Michael is number 1 on the "Best Singers of All Time" list.

[GGVVGGCC22331122]

So according to this list and the comments in this thread, all the "best singers of all time" sing in English and mostly perform Top 40 music. I guess people who sing in other languages can't sing that well. :rofl:

That’s because, the majority of singers/performers that most people are familiar with, and know who they are, speak native English and come from Western countries (particularly, from the United Kingdom and the United States). The majority of music listeners who are familiar with certain artists’ work will listen to what they (and we) know, rather than to something unfamiliar and/or someone whose work is unknown - neither to them, nor to us.

 

[Michaels Lover]

Re: english only?

So according to this list and the comments in this thread, all the "best singers of all time" sing in English and mostly perform Top 40 music. I guess people who sing in other languages can't sing that well. :rofl:

there ain't even anyone from my country on that list. and I don't listen to music in languages I don't understand, so I'm not gonna vote for anyone who sings in a language I don't understand, because I have no idea who they are. so

 

[mjprince1976]

I’m glad, that Michael was put in first place in this poll, but the Web site, O.T.O.H., I really don’t know if it has enough of a credibility to be taken seriously, as a legitimate site, in itself.

Polls like this one are extremely subjective and made up by fans of certain singers (rather than objective, by people who really do know more about music and the singing-voice than most of us). Prince should have been placed right up there at the very top, with Michael, in my view. What do any of you think of Prince’s voice?

I strongly feel that, though his voice-type was as totally 180-degrees different from what Michael’s sounded like as it ever was, he sounded equally just as good. Do you think that it’s just as good as Michael’s, or no? I would like each of your honest opinions and assessments of Prince’s overall singing-voice.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Being the hard core, Prince devotee I am, I actually think Prince's voice is equal to Michael Jackson's if not better. Why?

Prince covered the whole range from a very smooth and high pitched falsetto to a guttural growl. His voice had many ranges and he could voice act well. Prince's speaking voice was not high pitched at all and he could sound very natural. He had a standard midwestern Minnesota voice (It's cold oout!). Like Michael, he could shift tone and emotion in a few bars (Like I siad in an earlier post, MJ's best vocals come through in BODF and Invincible).

Most of Prince's early pre 1982 sound was falsetto, but songs off Controversy and 1999 showcased his deeper voice and all of his music onwards had a mix of vocals. Prince rode his voices with the tone of the song and the musical backing (Guitars vs keys vs hornz). Prince's voice overall reminds the most of Little Richard, but he could channel other stars - Housequake is a perfect James Brown sound. Prince also had a dreamy sex vocal with a sort of coquettish panache mixed with cynicism. Prince between 1980 and 1988 was the master of bedroom sleaze and overdone sex ballads with screams, cooing and growls in amongst the breathy come to bed vocals. Something Michael never mastered until Break of Dawn, which I still consider a very Prince like song and it would not surprise me if Prince wrote that song and gave MJ the credit. Previously Prince tried to give him "Wouldn't u love 2 love me".

Songs like Adore, which have Prince singing against a niagara of his cascading backing vocals from falsetto to growls, his warmth and emotion in his voice and the fact he could cut from falsetto to a growl "How come u don't call me anymore". Prince was a major singer and it helped too, that he wrote 99% of all he sung including his voice parts and even when giving songs to the Bangles, Time, Sheila E and Martika amngst other Prince would leave guide vocals. There are versions of a song called a Place in Heaven, in which Prince actually sounds like Lisa and all the Jill Jones sessions have superlative Prince vocals. Jill Jones an occasional backing singer and girl friend of Prince, released what is considered the best album on Paisley park, besides Prince and Sheila E albums.

Plus Prince could even sing instructions, on Mountains - you hear "Guitars and drums on the one!" and a bootleg mix of Screams of Passion has Prince singing instructions to his bands, like "Lisa play bass notes on the organ", "Drop out the bass", "Everybody sing". Then there is the scream on the Beautiful ones for all you non fans and done better on the Dance, Do Me Baby, International Lover and a great unreleased track called Electric Intercourse. Prince's scream is incredible. But still the best example of his vocal versatility is Adore, there he channels, Sam Cooke, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and all the soul veterans, Prince's soul is his voice and it showed through.

Don't forget that his voice was only one part of the multi talented artist Prince was, his songwriting skills, his production, his work ethic and his instrumental capabilities, plus he told his bands and proteges, what to wear, how to dance and how to sing the music he gave them. Seriously guys I LOVE Michael Jackson and his voice, his dancing his talent and showmanship and his humility, but his voice and musicianship pale next to Prince. Prince was a force of nature!

I don't even recommend songs and albums as proof, as virtually any Prince album will have powerhouse vocals, still if I have to name albums I would say 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, SOTT and The Gold Experience, even last years Hitn Run Phase 2.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

Being the hard core, Prince devotee I am, I actually think Prince's voice is equal to Michael Jackson's if not better. Why?

Prince covered the whole range from a very smooth and high pitched falsetto to a guttural growl. His voice had many ranges and he could voice act well. Prince's speaking voice was not high pitched at all and he could sound very natural. He had a standard midwestern Minnesota voice (It's cold oout!). Like Michael, he could shift tone and emotion in a few bars (Like I siad in an earlier post, MJ's best vocals come through in BODF and Invincible).

