10 Rock Bands That Outshine Their Lead Singer

It's hard to really consider Steely Dan as having any frontman at all. While their songs have always been indebted to the trademark vocals of Donald Fagen, there's always been an enigmatic flair to everything these yacht rockers have put out. In fact, it's hard to really keep track of the members from one song to the next.

Compared to the usual setup for a rock act, the heart of Steely Dan has always been Fagen and Walter Becker, both of whom were not trying to be the most photogenic of rockstars. Being inspired by the worlds of jazz, blues, and rock, a lot of Steely Dan's material came down to studio creations, bringing in the best session players of the day to create some of the most off-the-wall arrangements the rock world had ever seen. Oh, they may have had a frontman at their disposal like Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers, but his role was just suited to a background vocal rather than a fully fledged member of the group.

Even the concept of the touring rock band didn't sit too well with Steely Dan, choosing to focus on crafting their songs in the studio rather than be road dogs delivering the goods night after night. In that way, Steely Dan might not even be a band at all. Steely Dan is more of a state of mind as a musician.