Top 10 Most Underrated Songwriters

1. Ritchie Blackmore

   

   Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter best known for his work with the hard rock and heavy metal bands Deep Purple and Rainbow.

   In 2004, Guitar World ranked him number 16 on its list of the "100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time," and in 2011, Rolling Stone... read more

2. Tuomas Holopainen

   

   Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen, born on December 25, 1976, is a Finnish songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician, and record producer. He is primarily known as the founder, leader, keyboardist, and main songwriter of the symphonic metal band Nightwish. Holopainen has also studied both jazz and classical... read more

   Keyboardist of Nightwish, and also their songwriter, producer, and composer. His words are modern poetry. Never is there a throwaway line or something that sounds trivial:

   "Oh how I wish for soothing rain / All I wish is to dream again / my loving heart lost in the dark / For hope I'd give my everything". This is the chorus of "Nemo" by Nightwish. Holopainen wrote it about a time in his life when he felt lost and depressed. Those are the words of a broken but truly gifted poet who often feels misunderstood by the world.

   Nevertheless, he never fails to embrace and capture the beauty of the world: "The sun is sleeping quietly / Once upon a century / Wishful oceans calm and red / Ardent caresses laid to rest / For my dreams I hold my life / For wishes I behold my nights". The first six lines of "Sleeping Sun" by Nightwish, which has some of his best poetry.

   But not only his words are enchanting. Over the years, his compositions, in other words the music he writes, reached the complexity of full-blown symphonies without losing their powerful rock touch.

   However, neither he nor his band is ever featured on lists of the greatest musicians of all time, or even this century, though they'd truly deserve it. There is so much heart to his music. It is truly touching.

3. André Olbrich

   

   André Olbrich is a German guitarist, composer, and backing vocalist, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the power metal band Blind Guardian. In the band, he serves as one of the principal composers alongside fellow co-founder Hansi Kürsch.

   A great contributor to Blind Guardian's epic and unique sound, together with Hansi Kürsch.

4. Jeff Waters

   

   Jeff Waters (born February 13, 1966) is a Canadian metal musician best known as the guitarist, primary songwriter, and founder of the metal band Annihilator. He's recognized for fast riffs and solos and has frequently taken on roles as lead singer, bass player, engineer, and producer. He has owned Watersound... read more

   He wrote almost all songs by Annihilator - Alison Hell, Invite It, Human Insecticide, Phantasmagoria, King of the Kill (to name a few).

5. Jon Schaffer

   

   Jon Ryan Schaffer is an American heavy metal musician, best known as the guitarist and only remaining original member of the Florida-based band Iced Earth. He formed the band in 1985 under the name Purgatory. Schaffer has remained the principal songwriter and driving force behind the group throughout... read more

   He's one of my favorite songwriters. He's got natural musicality, and even though he's a rebel, his songs come out heavy and intense, yet melodic at the same time. What could be better?

   Iced Earth - Dracula, Melancholy, Anthem, Damien

   Demons and Wizards - Crimson King, My Last Sunrise, Path of Glory, Fiddler on the Green

6. Mat Sinner

   

   Mat Sinner is a bassist, vocalist, songwriter, and record producer from Stuttgart, Germany. He is best known as the bassist and primary songwriter for the metal band Primal Fear. He is also the founder of the band Sinner and has been involved in several other musical projects, including Voodoo Circle... read more

   Primal Fear - All for One, Strike, King for a Day, Diabolus

7. Sharon den Adel

   

   Sharon den Adel is a Dutch singer and the lead vocalist of the symphonic rock band Within Temptation. Together with her partner Robert Westerholt, she co-founded Within Temptation in 1996. Den Adel's vocals are a defining element of the band's epic and cinematic sound, even though she has never received... read more

8. Tobias Sammet

   

   Tobias Sammet (born November 21, 1977) is a German metal musician best known as the vocalist and primary songwriter for the power metal band Edguy. He is also the founder, lead singer, and principal creative force behind the metal opera project Avantasia.... read more

9. Lupe Fiasco

   

   Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, born February 16, 1982, is better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco. He is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur who rose to fame in 2006 with the release of his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor.... read more

10. Bill Kaulitz

    

    Bill Kaulitz-Trümper, sometimes using the pseudonym Billy, is a German singer-songwriter born on September 1, 1989. He is best known as the frontman, lead singer, and songwriter of the multi-platinum pop rock band Tokio Hotel. The band achieved major success in the mid-to-late 2000s, especially in Germany... read more

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Valerie Simpson

12. ?

