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Consequence Vocalist Week continues with The All-American Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter and his five favorite vocalists of all time. Be sure to check out the 100 Best Vocalists of All Time, and stay tuned for more throughout the week.
Tyson Ritter deserves his flowers. The All-American Rejects frontman has a skyscraping tenor, and he is not afraid to use it. On AAR classics (you know the ones), he soars and belts with palpable passion; on newer favorites, like last summer’s “Easy Come, Easy Go,” it’s clear he hasn’t lost any of that vigor and youthful spark.
The band is gearing up for their long-awaited return album, Sandbox, out on May 15th, and to celebrate, they’ve been playing handfuls of “House Party”-style DIY shows throughout the country. It speaks to the immediacy of their music and the live experience, but it’s also a showcase for Ritter’s ever-durable, dynamic instrument. Looking at his personal top vocalists of all time, it’s clear where Ritter gets that magnetic presence behind the mic. He’s got a punk legend, a soul icon, and an influential singer whose catalogue he deems to be his “making dinner music.” Read on for Ritter’s Top 5 Vocalists picks.
Freddie Mercury
Okay, low-hanging fruit. Of course I think Freddie Mercury is such a rock and roll archetype. He had the fastest vibrato in recorded sound, he was operatic, expressive, and I think every guy in a rock band wants to achieve even 5% of his capability in even a sentence of prose.
David Bowie
I pivot to Bowie because he really pushed the boundaries for the way you could project. His emotion was not only in his lyric, but it rattled through his shaky timbre and opened to a bellowing, operatic moment. He was just so graceful, it was like wiping your ears with lace when he really nailed it.
Iggy Pop
I think there’s something about people that just bark. I always listen to “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” and it just gives me chills when I hear the way that guy just barks out music.
Nina Simone
Nina Simone was just such an accomplished pianist and great vocalist. She sang truth to her community and was such a pillar of that shit that is the magic that everyone is drawn to in music. She was great.
Harry Belafonte
I think he’s one of the greatest songwriters and singers and just such an incredible humanitarian. But he sang in smoky clubs all the way until his voice turned to ash. I remember just hearing him speak when he was doing his philanthropy, and you could tell it was gone. It was so heartbreaking, but we can always listen to those polaroids of his heyday on record, and there’s something kind of beautiful about it. Every singer lives through their life hoping to keep their voice as long as they can, but we got to hear Belafonte singing these beautiful songs that were inspired by where he came from. That’s my dinner making music, that’s my ‘If I have people over’ music. I just want to be in the spell of Harry Belafonte, probably thanks to Beetlejuice.
English (US) · 