Most of Prince's early pre 1982 sound was falsetto, but songs off Controversy and 1999 showcased his deeper voice and all of his music onwards had a mix of vocals. Prince rode his voices with the tone of the song and the musical backing (Guitars vs keys vs hornz). Prince's voice overall reminds the most of Little Richard, but he could channel other stars - Housequake is a perfect James Brown sound. Prince also had a dreamy sex vocal with a sort of coquettish panache mixed with cynicism. Prince between 1980 and 1988 was the master of bedroom sleaze and overdone sex ballads with screams, cooing and growls in amongst the breathy come to bed vocals. Something Michael never mastered until Break of Dawn, which I still consider a very Prince like song and it would not surprise me if Prince wrote that song and gave MJ the credit. Previously Prince tried to give him "Wouldn't u love 2 love me".

Songs like Adore, which have Prince singing against a niagara of his cascading backing vocals from falsetto to growls, his warmth and emotion in his voice and the fact he could cut from falsetto to a growl "How come u don't call me anymore". Prince was a major singer and it helped too, that he wrote 99% of all he sung including his voice parts and even when giving songs to the Bangles, Time, Sheila E and Martika amngst other Prince would leave guide vocals. There are versions of a song called a Place in Heaven, in which Prince actually sounds like Lisa and all the Jill Jones sessions have superlative Prince vocals. Jill Jones an occasional backing singer and girl friend of Prince, released what is considered the best album on Paisley park, besides Prince and Sheila E albums.

Plus Prince could even sing instructions, on Mountains - you hear "Guitars and drums on the one!" and a bootleg mix of Screams of Passion has Prince singing instructions to his bands, like "Lisa play bass notes on the organ", "Drop out the bass", "Everybody sing". Then there is the scream on the Beautiful ones for all you non fans and done better on the Dance, Do Me Baby, International Lover and a great unreleased track called Electric Intercourse. Prince's scream is incredible. But still the best example of his vocal versatility is Adore, there he channels, Sam Cooke, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and all the soul veterans, Prince's soul is his voice and it showed through.

Don't forget that his voice was only one part of the multi talented artist Prince was, his songwriting skills, his production, his work ethic and his instrumental capabilities, plus he told his bands and proteges, what to wear, how to dance and how to sing the music he gave them. Seriously guys I LOVE Michael Jackson and his voice, his dancing his talent and showmanship and his humility, but his voice and musicianship pale next to Prince. Prince was a force of nature!

I don't even recommend songs and albums as proof, as virtually any Prince album will have powerhouse vocals, still if I have to name albums I would say 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, SOTT and The Gold Experience, even last years Hitn Run Phase 2.

I love Prince voice. But to say that MJ's voice pales in comparison to prince's is blasphemy.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Being the hard core, Prince devotee I am, I actually think Prince's voice is equal to Michael Jackson's if not better. Why?

Prince covered the whole range from a very smooth and high pitched falsetto to a guttural growl. His voice had many ranges and he could voice act well. Prince's speaking voice was not high pitched at all and he could sound very natural. He had a standard midwestern Minnesota voice (It's cold oout!). Like Michael, he could shift tone and emotion in a few bars (Like I siad in an earlier post, MJ's best vocals come through in BODF and Invincible).

Most of Prince's early pre 1982 sound was falsetto, but songs off Controversy and 1999 showcased his deeper voice and all of his music onwards had a mix of vocals. Prince rode his voices with the tone of the song and the musical backing (Guitars vs keys vs hornz). Prince's voice overall reminds the most of Little Richard, but he could channel other stars - Housequake is a perfect James Brown sound. Prince also had a dreamy sex vocal with a sort of coquettish panache mixed with cynicism. Prince between 1980 and 1988 was the master of bedroom sleaze and overdone sex ballads with screams, cooing and growls in amongst the breathy come to bed vocals. Something Michael never mastered until Break of Dawn, which I still consider a very Prince like song and it would not surprise me if Prince wrote that song and gave MJ the credit. Previously Prince tried to give him "Wouldn't u love 2 love me".

Songs like Adore, which have Prince singing against a niagara of his cascading backing vocals from falsetto to growls, his warmth and emotion in his voice and the fact he could cut from falsetto to a growl "How come u don't call me anymore". Prince was a major singer and it helped too, that he wrote 99% of all he sung including his voice parts and even when giving songs to the Bangles, Time, Sheila E and Martika amngst other Prince would leave guide vocals. There are versions of a song called a Place in Heaven, in which Prince actually sounds like Lisa and all the Jill Jones sessions have superlative Prince vocals. Jill Jones an occasional backing singer and girl friend of Prince, released what is considered the best album on Paisley park, besides Prince and Sheila E albums.

Plus Prince could even sing instructions, on Mountains - you hear "Guitars and drums on the one!" and a bootleg mix of Screams of Passion has Prince singing instructions to his bands, like "Lisa play bass notes on the organ", "Drop out the bass", "Everybody sing". Then there is the scream on the Beautiful ones for all you non fans and done better on the Dance, Do Me Baby, International Lover and a great unreleased track called Electric Intercourse. Prince's scream is incredible. But still the best example of his vocal versatility is Adore, there he channels, Sam Cooke, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and all the soul veterans, Prince's soul is his voice and it showed through.

