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Rock / Metal

Best rock and metal singers

The community has spoken. Discover the world ranking, compare it to yours and see how everyone else voted.

Play this TopList

80contenders high-voltage

1.8kvotes

12TopList

0commentsUpdated on 10/24/2026 at 05:00 PM

Freddie Mercury (Queen)1475

The worldwide ranking generated by 1.8k votes

80 / 80

Freddie Mercury (Queen)1475

Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)1453

Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine)1395

David Bowie1378

Corey Taylor (Slipknot)1353

Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)1346

Serj Tankian (System of a Down)1343

Chester Bennington (Linkin Park)1327

Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses)1316

#10

Jonathan Davis (Korn)1310

#11

Nico Sallach (Electric Callboy)1303

#12

James Hetfield (Metallica)1301

#13

Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)1298

#14

Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)1292

#15

Bon Scott (AC/DC)1277

#16

Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)1275

#17

Paul McCartney (The Beatles)1267

#18

Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers)1264

#19

Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)1254

#20

Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins)1248

#21

Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters)1245

#22

Brian Johnson (AC/DC)1242

#23

Liam Gallagher (Oasis)1236

#24

Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries)1232

#25

Rob Halford (Judas Priest)1231

#26

John Lennon (The Beatles)1228

#27

Tom Araya (Slayer)1226

#28

Ian Gillan (Deep Purple)1224

#29

Ronnie James Dio1223

#30

Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)1221

#31

Emily Armstrong (Linkin Park)1216

#32

Jim Morrison (The Doors)1215

#33

Iggy Pop (The Stooges)1213

#34

Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones)1211

#35

Brandon Flowers (The Killers)1210

#36

Matt Bellamy (Muse)1208

#37

Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation)1205

#38

Amy Lee (Evanescence)1204

#39

M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)1203

#40

Jack Black (Tenacious D)1201

#41

Bruce Springsteen1199

#42

Robert Smith (The Cure)1196

#43

Chris Cornell (Soundgarden)1191

#44

Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age)1183

#45

Tarja Turunen (Nightwish)1180

#46

Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)1177

#47

Floor Jansen (Nightwish)1175

#48

Thom Yorke (Radiohead)1170

#49

Paul Stanley (Kiss)1164

#50

Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)1164

#51

Matty Tuck (Bullet for My Valentine)1160

#52

Klaus Meine (Scorpions)1158

#53

Joe Duplantier (Gojira)1158

#54

Till Lindemann (Rammstein)1158

#55

Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode)1158

#56

Lzzy Hale (Halestorm)1158

#57

Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless)1156

#58

Emily Armstrong (Linkin Park)1154

#59

Hayley Williams (Paramore)1152

#60

Maynard James Keenan (Tool)1151

#61

Avril Lavigne1137

#62

Simone Simons (Epica)1136

#63

Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons)1135

#64

John Cooper (Skillet)1129

#65

Julian Casablancas (The Strokes)1129

#66

Alice Cooper1126

#67

Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys)1114

#68

Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance)1110

#69

Chad Kroeger (Nickelback)1110

#70

Lou Reed (The Velvet Underground)1108

#71

Joe Elliott (Def Leppard)1106

#72

Ivan Moody (Five Finger Death Punch)1099

#73

Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead)1094

#74

Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian)1074

#75

Anders Fridén (In Flames)1064

#76

Debbie Harry (Blondie)1063

#77

Benji Webbe (Skindred)1050

#78

David Draiman (Disturbed)1032

#79

Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon)1002

#80

Ronnie Radke (Falling in Reverse)989

What the community says

Freddie Mercury (Queen) leads with an ELO of 1,475, ahead of Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) (1,453) and Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine) (1,395). Ranked over 1,826 duels between 80 contenders, last updated October 24, 2026.

Rank your favorite rock, hard rock, and metal singers.

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →