Top 10 Backing Vocalists in Rock and Metal

Some backing vocalists are very good - maybe not better than the lead singers but still.
There are backing vocalists who:
1) Released solo albums as lead singers
2) Are lead singers for another band (usually less known)
3) Sang whole songs for the same band as lead singers (studio or live)
4) Sang big parts of songs for the same band as lead singers (studio or live)
5) Provide great backing vocals.
The Top Ten
1 Roger Taylor - Queen Roger Meddows Taylor is an English musician , multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter born on July 26th, 1949 in Kings Lynn, Norfolk. He was the drummer of the band Queen and wrote few of many hits such as "Under Pressure", "A Kind Of Magic" and "Radio Ga Ga". Despite being well known in Queen ...read more.

He has the best falsetto ever! He has a very strong voice and it’s impressive how high his voice can go. He has a better falsetto than Barry Gibb does.

He has unique voice and 4 octave vocal range. A lot of Queen songs would not be the same without him. And he is so damn good-looking oh my God!

Why isn't he on the top? I think, that he is number one in singing skills among the others in this list. He has much better voice than p.ex. George Harrison.

I don't have to thinking about that! This man has a 4 octave vocal range, his voice was amazing, his backing vocals are unique and awesome!

2 Jason Newsted - Metallica Jason Curtis Newsted is an American metal musician, known for being the third bass guitarist with the band Metallica from November 1986 until his departure in January 2001, he was also a part of Voivod and Flotsam and Jetsam.

Until the point he left Metallica was still a metal at least.
Cliff Burton: Thrash Metal
Jason Newsted: Heavy metal
Rob Trujillo: Happy metal

Made their live concerts 10x better

Long-term Metallica bassist who sang some of their songs live as a lead singer. Not bad at all. YouTube these videos:
Metallica - Seek & Destroy (Jason on vocals);
Metallica - The Four Horsemen (Jason on vocal! ) [HD] (1992.06.16) Jackson, MS, US

Jason was the man!

3 John Frusciante - Red Hot Chili Peppers John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, producer and composer.He is best known for his time with the Funk Rock California based band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was also part of the Mars Volta, Swahili Blonde, Ataxia and more.

The Chili's songs with his backing vocals are far superior to those without. Also his solo stuff is amazing, providing backing vocals to himself.

No one can hit high notes like fur isn't especially as a back up vocalist. His singer in desecration smile, under the bridge, and other side are incredible

John has very good backing vocals. Especially in Can't Stop, Sir Psycho Sexy, Venice Queen and Knock me Down.

By the way and snow are two of my favorites, great background vocals - Flea does a good job too but not as good.

4 George Harrison - The Beatles George Harrison (1943 - 2001) was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and music and film producer who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles.

How ironic; one of the greatest musicians of all time, but only the third best in his own band.

5 Bernie Marsden - Whitesnake

Whitesnake's guitarist has amazing vocals - he is so good that he could have been a lead singer. He provided lead vox for some songs - Outlaw, Free Flight, and more.

6 Eric Clapton - Cream Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. He has also been a member of Derek and the Dominos.

Jack Bruce is up front in most of Cream's songs, with a few notable exceptions..

7 Jerry Cantrell - Alice In Chains Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains.
8 Steve Priest - The Sweet

He's their bassist. I like his vocals more than the lead vocals, especially on "No You Don't" and "Fox On The Run". The song "Restless" was sung by Steve Priest.

Also, his lead vox (shared) on The Ballroom Blitz are fantastic.

9 David Crosby - The Byrds, CSN&Y David Van Cortlandt Crosby was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: the Byrds; Crosby, Stills & Nash; and CPR.

A massive jerk, but Crosby essentially invented the concept of "high harmony" that enhanced whatever the lead singer was doing, and making the overall sound much better.

10 Ray Thomas - The Moody Blues

The man could sing. Great voice which enhanced so many songs along with his wonderful lead efforts.

A phenomenal talent!

The Contenders
11 Matt Sharp - Weezer
12 Jon Schaffer - Iced Earth Jon Ryan Schaffer is an American heavy metal musician. He is best known as the guitarist and last remaining original member of the Florida-based heavy metal band Iced Earth, which he formed in 1985 under the name "Purgatory".