Don't forget that his voice was only one part of the multi talented artist Prince was, his songwriting skills, his production, his work ethic and his instrumental capabilities, plus he told his bands and proteges, what to wear, how to dance and how to sing the music he gave them. Seriously guys I LOVE Michael Jackson and his voice, his dancing his talent and showmanship and his humility, but his voice and musicianship pale next to Prince.Prince was a force of nature!

I don't even recommend songs and albums as proof, as virtually any Prince album will have powerhouse vocals, still if I have to name albums I would say 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, SOTT and The Gold Experience, even last years Hitn Run Phase 2.

Michael's voice does not pale in comparison to Prince's, and here's the definition of a musician from google.

"mu·si·cian
myo͞oˈziSHən/
noun
a person who plays a musical instrument, especially as a profession, or is musically talented.
"your father was a fine musician"
synonyms: player, performer, instrumentalist, accompanist, soloist, virtuoso, maestro; historicalminstrel
"the club is looking for musicians"

And Michael was musically talented as all get out, so his musicianship does not pale in comparison to Prince's either.
Literally the only thing Prince could do that Michael couldn't was play an instrument at an adept level, but on the flip side Prince couldn't even begin to dance on the same level as MJ.
Michael is extremely multi-talented too, if not more so then Prince.

 

[GGVVGGCC22331122]

Being the hard core, Prince devotee I am, I actually think Prince's voice is equal to Michael Jackson's if not better. Why?

Prince covered the whole range from a very smooth and high pitched falsetto to a guttural growl. His voice had many ranges and he could voice act well. Prince's speaking voice was not high pitched at all and he could sound very natural. He had a standard midwestern Minnesota voice (It's cold oout!). Like Michael, he could shift tone and emotion in a few bars (Like I siad in an earlier post, MJ's best vocals come through in BODF and Invincible).

Most of Prince's early pre 1982 sound was falsetto, but songs off Controversy and 1999 showcased his deeper voice and all of his music onwards had a mix of vocals. Prince rode his voices with the tone of the song and the musical backing (Guitars vs keys vs hornz). Prince's voice overall reminds the most of Little Richard, but he could channel other stars - Housequake is a perfect James Brown sound. Prince also had a dreamy sex vocal with a sort of coquettish panache mixed with cynicism. Prince between 1980 and 1988 was the master of bedroom sleaze and overdone sex ballads with screams, cooing and growls in amongst the breathy come to bed vocals. Something Michael never mastered until Break of Dawn, which I still consider a very Prince like song and it would not surprise me if Prince wrote that song and gave MJ the credit. Previously Prince tried to give him "Wouldn't u love 2 love me".

Songs like Adore, which have Prince singing against a niagara of his cascading backing vocals from falsetto to growls, his warmth and emotion in his voice and the fact he could cut from falsetto to a growl "How come u don't call me anymore". Prince was a major singer and it helped too, that he wrote 99% of all he sung including his voice parts and even when giving songs to the Bangles, Time, Sheila E and Martika amngst other Prince would leave guide vocals. There are versions of a song called a Place in Heaven, in which Prince actually sounds like Lisa and all the Jill Jones sessions have superlative Prince vocals. Jill Jones an occasional backing singer and girl friend of Prince, released what is considered the best album on Paisley park, besides Prince and Sheila E albums.

Plus Prince could even sing instructions, on Mountains - you hear "Guitars and drums on the one!" and a bootleg mix of Screams of Passion has Prince singing instructions to his bands, like "Lisa play bass notes on the organ", "Drop out the bass", "Everybody sing". Then there is the scream on the Beautiful ones for all you non fans and done better on the Dance, Do Me Baby, International Lover and a great unreleased track called Electric Intercourse. Prince's scream is incredible. But still the best example of his vocal versatility is Adore, there he channels, Sam Cooke, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and all the soul veterans, Prince's soul is his voice and it showed through.

Don't forget that his voice was only one part of the multi talented artist Prince was, his songwriting skills, his production, his work ethic and his instrumental capabilities, plus he told his bands and proteges, what to wear, how to dance and how to sing the music he gave them. Seriously guys I LOVE Michael Jackson and his voice, his dancing his talent and showmanship and his humility, but his voice and musicianship pale next to Prince. Prince was a force of nature!

I don't even recommend songs and albums as proof, as virtually any Prince album will have powerhouse vocals, still if I have to name albums I would say 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, SOTT and The Gold Experience, even last years Hitn Run Phase 2.

MJPrince, (I just love your Screen Name, by the way.) I agree, pretty much, with each of the points you make in your comments. You thoroughly explain in great detail why, in your honest personal opinion, Prince Rogers Nelson was equally as good of a vocalist as Michael Joseph Jackson ever was during his whole, entire career - if not better. Their voices (whether they were singing or speaking, as that never really mattered) couldn’t have been any more different - like night and day, or trying to compare “Apples” to “Oranges,” so to speak - as their styles of singing reflected and further emphasized those differences. Of course, Prince became famous as a young adult, whereas Michael became famous as a child, about roughly ten years ahead of him.

Like I always say, I’d much rather listen to Michael’s voice when he sang a really nice, good slower ballad (such as “Butterflies,” “Speechless,” the closing theme from the movie, “BEN,” or songs like “I'll Be There,” “Human Nature” and my most favorite song from “This Is It,” the fabulous duet of “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”). With Prince, however, the tempo of a particular song doesn’t really matter as much; The faster-paced songs’ vocals sound just as good as the ones Prince used for his slower-paced material.

The topics and subject matter of a song, as you point out, were as completely different, and opposite between the two of them, as anything else that could have ever been. Prince was no more the type of person to have sung a song like “Heal the World,” for example, than Michael Jackson would have been to have even thought of singing a song like “Scandalous” (whether the longer or shorter version of it), because, that wouldn't have fit in with their respective personae and images at all. Though we have yet to actually have heard Michael singing even one single syllable of a Prince lyric (much less a whole, complete line of one song), Prince, O.T.O.H., has been known to perform and sing songs that Michael had originally either sung by himself or with his brothers, as part of his LIVE shows, in more recent years.

Both men were each great musical artists, in their own way, with each one having had his own unique style of singing, and sound of his voice. They were SO completely and totally opposite one another (yet, equally talented, on every level), that neither one of them should be compared to the other. But, they were also somewhat alike, when it came to certain things. What do you think, about this?

 

[mjprince1976]

Guys calm down

I never said he wasn't. Glad some agree with me though, I am just one opinion of many and I am the first to admit, I have a strong Prince bias. I can't help it is just me. I agree too that Man in the Mirror is phenomemal and will not leave a dry eye (But then listen to "the love we make" and "Baltimore"). Still Man in the Mirror and Smooth Criminal along with Heal the world, will you be there, gone too soon and TDCAU along with Earth Song, Stranger in Moscow and Ghosts/Is it scary along with most of Invincible is reason enough why Michael Jackson is still an equal to Prince in my heavily Prince filled world.
.
There is love in my heart for both. Both were incredible artists in their own way!

I will easily admit too, that Prince copied Michael's falsetto and used Michael as a huge inspiration (Rolling Stone called Prince in 1979 as having a Jacksonesque falsetto and Michael Jackson with bigger balls). Plus even Prince owned up to singing Jackson 5 songs in his early bands (Grand Central/Shampayne and Soul Explosion - early/mid 70s). In the very early days his cousin sang the deeper parts and songs, but if it was Michael Jackson vocals in a song, Prince would come on and sing his lines - that is credit where credit is due.

They never taped their songs and shows until 1976 when Shampayne went into a studio and cut their first tracks, the owner Chris Moon saw Prince working when the others (Including a teenage Morris Day) goofing off and the rest is history! Still imagine if a shampayne tape from 1974 showed up and had the 15 year old Prince singing Dancing Machine?

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

edit...

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

Elvis is a better singer for the people than Frank Sinatra? Get out of here! He was called The Voice for a reason.
Elvis was like Justine Beiber in the 50's, a handsome and charismatic performer in stage.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Elvis was like Justine Beiber in the 50's, a handsome and charismatic performer in stage.

Well damn.
I don't see a lie though.
When it comes to Elvis as an artist this is very true.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Guys calm down

I never said he wasn't. Glad some agree with me though, I am just one opinion of many and I am the first to admit, I have a strong Prince bias. I can't help it is just me. I agree too that Man in the Mirror is phenomemal and will not leave a dry eye (But then listen to "the love we make" and "Baltimore"). Still Man in the Mirror and Smooth Criminal along with Heal the world, will you be there, gone too soon and TDCAU along with Earth Song, Stranger in Moscow and Ghosts/Is it scary along with most of Invincible is reason enough why Michael Jackson is still an equal to Prince in my heavily Prince filled world.
.
There is love in my heart for both. Both were incredible artists in their own way!

I will easily admit too, that Prince copied Michael's falsetto and used Michael as a huge inspiration (Rolling Stone called Prince in 1979 as having a Jacksonesque falsetto and Michael Jackson with bigger balls). Plus even Prince owned up to singing Jackson 5 songs in his early bands (Grand Central/Shampayne and Soul Explosion - early/mid 70s). In the very early days his cousin sang the deeper parts and songs, but if it was Michael Jackson vocals in a song, Prince would come on and sing his lines - that is credit where credit is due.

They never taped their songs and shows until 1976 when Shampayne went into a studio and cut their first tracks, the owner Chris Moon saw Prince working when the others (Including a teenage Morris Day) goofing off and the rest is history! Still imagine if a shampayne tape from 1974 showed up and had the 15 year old Prince singing Dancing Machine?

K, we're cool.
I'll admit, I do go from 0 to 100 real quick when I think someone is or someone actually tries to diminish MJ as an artist because as an artist he's already underrated as is when you look at what he accomplished and could do.
I also get tired of seeing other people belittle MJ to make their own fave seem better, but I don't think that was your intention, and you've admitted your bias too, so yeah, we're good. :yes:

 

[DuranDuran]

That’s because, the majority of singers/performers that most people are familiar with, and know who they are, speak native English and come from Western countries (particularly, from the United Kingdom and the United States). The majority of music listeners who are familiar with certain artists’ work will listen to what they (and we) know, rather than to something unfamiliar and/or someone whose work is unknown - neither to them, nor to us.