    Nick Ashford

The Contenders

13. Kai Hansen

    

    Kai Michael Hansen is a heavy metal guitarist and vocalist. Hansen is the founder, lead guitarist, and vocalist of the power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also the co-founder and former member of the German metal band Helloween and played a major role in the development of the European power metal genre... read more

14. Tarja Turunen

    

    Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born August 17, 1977) is a Finnish singer-songwriter and soprano with a vocal range spanning approximately three octaves.

    She studied singing at Finland's Sibelius Academy and Germany's Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. She's best known as the former lead vocalist... read more

    She composes and also produces her own stuff, which is incredible.

15. David Foster

    

    David Walter Foster is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, songwriter, and arranger. He has won 16 Grammy Awards over a career spanning several decades. Foster has worked with many high‑profile artists, including Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Michael Bublé, producing numerous chart‑topping... read more

16. George Harrison

    

    George Harrison (25 February 1943-29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle," Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation... read more

    He could never get out of the shadow of John and Paul while in the Beatles, but with All Things Must Pass, he finally broke free. He should be recognized for his great songwriting skill, which does rival John and Paul's.

    One of the most underrated and most beautiful songwriters of all time. Something and Here Comes the Sun are pure genius, but simple.

    Poor George. He was one of the greatest songwriters of all time, but only the third best in his own band.

17. Till Lindemann

    

    Till Lindemann is a German singer, songwriter, musician, actor, poet, and pyrotechnician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of the German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. Lindemann is also known for his solo project, Lindemann, and for his provocative and theatrical performance style... read more

18. Amy Lee

    

    Amy Lee, born Amy Lynn Hartzler, is an American singer-songwriter, classically trained pianist, and composer. She is best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Evanescence, which gained global fame with their 2003 hit Bring Me to Life.... read more

19. Ray Davies

    

    Raymond Douglas "Ray" Davies is an English musician and songwriter. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the rock band The Kinks, which he co-founded with his younger brother, Dave Davies. Ray Davies is widely regarded as one of the most influential British songwriters of the 1960s.

    In my humble opinion, Ray Davies writes the most brilliant, witty, woeful, sarcastic, and savage lyrics in all of rock history. It's absolutely a crying shame that the Kinks' four-year ban from the U.S. deprived Americans of some of their most incredible work.

    People usually talk about songs like Lola, All Day and All of the Night, You Really Got Me, and Sunny Afternoon, which are great songs, but he wrote a lot of wonderful songs with beautiful, witty lyrics.

20. Michelle Leonard

    

    Michelle Leonard (born 5 June 1973) is a German-British singer and songwriter, currently based in Berlin.

    Leonard has written and co-written numerous songs, including singles and album tracks, that have achieved gold and platinum certification.... read more

21. Mark Knopfler

    

    Mark Freuder Knopfler is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and film score composer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Dire Straits. Knopfler is also noted for his fingerstyle guitar playing and storytelling lyrics.

    He never gets the credit for his songwriting. Although he is regarded as a genius songwriter and is pretty famous, critics would never choose him as one of the best songwriters, because his songs are full of criticism. I doubt critics would ever accept that.

    Mark has never got credit for his playing or his writing.

22. Alex Turner

    

    Alexander David "Alex" Turner is an English musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter of the English rock band Arctic Monkeys. Turner is also known for his work with the side project The Last Shadow Puppets, and his lyrical style has received widespread acclaim.

23. Ronnie James Dio

    

    Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald James Padavona. July 10, 1942 - May 16, 2010) was an American heavy metal singer, songwriter, and musician. He led and performed with several bands including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and Heaven & Hell.... read more

24. Ville Valo

    

    Ville Hermanni Valo is a Finnish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and main songwriter of the gothic rock band HIM, which was active from 1991 to 2017. In 2023, Valo released his debut solo album Neon Noir under the moniker VV.

25. Paul Brady

    

26. Paul Anka

    

    Paul Albert Anka, OC, is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actor. Anka rose to fame during the late 1950s with hits like "Diana", "Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "Having My Baby". He also wrote the theme for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and the English lyrics... read more

27. Laura Nyro

    

    Laura Nyro was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She earned critical acclaim for her original albums, especially Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry. Her work also achieved commercial success through hit versions of her songs recorded by artists such as Barbra Streisand... read more