This post is an entry to the Your Top 3 Monthly Contest July 2020.
You can read more about the contest >> here <<.
This months topic is YOUR TOP 3 LEAD SINGERS
Biggest challenges
There were a couple of challenges with selecting my top 3 favorite lead singers. The first challenge being they had to actually be the lead vocalist of a band or a group. In most cases, for me it is not necessarily the lead vocalist that is my favorite band member.
There is also the generational gap, meaning that there are lead singers from the 60s (yes, I like oldies), 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s. I’d like to have a top 3 with at least a little bit variation. With this top 3, I’m trying to make sure that while careers might overlap, we don’t get stuck in one period of time for all three lead singers. The same goes for the genre. I don’t want them to be very similar, as that takes away from the quality of the list a little as well.
Lastly, I’d have to make sure it is actually my top 3, so in order to avoid picking lead singers because of popular opinion, I’m sticking to my first picks, to avoid being influenced by others to change my picks. So, this list is fully based on personal preference.
Selection method
No solo artists. The Your Top 3 contest theme of this month focuses on lead singers and not on solo artists that used to be lead singers. I know, contest rules allow a little leeway, but I want to keep the list as pure as possible. So, anyone selected should be known primarily for their career as a lead singer and not for their individual career. Of course, a couple of songs as solo artist are allowed, but if people know you more as a solo artist than as the lead of a group or band, you are out.
So, sorry to Justin Timberlake (N Sync), Diana Ross (The Supremes), Michael Jackson (Jackson 5), Pharrell Willians (NERD), Beyonce (Destiny’s Child), Lauryn Hill (Fugees) and Q-Tip (Tribe Called Quest).
Also, I can be pretty emotional when it comes to music. Music has played a big role in my life. Most great bands and music groups have impacted my life in a certain way. I want my top 3 to have preformed a song that I don’t only like, but also has had a personal impact on my life. Not just a memory of one specific moment, but rather over a longer period of time.
So, as much as I like to sing along with Jon Bon Jovi, Kurt Kobain, Mick Jagger and Freddie Mercury… I’m sorry, you didn’t make the cut. While 3 Doors Down had a really big impact on my life, I wouldn’t be able to point out Brad Arnold in a video if he didn’t have a mic in his hand and while Dave Grohl is an absolute legend, there is no special personal connection, so they are both out as well.
Honorable mentions
Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park/Fort Minor)
I realize that some people might have Chester Bennington on their list, but like I mentioned earlier, I can’t nominate a lead singer if they are not my favorite member of the band. And for me, Mike Shinoda is my favorite Linkin Park member. I think Fort Minor is a really cool cross over project and "Remember The Name" is probably also on the list of my favorite songs, but I could not put Shinoda on the top 3 list over the selected lead singers, because technically, he isn’t the lead singer of Linkin Park.
Dinand Woesthoff (Kane)
The lead singer of the Dutch band Kane almost made the list because of one very special song. Dinand Woesthoff is probably the least known name on this list. Some of you might know his band Kane from "Rain Down On Me", which was remixed by DJ Tiesto and gained some international succes. But the heartbreaking story of his wife passing away and the song he dedicated to her, is why I can’t make this list without mentioning him.
My Top 3 Favourite Lead Singers:
3. John Lennon (The Beatles)
Ok. I did somehow get a lead singer on the list that died before I was even born. But it doesn't matter, as his influence on my love for music was instrumental. Also, John Lennon was successful as solo artist, but compared to Paul McCartney, his legacy is more connected to the Beatles in my personal perception.
I don’t know exactly why my connection to Lennon as Beatles lead singer is stronger than McCartney’s. Maybe because our class performed his famous “Imagine” in High School. Maybe it was because my favorite Beatles songs were written by Lennon. Honestly, I don’t really know. All I know is, I'm giving Lennon the nod over McCartney.
My personal connection with The Beatles is two-fold. The very first music cassette I owned, was a cassette of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band which was given to me by my uncle. Also, Malcolm Gladwell’s story on the Beatles in his Best Seller ‘Outliers’ is one of the most inspirational stories for hard work ever heard and one of my go to stories when I speak to young professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs about work ethic and loving what you do.
To pick my favorite John Lennon written song, I could have gone with Come Together, but I like this one just a little better:
2. Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit)
If you are under the age of 25, you probably have no idea who Fred Durst is. But, if you were born in the 80s, you probably remember that around the year 2000 an album called ‘Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water’ dropped. Limp Bizkit was one of the biggest bands at the time, already scoring big with songs from their previous album such as Nookie, Break Stuff and N 2 Gether Now. Chocolate Starfish featured Rollin and My Way, two tracks that at the time were played at every teenage party and in every teenage bedroom.
Fred Durst is and has always been the face of Limp Bizkit, who since their peak years (1999-2003), have been relatively under the radar, which the band doesn’t really seem to mind. Durst himself got into the movie scene, first as a cameo and since 2007 behind the camera. While his influence on the movie scene is debated (he’s nominated for a worst director award this year), his influence as lead singer was huge. He probably was the reason I wore a backward one size baseball cap during a large part of teenage years.
While most people from older generations might be singing Frank Sinatra’s My Way, I’ll be signing this one:
1. Adam Levine (Maroon 5)
Honestly, I don’t know how this happened. I partially blame 16 seasons of The Voice USA for this. Or maybe I should just give credit to Maroon 5 for sticking together for over 25 years. If you would have ask me my top 3 lead singers 10 years ago, Adam Levine would not have made the list. But he has established himself as one of the most likable (if not the most likable) lead singers of this generation.
While much of it has to do with how he profiles himself outside of his own music as well, his role as a lead singer for Maroon 5 is still why he tops the list. Like many, I first heard of Maroon 5 back in 2004 when “She Will Be Loved” broke out and then he scored some extra cool points when he featured with Kayne West in 2005 (Let’s see how well this phrase ages in the next 5 years).
It is hard to pick a favorite song. The end of the "Girls Like You" video almost had me in tears thinking about my daughter the first time I saw it. "Memories" will forever be connected to one of my old colleagues that past away last year. To make it easy for myself, I’m going with the song that has been viewed over 3 Billion times, because I still think this is one of the best music video ideas I have ever seen:
That concludes my entry for the Your Top 3 July Contest. Hope you enjoyed the read and the added videos as well. Feel free to comment your take on my top 3.
@jeanlucsrDelegate to 
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