That's all well and good if the list was titled "people who sing in English", "singers who sell the most", or "singers that white people know" since it appears to be mostly white singers for the first 300 on the list and the others are ones who had crossed over to Top 40 (Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Sam Cooke, Rihanna, Beyonce, etc.). But it's not. I'm pretty sure if I show this list to some of my relatives, they won't know the many of the singers as they don't listen to Top 40. It's also likely that they would not name Akon (who is on the list) over the Clark Sisters (who are not on the list). There's also the case that there's singers that sing in Spanish like Romeo Santos who get the same numbers on Youtube as Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber and way more than Jared Leto's band and Jared is 34 at the moment. But Romeo is not on the list at all and neither is Celia Cruz. Even Gloria Estefan, who does sing in English and has had Top 40 success, is in the 400s. I wonder who would be in the upper 300 if this list was given in Mexico, Cuba, or any country in South America and Africa.

 

[HIStoric]

Elvis was like Justine Beiber in the 50's, a handsome and charismatic performer in stage.

Careful not to cut yourself on all that edge.

I know Elvis was a great singer and a great guitar player, but I wonder how much influence he had in the studio in other roles (and therefore music as a whole, since he was extremely influential). Funnily enough though, Justin Bieber has actually helped write his music - something Elvis did not.

 

[HIStory]

I will never understand why Prince fans think his falsetto makes him a better singer than MJ. Like I said when someone always uses falsetto to sing high it is actually used to mask weaknesses in the higher register in someone's natural voice (and because of that often it is not even counted in range because it is actually a bit of a cheating). Take away Prince's falsetto and his vocals are pretty much one-dimensional and don't have much expressiveness IMO. Prince uses an extreme amount of falsetto because that is his only way to express emotion in vocals wheras Michael had so many ways and so many means in his vocals. He did not need to scream in falsetto all the time to sound passionate. He had the blues and expressiveness just in his natural voice. To me he is a far better vocalist than Prince with so much more colors to his vocals than Prince. I have an MJ-Prince playlist and Prince's singing can become boring after a while because he uses the same tricks every time. MJ's never.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

If it wasn't for the racial segregation existing in those decades, Chuck Berry and Little Richard would have been the ones slaying rock and roll and receiving all the praise and popularity Elvis got. Elvis Presley was created because the racist industry didn't allow the white youth to have black idols / heroes in music. Scotty Moore should deserve more praise for his playing of the guitar in such songs as Jailhouse Rock, Heartbreak Hotel to mention examples, he did most of the job.

 

[HIStory]

Prince between 1980 and 1988 was the master of bedroom sleaze and overdone sex ballads with screams, cooing and growls in amongst the breathy come to bed vocals. Something Michael never mastered until Break of Dawn, which I still consider a very Prince like song and it would not surprise me if Prince wrote that song and gave MJ the credit.

Just because something is about sex it doesn't mean it was copied from Prince. (I saw you claim this about other songs too where MJ sang about sex. "Oh he must have wanted to copy Prince with that.") There have been many people singing about sex besides Prince. Also "MJ never mastered it" is a pretty biased thing to say. MJ simply had overwhelmingly different themes and interests than sex unlike Prince who sang about sex all the time. That doesn't mean "he did not master" it. BTW, the same can be said about falsetto. Just because MJ had a great natural range and didn't need to go falsetto for every high note because he had range in the natural register as well, it doesn't mean he couldn't have mastered falsetto the same way as Prince if he had wanted. He just didn't use falsetto that much, well, because he didn't need it to hit high notes, unlike Prince. Falsetto can be a bit overhyped by Prince fans because he uses it extensively, but thing is that often it is not even counted to range because it is "cheating".

Prince was a major singer and it helped too, that he wrote 99% of all he sung including his voice parts and even when giving songs to the Bangles, Time, Sheila E and Martika amngst other Prince would leave guide vocals.

Now that you mention it, often I prefer Prince songs that are sung or covered by someone else rather than sung by Prince. Something that would never happen to me with Michael. That means, to me me, at least Prince can be outdone on his own songs in terms of performance and vocals. I actually think MJ could have done wonders to some of his songs by just singing them. In my view Michael is a lot better singer. Singing is about a bit more to me than just a strong falsetto.

 

[DuranDuran]

1950s

If it wasn't for the racial segregation existing in those decades, Chuck Berry and Little Richard would have been the ones slaying rock and roll and receiving all the praise and popularity Elvis got. Elvis Presley was created because the racist industry didn't allow the white youth to have black idols / heroes in music. Scotty Moore should deserve more praise for his playing of the guitar in such songs as Jailhouse Rock, Heartbreak Hotel to mention examples, he did most of the job.

Are you sure that's all it is? Because how come other white rock n' roll singers of the time like Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent did not get the same amount of popularity as Elvis? Pat Boone was more popular than them and he was not really rock at all. Also Sam Cooke was RCA's most popular act after Elvis at the time, but Sam's music was not as rock n roll though. Some of Sam's stuff was closer to Johnny Mathis & Nat King Cole, who were both popular with white adults rather than teenagers. Johnny is also the singer who popularized both the Greatest Hits and Christmas album. It wasn't Elvis. Jackie Wilson did not have the same amount of crossover success as Sam, Fats Domino, Johnny Mathis, and later Chubby Checker.