Rhythm guitarist who sang entire songs for Iced Earth (ex., Stormrider) and provides lead vox for his side project 'Sons Of Liberty'. Not bad.

Check out the song Stormrider, his vocal performance is fantastic!

13 Glenn Hughes - Deep Purple Glenn Hughes is an English rock bassist and vocalist, best known as a member of Deep Purple and the rock pioneers Trapeze, and his solo career. Hughes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple. He is acclaimed for his wide vocal range.

He was the bassist and backing vocalist during the Coverdale era. Later he started a solo career as a lead singer and bassist.

He was better than David Coverdale in my opinion. Glenn is incredible

Unrivaled voice and huge contribution to all bands involved with.

He did lead vocals on an entire Black Sabbath album (Seventh Star, 1986).

14 Neil Young - Buffalo Springfield Neil Percival Young is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician, producer, director and screenwriter.

"On The Way Home" and "Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It" are among Buffalo Springfield's best songs written by Neil, but with Richie Furay as lead singer. When BS has a reunion concert, Richie still sings lead, but you can tell that Neil's backing vocal adds a lot. It is an exceedingly rare treat when Neil performs those numbers himself at one of his own concerts.

Neil was young and still a little shy about singing the amazing songs he was writing even back then, and often let Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, or Jim Messina take the lead vocals, and just contributed to the background.

15 Dave Grohl - Nirvana David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer and film director. He is best known as the former drummer of the hugely popular 90s grunge band Nirvana and the vocalist/guitarist for the alternative rock band Foo Fighters. He has sat behind the drums for many bands and artists, most notably: Queens of the Stone Age, Tenacious D, Ghost B.C, Them Crooked Vultures, Tom Petty, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, David Bowie, Scream, Probot and many, many more.

This man is a rock god in and of himself... There is no other.

16 Graham Coxon - Blur
17 Mike Dirnt Michael Ryan Pritchard, known professionally as Mike Dirnt, is an American musician best known for being the co-founder, bassist, backing and occasional lead vocalist of the American punk rock band Green Day.
18 Richie Sambora - Bon Jovi Richard Stephen "Richie" Sambora is an American rock guitarist, producer, singer and songwriter who was the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi for 30 years. He is known for his work with Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He is a very praised guitarist who played solos for songs like Dry County, Stranger In This town And Wanted Dead Or Alive. He has 3 solo albums - Stranger In This town (1991) Undiscovered Soul (1998) & Aftermath Of The Lowdown (2012).

Bon Jovi guitarist released solo albums.

19 Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji "Mike" Shinoda (born 11 February 1977) is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, graphic designer, manager and film composer. He co-founded Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter, keyboardist, producer, and co-lead vocalist. ...read more.
20 Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He served as the lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the rock band Oasis.

As well as lead singer and better singing skills than their regular lead singer.

21 Richard Manuel Richard George Manuel was a Canadian composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the pianist, regular lead singer, and occasional drummer of The Band.
22 Kai Hansen - Gamma Ray, Helloween Kai Michael Hansen is a heavy metal guitarist and vocalist. Hansen is the founder, lead guitarist, and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also the co-founder and former member of German metal band Helloween.

I put him on low because he's a complicated case - basically he's been a guitarist all the time but he switched several times from lead to backing vox and vice versa:
In Helloween - first lead vox and then backing vox
In Gamma Ray - first backing vox and then lead vox.
Lead vox: Gamma Ray - Rebellion in Dreamland, Land Of The Free, Armageddon

23 Adrian Smith - Iron Maiden Adrian Frederick "H" Smith is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Iron Maiden, for whom he writes songs and performs live backing vocals on some tracks.

I think people don't realize how much impact had his backing vocals on Maiden's songs

Love his backing vocals on Wasted Years,you can find them isolated on YouTube

24 Michael Anthony (Van Halen)

He was nearly a better singer than David Lee Roth. When David couldn't sing, Michael did. Watch Chickenfoot perform Highway Star, and he does the high scream.

25 Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American rock 'n' roller, Americana musician, and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and regular lead vocalist for The Band.
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