15 Best Hard Rock Singers Of All Time
1. Chris Cornell - Soundgarden
It was kind of a difficult time for vocalists once the grunge scene killed off hair metal. While these bands had great singers among their ranks, there wasn't anyone with the showstopping voice that hard rock had become known for. However, when Soundgarden burst onto the mainstream, the hard rock community was given something we didn't even know we needed.
Rather than go down the low register road of bands like Pearl Jam or Nirvana, Chris Cornell's voice was something ripped straight out of the classic rock playbook. Sitting somewhere in between the metal and alternative spectrum, songs like "Spoonman" and "Black Hole Sun" gave Generation X their own version of Robert Plant, with Cornell's voice sending us into the clouds and back down again.
While Soundgarden may be known as his main gig, Cornell's work with Audioslave also gave the rock world some of the most infectious rock tunes of the 2000's. For as much great material that he brought to this world, it was absolutely devastating when we found out this sonic marvel had died of suicide in mid 2017. Chris Cornell may not have been the greatest singer on Earth, but as far as hard rock goes, he belongs in a class of his own.