Rock n roll in general was said to cause juvenile delinquency and Elvis was called a N-lover and that he sang jungle bunny music. That's why the governement tried to shut it down with the payola trials in the late 1950s, just as soon as rock became popular, when payola had always existed in the record industry and was not a problem before.

 

[HIStoric]

If it wasn't for the racial segregation existing in those decades, Chuck Berry and Little Richard would have been the ones slaying rock and roll and receiving all the praise and popularity Elvis got. Elvis Presley was created because the racist industry didn't allow the white youth to have black idols / heroes in music. Scotty Moore should deserve more praise for his playing of the guitar in such songs as Jailhouse Rock, Heartbreak Hotel to mention examples, he did most of the job.

Not just the industry, but a lot of society too. Older people and officials didn't like the idea that the white youth were dancing to "n***** music" (not my words - obviously). I'm just doing some reading on it now and white artists (such as Carl Perkins) did infact receive backlash for playing "black music", often being pressured by officials not to perform them.

Goes without saying it's terrible that racism against African-Americans at the time buried the sheer impact both Chuck Berry and Little Richards had on rock'n'roll (in public perception anyway - any decent music fan with an interest in this area would have some idea of reality). By playing it and popularising it so much, Elvis did help the integration and acceptance of "black music" - even if other artists such as Berry and Richard were more influential in the music itself. But you know, I don't blame Elvis, all this reviling racist bullshit is by no means his fault and he himself wasn't a racist (not saying anyone here was blaming him).

The music he played and merged together was the sort of music he grew up listening to in poorer Southern communities after all, and he gave credit when credit was due - even rejecting the title of "The King of Rock'n'Roll": When a reporter referred to him as the 'king of rock 'n' roll' at the press conference following his 1969 Las Vegas opening, he rejected the title, as he always did, calling attention to the presence in the room of his friend Fats Domino, 'one of my influences from way back'.

While I'm not the most knowledgable in this area, I do recognise the varying impact and influence the aforementioned artists have. On an interesting side note as well, both Chuck Berry and Little Richard are still alive today. I noticed this a few weeks ago and was slightly surprised actually.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

^^Some of those performers/musicians you mentioned covered songs by Chuck, LR, among other black composers they were popular partially thanks to them.

I never blamed on Elvis the racism black artists went through.

 

[HIStoric]

Re: 1950s

Rock n roll in general was said to cause juvenile delinquency and Elvis was called a N-lover and that he sang jungle bunny music. That's why the governement tried to shut it down with the payola trials in the late 1950s, just as soon as rock became popular, when payola had always existed in the record industry and was not a problem before.

Parents were over the moon when they found out Elvis was going to be drafted into the US Army. Ironically, that age group ended up liking him more once he left the army, given he had refused special treatment and then later began to sing gospel music.

I never blamed on Elvis the racism black artists went through.

Didn't intend to infer that anyone here did, amended my post to make sure people don't misread what I said

 

[DuranDuran]

Re: 1950s

Parents were over the moon when they found out Elvis was going to be drafted into the US Army. Ironically, that age group ended up liking him more once he left the army, given he had refused special treatment and then later began to sing gospel music.

They thought his popularity would wane while he was away. Colonel Parker started to tone down Elvis image as well. There was a difference in his pre-army image, songs, and movies and the ones after he got out. That's probably why there was a big deal about the Elvis comeback special in the late 1960s, when he had not gone anywhere. I think it was probably early Elvis fans who considered it a comeback after years of soundtrack hits which were not generally rock, especially when The Beatles hit and helped change the sound of rock.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

If it wasn't for the racial segregation existing in those decades, Chuck Berry and Little Richard would have been the ones slaying rock and roll and receiving all the praise and popularity Elvis got. Elvis Presley was created because the racist industry didn't allow the white youth to have black idols / heroes in music. Scotty Moore should deserve more praise for his playing of the guitar in such songs as Jailhouse Rock, Heartbreak Hotel to mention examples, he did most of the job.

This is the entire truth, and anyone that denies it is being willfully ignorant.
It's why I couldn't give a shit less when people talk about Elvis's influence and what not.
The only reason he was so "influential" is because black people weren't allowed to be.
Was he a good singer, yes, yes he was, but was he overall leagues better then his peers that same way MJ and the Beatles were, hell all the way to the no.
Was the racism his fault, no, no it wasn't, but you'd have to be delusional to say that he didn't benefit heavily from it.
#FACTS

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

I will never understand why Prince fans think his falsetto makes him a better singer than MJ. Like I said when someone always uses falsetto to sing high it is actually used to mask weaknesses in the higher register in someone's natural voice (and because of that often it is not even counted in range because it is actually a bit of a cheating). Take away Prince's falsetto and his vocals are pretty much one-dimensional and don't have much expressiveness IMO. Prince uses an extreme amount of falsetto because that is his only way to express emotion in vocals wheras Michael had so many ways and so many means in his vocals. He did not need to scream in falsetto all the time to sound passionate. He had the blues and expressiveness just in his natural voice. To me he is a far better vocalist than Prince with so much more colors to his vocals than Prince. I have an MJ-Prince playlist and Prince's singing can become boring after a while because he uses the same tricks every time. MJ's never.

