10 Strongest Voices In Alternative Rock Music

One of the true heroes of the alternative music scene, Mark Lanegan was the vocalist with Screaming Trees, who formed in 1984 in Washington, but integrated themselves in the movement of their neighbouring city when the Seattle scene started to grow and gain prominence in the late-eighties. He’s famous for his deep, husky, baritone style, often swirling cigarette smoke around his vocal cords as he sang, and was highly respected by his peers often collaborating and guesting on records.

He recorded a number of unreleased cover songs with Kurt Cobain, some of which would go on to form part of Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York performance, and he was hand picked by Layne Staley (Alice In Chains) to sing backing vocals with Mad Season on their album Above (1995). Lanegan’s creativity would really take off after he left Screaming Trees, releasing a steady stream of experimental solo albums in the 2000s.

His style would start to lean heavily in a Nick Cave kind of direction, with prominent influence also in his sound from the likes of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan. He would spend a number of years working with Josh Homme, too, as Queens Of The Stone Age were finding early success, touring with the band and performing on their albums Rated R (2000), Songs for the Deaf (2002) and Lullabies to Paralyze (2005).