Top Ten Most Overrated Rock Musicians

So well deserved considering what ge said about bon jovi, lol. Even if some people don't like their music, Jon is naturally a great singer unlike Cobain. Kurt just moans on his tracks, but may he rest in peace. I will say Smells like teen spirit is a good record. - MC1989

I Totally agree here he's called the greatest guitarist and singer ever when he is neither and terrible at doing both. - christangrant

Much overrated as any other singer.

Indeed he is overrated.He doesn't have that much talent as people make it.

Nope. Deserves all the credit he gets, no matter how much.

Religious whore

A kid who we rode with in a van in 8th grade who bashed Metallica and worships Led Zeppelin when we argue about which band is better thinks Jimmy Page is the greatest guitarist and if you don’t think so, you’re wrong. I said the Stairway to Heaven guitar solo is sub-par and he got SO mad about me for it (he said: yoU ThINk a SoLO WiTH *I forget how many* cHOrDs iS SUb-pAr?!?! 😖)! I personally think there are MANY better guitarists than Jimmy Page. - PhoenixAura81

Horrible voice, and though he could write decent singles, his albums are filled with plenty of boring and undistinguished folk songs and performances.

Terrible singer, horrible voice,may cat is singing better than him. Highly overrated.

Agree, overrated only as a singer. His songwriting skills are something different. However, he is overrated even on the Rolling Stone Magazine's "100 Greatest Singers" - he is at #7, whereas Freddie Mercury is #18. Come on, this shows who's overrated and who's underrated. - Metal_Treasure

So should the list time be "overrated by Rolling Stone Magazine"? I think people on this site overrate the word "overrated" - just because a small sampling of opinions rate someone "too high" doesn't make that someone generally overrated. - Billyv

He is a quite good songwriter, but a terrible singer!

Overrated? He is the one that did give Rock and Roll an image. He invented while at SUN records a new style ( Rockabilly, which didn't exist before him and which can be concidered as the primitive form of Rock and Roll ). And don't tell me that he is overrated for his voice. This singer could sing everything ( Rock, Gospel, Ballads, Blues... ) and when you are listening to old rockabilly songs of the fifties it is obvious that almost rockabilly singer was trying to copy his style of singing. The statement of his " overrating " lays maybe in his later work ( mainly the 70's and his 70's shows ) but this had more to do with his tragic lifestory ( people around him and people of the music business who were taking the decisions, his manager etc... ) but certainly not overrated for his talent. He is the King and he is still and will remain this for eternity. LONG LIVE THE KING OF ROCK!

80.000 people visited Graceland for the vigil of his 40th ( 1977-2017 ) years since he died and you're saying that he is overrated. Of which other singer could you say that the social cultural impact he had on this world is more important than him? Chuck Berry? Don't make me laugh, as much as I love Chuck Berry he would never had a white audience ( and for that matter influence ) if Elvis hadn't existed. And please, try to listen more of his work ( especcially the period 1954 -1958 ) because saying that Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock are his only Rock and Roll records is ridiculous. 80% of his songs in that period are Rock and Roll. Don't listen just to his hits! The King of Rock and Roll can never been overrated. Without him this list would not even exist!

He just stole from black people so otters wanted to listen to rock and roll music. It was racist back then. He couldn't even write his own songs. - 445956

Biggest selling solo artist of all time, and second biggest period, behind only The Beatles. Exactly how can that be overrated?

Absolutely nothing special. An OK singer and guitarist (at best). - Metal_Treasure

He is overrated,but not more than Kurt Cobain - zxm

He has pretty good guitar skills,but only in punk rock,he didn't even play solos.and his voice is pretty much harsh.so how come he is rated top on best guitarist and vocalist lists - zxm

I don't know about the entire rock genre but he's definitely the most overrated metal musician - he isn't a very talented singer and he didn't invent metal music as many believe. Ozzy doesn't play any instrument and he can't even read notes. He's wrongly credited for many things achieved by other people. - Metal_Treasure

@zxm - of course Gillan is a way better singer not only because Gillan has a 4 octave vocal range but also because Gillan voice is more powerful and his vocal skills + technique are 100x better. Ozzy and Gillan even play in different leagues so to say. And Gillan was very influential towards establishing the metal singing style whereas Ozzy wasn't - for reasons you can imagine. - Metal_Treasure

I heard his octave is only 2.so how come he is the one of the best metal singers.Ian Gillan is way much better than him - zxm

IS SHE CRAZY - Buttman

Very overrated. Nothing really special about him.

