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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.

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80contenders high-voltage

1.6kvotes

17TopList

0commentsUpdated on 10/06/2026 at 05:00 PM

Freddie Mercury (Queen)1480

The worldwide ranking generated by 1.6k votes

80 / 80

Freddie Mercury (Queen)1480

Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)1464

David Bowie1375

Corey Taylor (Slipknot)1366

Chester Bennington (Linkin Park)1349

Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses)1338

Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)1328

Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)1320

Nico Sallach (Electric Callboy)1308

#10

Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine)1291

#11

Serj Tankian (System of a Down)1289

#12

Paul McCartney (The Beatles)1288

#13

Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)1280

#14

Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)1279

#15

Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)1275

#16

Bon Scott (AC/DC)1274

#17

Jonathan Davis (Korn)1272

#18

Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers)1268

#19

Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters)1259

#20

Liam Gallagher (Oasis)1256

#21

Rob Halford (Judas Priest)1251

#22

Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins)1248

#23

Ronnie James Dio1243

#24

Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)1240

#25

Emily Armstrong (Linkin Park)1236

#26

Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries)1235

#27

John Lennon (The Beatles)1232

#28

Robert Smith (The Cure)1229

#29

Brian Johnson (AC/DC)1229

#30

Ian Gillan (Deep Purple)1228

#31

Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation)1225

#32

Jack Black (Tenacious D)1221

#33

Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones)1217

#34

Brandon Flowers (The Killers)1216

#35

Amy Lee (Evanescence)1213

#36

M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)1212

#37

Matt Bellamy (Muse)1201

#38

James Hetfield (Metallica)1197

#39

Chris Cornell (Soundgarden)1196

#40

Jim Morrison (The Doors)1193

#41

Tarja Turunen (Nightwish)1191

#42

Klaus Meine (Scorpions)1187

#43

Floor Jansen (Nightwish)1187

#44

Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age)1178

#45

Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)1175

#46

Matty Tuck (Bullet for My Valentine)1171

#47

Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)1171

#48

Joe Duplantier (Gojira)1169

#49

Lzzy Hale (Halestorm)1169

#50

Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless)1168

#51

Emily Armstrong (Linkin Park)1166

#52

Thom Yorke (Radiohead)1165

#53

Bruce Springsteen1165

#54

Hayley Williams (Paramore)1165

#55

Paul Stanley (Kiss)1160

#56

Iggy Pop (The Stooges)1160

#57

Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode)1154

#58

Avril Lavigne1149

#59

Simone Simons (Epica)1148

#60

Tom Araya (Slayer)1145

#61

John Cooper (Skillet)1141

#62

Julian Casablancas (The Strokes)1141

#63

Till Lindemann (Rammstein)1139

#64

Maynard James Keenan (Tool)1139

#65

Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons)1135

#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 1,480, ahead of Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) (1,464) and David Bowie (1,375). Ranked over 1,628 duels between 80 contenders, last updated October 6, 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.