Top 10 Songs with "Vocal Fry" Technique

Vocal fry is the lowest register of the human voice and is recognized as a subtle croak at the bottom of a vocal register - it's a popping or rattling sound of a very low frequency. Vocal fry feels like it is “below” your normal singing voice and singers use it to access their lowest notes or for effect. It's used by both males and females in many music genres - from pop to metal. Vocal fry effect can appear in the speaking voices, too. Vocal fry is also a style of speech.

How Vocal Fry got its name? It makes a sound so deep that the voice starts to crackle and pop like frying bacon. Vocal Fry isn't recommended as a default vocal style - you use it on a word or several words in a song and not all the time.

Vocal fry is called a vocal register, vocal effect, vocal technique, and vocal style, depending on who analyzes it. Vocal fry is performed with vocal folds closed and air passes between the closed vocal folds. The singer actually doesn't use the vocal cords to produce this sound and for that reason vocal fry is one of the safest vocal techniques.

Fun fact: vocal fry is also the sound many people unintentionally make when wake up in the morning and realize they have to get up, and produce that slow, lazy and slightly raspy "Ahhh"...

Singers often use Vocal Fry to increase expressiveness, to achieve heightened vocal emotion or intimacy, to emphasize raw emotion. Words sung in vocal fry can sound pretty different - sexy, sad, emotional, or apathetic, depending on the goal of the singer.

"The vocal fry register (also known as pulse register, laryngealization, pulse phonation, creak, croak, popcorning, glottal fry, glottal rattle, glottal scrape, or strohbass) is the lowest vocal register and is produced through a loose glottal closure that permits air to bubble through slowly with a popping or rattling sound of a very low frequency. During this phonation, the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together, which causes the vocal folds to compress rather tightly and become relatively slack and compact. This process forms a large and irregularly vibrating mass within the vocal folds that produces the characteristic low popping or rattling sound when air passes through the glottal closure. The register (if well controlled) can extend far below the modal voice register, in some cases up to 8 octaves lower, such as in the case of Tim Storms who holds the world record for lowest frequency note ever produced by a human, a G −7, which is only 0.189 Hz, inaudible to the human ear." - Wikipedia
The Top Ten
1 ... Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
2 Hero - Enrique Iglesias

He used it several times, but the easiest one to identify is when he sang the word "I" three times in the chorus: "I can be your hero baby, I can kiss away the pain, I will stand by you forever" (play the sample to hear the first two of the "I"s).

3 Home - Michael Bublé

It's in the pre-chorus when he sings "And I've been" from the line "And I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you."

4 Sinful Passion - Dimash Kudaibergen

He uses it several times at the beginning of the song when he sings with his low, soft voice.

5 Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - Marilyn Manson

In this Eurythmics cover, Marilyn Manson used extensive vocal fry, most often at the beginning of the song (the sample features part of it).

6 Rain on Me - Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
7 God is a Woman - Ariana Grande
8 Savage - Megan Thee Stallion

Megan fries in pretty much every song, including this one.

9 Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City - Whitesnake

David Coverdale enters the vocal fry register several times during the first verse, but he fully uses it when he sings the word "babe" (I capitalized it):

"Ain't no love in the heart of the city
Ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love, sure 'nough is a pity, BABE
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
Baby, since you been around"

10 Wap - Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion
The Contenders
11 B.I.T.C.H. - Megan Thee Stallion
12 Let's Make It Baby - Bon Jovi

This is one of the sexiest songs I know where he uses vocal fry several times, especially on the words (in order of appearance): down slowly, a little bit closer, love me.

P.S. This song has two versions, and the sample here doesn't feature the version I'm talking about.

13 I’m Too Sexy - Right Said Fred
14 Clown - Emeli Sande
15 Bad Idea - Ariana Grande
16 Moist Vagina - Nirvana
17 Cowboys from Hell - Pantera

Phil uses it when he says "We're takin' over this town." This moment is what inspired me to extend my range to a lower register.

18 Hot Girl Summer - Megan Thee Stallion
19 The Way - Ariana Grande
20 Unanswered - Suicide Silence

This is already fry screaming - nothing sexy about it. He's just using the same technique (closed vocal folds) to produce screams that express raw emotion. The only difference is the amount of air that needs to pass between the closed vocal folds. Much more air is needed here.

21 One Last Time - Ariana Grande
22 Creep - TLC
23 Let's Dance - David Bowie
24 Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande
25 Deadhead - The Devin Townsend Band
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