Most successful musician of all time, including writing, performing, and producing.

He is not a bad guitarist, but incredibly overrated. - Userguy44

He is little bit of overrated - zxm

He sucks

Anyone who thinks Freddie Mercury was a greater or more important rock singer than Mick Jagger is delusional.

Oh come on, Mick Jagger's voice isn't even good...
I'm not a huge fan of Freddie either, but he's at least not out of tune most of the time as Metal_Treasure said

I agree with zxm - there were many good and even better singers. OK, I have nothing against Mick Jagger but he's kinda overrated as a singer, even on the Rolling Stone Magazine's "100 Greatest Singers". He is at #16 and Freddie Mercury at #18. You don't have to be an expert to understand that Freddie voice is way bigger and powerful, Freddie range is wider and overall, Freddie vocal skills - significantly better. - Metal_Treasure

There were a lot of good singers at that time - zxm

He looks ugly.

They call him the kamelion whilst he only changed his clotes but he kept singing the same songs about spacemen. - phr

Lars is the most untalented drummer of all time. The ONLY reason why he gets the praise he does is because he's the drummer in Metallica a.k.a. the most recognisable metal group on the planet. If he was in an obscure group he would be completely frowned upon.

He is a knob.

Overrated.there are a lot of good drummers - zxm

Definitely overrated. Rolling Stone magazine had him rated as the #16 rock singer, which is about right. Strictly a middleweight in his own era, when Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, and even Elton John were much more popular.

As for an "operatic style", Roy Orbison also had one, and his voice was much better than Freddie's too. Orbison did not have a brilliant guitarist like Brain May making him look better than he was, and did not die tragically of HIV complications, which gained Freddie major sympathy.

No, Freddie Mercury isn't overrated in the slightest. On the contrary, there are signs he is actually underrated. For example, on the Rolling Stone Magazine's "100 Greatest Singers" he is at #18, lower than Bob Dylan (! ) at #7, Mick Jagger at #16 (?!? ), and some other people that definitely aren't better singers. Freddie was also underrated in the 70s-80s because his operatic singing style was different from the mainstream style. His singing material was more difficult than the average. - Metal_Treasure

Roger Taylor has good vocals, he plays drums and guitar. Bass and keyboards too. But doesn't even get 1/4th credit like Freddie Mercury. - zxm

I always thought he's underrated to be honest

I don't think there was ever a time I went to Loudwire where his name wasnt mentioned - bigmike137

Overrated? He's more underrated.

He's both underrated and overrated. He's underrated compared to singers outside metal but he is getting overrated compared to singers within metal. Currently he is at #17 on the list "Top Metal Singers" but singers with way better vocal skills are way lower than him: Michael Kiske (32), Hansi Kürsch (29), Russell Allen (81), Tobias Sammet (49), Roy Khan (46), Mikael Åkerfeldt (28), to name a few. - Metal_Treasure

Metal_Treasure sorry, but this time I don't agree with you. He is the most underrated member of the Beatles, and after the Beatles disbanded, Ringo were unpopular... absolutely not overrated!

@somekindofaguy: I will explain why I decided he is overrated, at least on the Top 10 lists. He's usually in the top 10-20 best rock drummers (different versions of drummers lists) but many drummers that are better than him are significantly lower. I guess this is due to the effect of popularity - because the band is very popular people just vote for him. I have nothing against him but he is usually higher than more deserving drummers and this speaks "overrated". - Metal_Treasure

Yeah, in this way you're right, but as a musician not that overrated...

Ringo haters are so misguided.
His singular job was to keep proper time to the phenomenal Lennon/McCartney [and later Harrison] compositions, the greatest pop/rock songbook in history.
Any of the so-called "better" drummers of the era, whether Moon, Bonham, Baker, or whoever, would have tried to make it about themselves, the exact opposite of what was required.

crap - Ananya

No I don't think he is overrated. - zxm

I wouldn't consider him as a overrated singer.He doesn't even come on best singer's list on top 20 - zxm

No, he's UNDERrated. - Metal_Treasure

Overrated as a musician not as actor - zxm

His whole musical shtick was being a smartass performing 'arty' twaddle. He's tiresome.

Always overwrought. Everything he does sounds like the background to a Marlboro commercial.

His guitar playing went to sleep after he left Cream, and it hasn't woken up since. He does Muzak rock and roll.

Simon and Garfunkel was okay, but Simon's been a complete ass ever since, and his music is dull.