Top Ten Most Overrated Rock Musicians

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

Very very overrated.I don't like his voice (my opinion).And his written songs are weird. - zxm

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

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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!

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

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

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 pure garbage. Again, proof that people in the 60's were on drugs, if they thought he had any talent. He must have paid Rolling Stone magazine some money or had blackmail on someone there for them to even list him in the top 1 million.

He isn't that much overrated.I wouldn't count him as a overrated singer - zxm

He's actually often underrated as many can't get past the sound of his voice to recognize the positive skills. - Billyv

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

He is little bit of overrated - zxm

He sucks

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

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

Maybe he should've stick with the black magic.and his little mousy friend. - zxm

Very overrated. Nothing really special about him.

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

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

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 garbage. His singing material was more difficult than the average. - Metal_Treasure

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.

He has god voice. He was pure genius. Greatest performer in Rock history.