sing to save his life, but he's sort of tailored an appeal out of it. i like listening to him. just like i like listening to (old) Bob Dylan.

but the singer who takes the cake has got to be Lisa Marie Presley. any of you HEARD this woman? she SUCKS! badly. she cannot sing to save her life, so they hire out these terriffic bands and backup singers to play underneath her, and they're so good that you almost don't notice... but then you do. and then you change the channel.

my vote goes to Lisa Marie Presley. retire, girl. please.

do you mean bad voice or can't sing?

examples of those who can sing but have a bad voice:

axl rose
janis joplin
joe cocker
isaac brock
daniel johnston (sort of)

or do you mean bad singers?

I mean singers who would be thrown out of voice lessons, but for whom it does not matter because their delivery packs an emotional punch and/or fits their music to a T.

And then there are those, like Laurie Anderson, whose songs became less compelling once she studied voice and started to sing properly.

oh, well, in that case:

axl rose
janis joplin
joe cocker
isaac brock
daniel johnston
tom waits
jeff mangum
j. mascis
stephen malkmus
bill callahan
brian from slint
devendra banhart
arcade fire dude
HR from Bad Brains
whats her face from Bardo Pond...
Blonde Redhead dude
Johnnie from Blood Brothers
Brandon Butler (boys life, canyon)
Doug Martsch (sp?)
Chris from Monorchid
Daniel Smith
Frank Black
Bruce Dickinson
Fred Erskine (sorry fred)
Lou Reed
Nico
Neil Young