15 Best Hard Rock Singers Of All Time
8. Axl Rose - Guns N Roses
As metal made its way through the 80's, singers were getting prettier than they had any right to be. Whereas the genre of heavy guitars and high-pitched vocals started out dirty and disheveled, this poppy take on metal music rarely had any soul to speak of. What changed the poodle-haired scene of LA was a little band named Guns N Roses, whose singer seemed to be pulled out from the gutter.
The vocals and attitude of Axl Rose was exactly what the LA scene needed to survive in the late 80's. Just before grunge started dominating the scene, Rose's rootsy delivery was much more aggressive than the band's competition. As opposed to finding a good sonic sheen for the melodies, Rose's vocals had a certain quality that was reminiscent of bands like The Damned or The Ramones. Across every song on the band's debut Appetite for Destruction, Axl gives a showstopping performance whose power is only rivaled by the lyrical guitar playing of Slash.
Even when grunge stomped out the hair metal scene, GNR found a way to thrive under Axl's vision, as he ended up releasing one of the greatest power ballads of all time in "November Rain." Though he may be the most unmanageable diva in rock and roll, it's almost worth it to see Axl on his A-game.