Just because something is about sex it doesn't mean it was copied from Prince. (I saw you claim this about other songs too where MJ sang about sex. "Oh he must have wanted to copy Prince with that.") There have been many people singing about sex besides Prince. Also "MJ never mastered it" is a pretty biased thing to say. MJ simply had overwhelmingly different themes and interests than sex unlike Prince who sang about sex all the time. That doesn't mean "he did not master" it. BTW, the same can be said about falsetto. Just because MJ had a great natural range and didn't need to go falsetto for every high note because he had range in the natural register as well, it doesn't mean he couldn't have mastered falsetto the same way as Prince if he had wanted. He just didn't use falsetto that much, well, because he didn't need it to hit high notes, unlike Prince. Falsetto can be a bit overhyped by Prince fans because he uses it extensively, but thing is that often it is not even counted to range because it is "cheating".



Now that you mention it, often I prefer Prince songs that are sung or covered by someone else rather than sung by Prince. Something that would never happen to me with Michael. That means, to me me, at least Prince can be outdone on his own songs in terms of performance and vocals. I actually think MJ could have done wonders to some of his songs by just singing them. In my view Michael is a lot better singer. Singing is about a bit more to me than just a strong falsetto.

I agree with everything. :yes:
But damn.

The person your talking to said they have a Prince bias, which is the main reason why I personally left them alone (why argue/debate with someone with an obvious bias that they don't plan on changing?).
TBH though, an MJ fan forum isn't the best place to express a Prince bias (or a bias for any other artist for that matter) in the first place.

 

[mjprince1976]

I agree with everything. :yes:
But damn.

The person your talking to said they have a Prince bias, so I personally left them alone (why argue with someone with an obvious bias).
TBH though, an MJ fan forum isn't the best place to express a Prince bias in the first place.

Amazing you guys back down and then you attack again. You have misread my posts and I state clearly prince's voice went way beyond falsetto, I bet neither of you have heard songs like The Beautiful Ones, Adore or Black Sweat, or the pop appeal of Kiss.

I should not have stepped into this shit though. The same mess is talked all over Prince org except the shoe is on the other foot, the resident Michael fans get torn to shreds by the Prince maniacs and a few Prince fans still believe MJ was a paedophile and the rest. If I defend Michael there, because Michael Jackson's voice is worth all the defending, I will get torn to shreds.

I just wish some of you could read my posts and listen to some of the songs I suggest without an anti Prince bias, which is what a lot of you had. Even Michael Jackson liked Prince and followed his career. Also Prince sung about more than sex. Ever heard Act Of God, The Rainbow Children, The one, The Holy River, Ronnie talk 2 russia, Money don't matter 2 nite or Joy in Repetition. I have owned up to having a Prince bias, but some of you all have a strong antiprince bias, as great as MJ was, there is more than one great artist in the world.

May u all live 2 c the dawn, this is the dawning of a new spiritual revolution!

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Amazing you guys back down and then you attack again. You have misread my posts and I state clearly prince's voice went way beyond falsetto, I bet neither of you have heard songs like The Beautiful Ones, Adore or Black Sweat, or the pop appeal of Kiss.

I should not have stepped into this shit though. The same mess is talked all over Prince org except the shoe is on the other foot, the resident Michael fans get torn to shreds by the Prince maniacs and a few Prince fans still believe MJ was a paedophile and the rest. If I defend Michael there, because Michael Jackson's voice is worth all the defending, I will get torn to shreds.

I just wish some of you could read my posts and listen to some of the songs I suggest without an anti Prince bias, which is what a lot of you had. Even Michael Jackson liked Prince and followed his career. Also Prince sung about more than sex. Ever heard Act Of God, The Rainbow Children, The one, The Holy River, Ronnie talk 2 russia, Money don't matter 2 nite or Joy in Repetition. I have owned up to having a Prince bias, but some of you all have a strong antiprince bias, as great as MJ was, there is more than one great artist in the world.

May u all live 2 c the dawn, this is the dawning of a new spiritual revolution!

I wouldn't call it an attack, all I said is that I agree with them, the same way that someone agreed with you (trust me I can be very mean if I want to be, but I wasn't and currently am not acting in such a way).
I personally haven't said one bad thing about Prince or you in this thread.
I do commend you for defending MJ though (can't be mad at that).

Edit: And TBH, I don't think Respect was attacking you or Prince either, I think they were just responding to what you said albeit in a somewhat shady way because they were a bit miffed.

All in all you have to realize that saying MJ pales in comparison to anyone is not a good thing to do on an MJ fansite.
I personally forgave you and let it go this time, but obviously there will be people that will not. *shrug*

 

[GGVVGGCC22331122]

I wouldn't call it an attack, all I said is that I agree with them, the same way that someone agreed with you (trust me I can be very mean if I want to be, but I wasn't and currently am not acting in such a way).
I personally haven't said one bad thing about Prince or you in this thread.
I do commend you for defending MJ though (can't be mad at that).

Edit: And TBH, I don't think Respect was attacking you or Prince either, I think they were just responding to what you said albeit in a somewhat shady way because they were a bit miffed.

