In Rolling Stone readers’ circa-2011 poll, Robert Plant ranked first, Freddie Mercury second and Bono third. A retrospective reproduces the top ten, ending with Kurt Cobain at No. 10. It is a historical reader poll about singers in bands—not a current ranking, a technical assessment of vocal skill or a definitive list of every kind of vocalist.
Who made the top ten?
The order below is reproduced in Noah Berlatsky’s 2025 retrospective and corroborated by American Songwriter’s 2022 account. The original US Rolling Stone poll page was not accessible for direct verification, so this is best described as the reported ranking rather than a transcription checked against the original page.
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- Robert Plant
- Freddie Mercury
- Bono
- Mick Jagger
- Jim Morrison
- Roger Daltrey
- Eddie Vedder
- John Lennon
- Chris Cornell
- Kurt Cobain
What did “lead singer” mean in the poll?
Rolling Stone Germany’s 2013 report describes the US poll as asking readers to choose the “best lead singers of all time,” with the category limited to vocalists who perform in a band rather than solo musicians. The report frames the role as more than singing: Roger Daltrey’s leadership in the Who and Freddie Mercury’s stage presence with Queen are offered as examples. This is a paraphrase of the German report’s description, not a verified quotation from the original US poll.
What the ranking can—and cannot—tell you
The available reporting identifies the poll as a reader poll from around 2011, but does not establish a closing date, sample size, vote total, ballot design, or vote-counting method. It also does not provide enough detail to assess whether the voters represented Rolling Stone’s readership or a broader population. No vote total or sample figure should be inferred from the published order.
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The result is therefore evidence of what readers selected under a broad band-vocalist label, not a definitive measure of vocal ability or consensus among critics. The reproduced top ten consists entirely of male frontmen. That composition is observable; why voters selected those artists is not established by the list alone.
Why the category has been criticized
In a 2025 retrospective, Noah Berlatsky argues that “lead singer” can encompass far more than guitar-rock frontmen, including performers in jazz, gospel, pop vocal groups and featured-vocalist traditions. He interprets the poll’s narrow result as reflecting rock’s genre boundaries and notes the absence of women and Black artists. That is Berlatsky’s critique of the category and its outcome, not evidence of individual voters’ intentions.
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How the poll resurfaced
American Songwriter revisited the ranking in 2022, reporting that KISS singer and guitarist Paul Stanley shared a contrasting set of choices, including Steve Marriott, David Ruffin, Janis Joplin and Ann Wilson. Stanley’s selections show that the ranking prompted competing personal lists; they are not a corrected poll or a methodologically comparable alternative.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to compare it with another “best singer” list
A meaningful comparison starts by asking who voted and what they were asked to rank. Check whether a list comes from readers, editors or experts; whether it includes only band frontmen or all vocalists; when and where it was conducted; which genres it covers; and whether it discloses votes or selection criteria. Without those details, different lists may be answering different questions rather than disagreeing about a single universal ranking.
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Rank #4
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