All in all you have to realize that saying MJ pales in comparison to anyone is not a good thing to do on an MJ fansite.
I personally forgave you and let it go this time, but obviously there will be people that will not. *shrug*

I’m sorry, P.D.P. I didn’t know that my simply asking for an honest assessment of another artist’s singing-voice (one whose many talents - including singing, in my opinion - I consider as having been equal to Michael, not any “better” or “worse”) would cause some posters to react the way they have. This is a Web site for Michael’s fans, I know that. Like you, P.D.P., like Respect, like MJPrince and anyone else, here, who makes comments and who posts on this board, I am one of them, myself. But, one can enjoy the music, and thoroughly appreciate the talents, equally, of other great vocalists as well.

I never meant for anyone to react negatively, nor to cause trouble, here. Do you understand what I'm saying? If there is anyone to blame for how this discussion turned out, and ended up becoming in the first place, then, blame me for even bringing up the subject matter at all. If anyone posting in this thread was offended by the direction where it was headed, I really do apologize.

 

[analogue]

This is the entire truth, and anyone that denies it is being willfully ignorant.
It's why I couldn't give a shit less when people talk about Elvis's influence and what not.
The only reason he was so "influential" is because black people weren't allowed to be.
Was he a good singer, yes, yes he was, but was he overall leagues better then his peers that same way MJ and the Beatles were, hell all the way to the no.
Was the racism his fault, no, no it wasn't, but you'd have to be delusional to say that he didn't benefit heavily from it.
#FACTS

Speaking of Elvis, I don't understand how anyone could call him a musical genius. He was a good singer, but a genius is something that he was not. The people who wrote those songs for him were the real geniuses.

 

[HIStory]

Amazing you guys back down and then you attack again. You have misread my posts and I state clearly prince's voice went way beyond falsetto, I bet neither of you have heard songs like The Beautiful Ones, Adore or Black Sweat, or the pop appeal of Kiss.

I should not have stepped into this shit though. The same mess is talked all over Prince org except the shoe is on the other foot, the resident Michael fans get torn to shreds by the Prince maniacs and a few Prince fans still believe MJ was a paedophile and the rest. If I defend Michael there, because Michael Jackson's voice is worth all the defending, I will get torn to shreds.

I just wish some of you could read my posts and listen to some of the songs I suggest without an anti Prince bias, which is what a lot of you had. Even Michael Jackson liked Prince and followed his career. Also Prince sung about more than sex. Ever heard Act Of God, The Rainbow Children, The one, The Holy River, Ronnie talk 2 russia, Money don't matter 2 nite or Joy in Repetition. I have owned up to having a Prince bias, but some of you all have a strong antiprince bias, as great as MJ was, there is more than one great artist in the world.

May u all live 2 c the dawn, this is the dawning of a new spiritual revolution!

You expressed the view that you prefer Prince's vocals, to which you got a few opinions that disagreed with you and now you act like you are a victim and being "attacked". You do that very often - and maybe on Prince.org as well - have you thought about whether that is the reason why you get the type of reactions you do on both forums?

Expressing views that we are not as impressed with Prince's vocals as you are is not an "attack" on you and not any more an "attack" on Prince than you saying things like MJ couldn't touch Prince vocally.

I just wish some of you could read my posts and listen to some of the songs I suggest without an anti Prince bias, which is what a lot of you had. Even Michael Jackson liked Prince and followed his career.

I have all the songs you listed and heard them numerous times. I am just less impressed by those vocals than you are - at least in comparation to MJ's vocals. But I do like Prince and I expressed that several times on this forum so your assumption of "anti Prince bias" is laughable. I may have a pro-MJ bias but "anti Prince"? C'mon. This simply means that overall I am more impressed by MJ as an artist thus I prefer him to Prince. That doesn't mean I hate Prince. Those aren't the only two extremes. To consider MJ a better vocalist and artist is not an "attack" - especially when you (and GGVVGGCC22331122) instigated this boring MJ vs. Prince thing again by saying MJ "pales in comparation to Prince". When you say such things on an MJ forum don't you think that people might genuinely disagree with that? And that is not an "attack" on either you or Prince. Don't be childish. It seems to me that when people disagree with you you love to play victim and act like you are being "attacked" for your opinion. When people simply express a different opinion. That's all. That's not any more an "attack" than your initial opinion is.

Also Prince sung about more than sex. Ever heard Act Of God, The Rainbow Children, The one, The Holy River, Ronnie talk 2 russia, Money don't matter 2 nite or Joy in Repetition.

I didn't say he only sang about sex, I said this:

MJ simply had overwhelmingly different themes and interests than sex unlike Prince who sang about sex all the time.

That doesn't mean "only" - that means often. MJ simply had different themes and pet topics.

 

[Tony R]

Said it before and I'll say it again, Michael Jackson had the perfect voice for his songs, Prince had the perfect voice for his songs..

I can't imagine Prince singing Smile or SIM with as much beauty and I can't imagine MJ singing Gett Off or Sexy MF with as much sex and funk.

Not every argument has to have a winner.

 

[Nite Line]

Said it before and I'll say it again, Michael Jackson had the perfect voice for his songs, Prince had the perfect voice for his songs..

I can't imagine Prince singing Smile or SIM with as much beauty and I can't imagine MJ singing Gett Off or Sexy MF with as much sex and funk.

Not every argument has to have a winner.

This. MJ and Prince were two different kind of singers so to compare them is futile. They were both great in their own way.