My vote is for David Lee Roth. This man is crazy but rumor has it that he has a high IQ. The first Rock n roll I was exposed to was Black in Black by AC/DC and I couldn’t put that album down until I heard Van Halen.
I give you Diamond Dave.
“My life is one big wet T-shirt contest”
As an Amazon Associate I Earn from Qualifying Purchases
Click to visit the TBP Store for Great TBP Merchandise
never a big Stones fan but Jagger had a natural front-man gift.
Not in align with his lifestyle but Freddy Mercury with his powerful, dynamic voice was a great front man.
Roth was also fantastic and it took a lot to keep one’s eyes from being glued on Eddie when he was playing.
I never saw Queen in concert, but I agree with Mercury’s importance to the band. The Stones, I like maybe two or three songs they ever did. Okay, maybe 4. I literally passed Keith Richards one day in Venice, Italy along with his woman du jour. I don’t know, they may have been married or serious, but when you’re one of those guys, women can come and go, both figuratively and literally. I didn’t bother him as I have heard way too many times, their public life is that and their private life is, well, private. I didn’t want to be that guy who stopped a celebrity only to see them then get surrounded by other fans for autographs. Cellphones weren’t a thing yet, so there wouldn’t have been any selfies. This was in 1991. But the second I saw him coming, I knew without a doubt it was him.
In my honest opinion; this woman pretty much takes Keith’s song and crushes it. I think this is far better than the album version or any live version I’ve seen on YouTube.
Nobody … but nobody … has ever done this great of a backup … Merry Clayton …
Hard to argue with your selection. Jagger had a captivating presence on stage. With the passage of time, DLR’s antics now look somewhat embarrassing. Steven Tyler deserves to be in the discussion.
I’ve been to many, many, many concerts. Best show .. hands down? Motley Crue … Dr. Feelgood tour.
OT: Has anyone else noticed that in the past 48 hours the Brave browser, private setting, now permits embedded advertisements on Youtube videos? The power of the evil bastards is overwhelming. My anger levels are approaching my depression levels, not a good look. Thankfully I am not taking any dodgy medication.
It is breathtaking at times. Now, imagine the power that allows it, that will one day put a complete stop to it.
Revelation 19:13 KJB… “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.”
Rest in Him.
Also OT: now, almost 4 or 5 weeks later, I’m still unable to get TBP in my Safari browser … yet, when I use other iMac or MacBookPro with Safari, it works great …
WTFO?
Dave was colorful, but I don’t even really rate him as much of anything. Yes, he could sing in tune and do the things needed to keep the band in the headlines, but I’d even put Paul Stanley ahead of him on frontmen. And really, Stanley is no different. Had he not killed himself, I’d say, Bon Scott, since you mentioned AC/DC, because he truly was a needed member of that band in more ways than one. My favorite and still alive is the one and only Paul Rodgers. Paul isn’t really the type of persona that David Lee Roth was, but he is hands down the best vocalist in the rock genre ever to have lived.
It’s all in what you like, to start with. Music is part of the arts and all art is subject to tastes. I know, I too have been guilty of saying this band or this whatever member sucks, or their music sucks, but it’s all subjective.
I also like Sammy Hagar who of course took over for a while once David Lee Roth was shown the door the first time. Sammy had a lengthy career before he even joined up with the Van Halen brothers. But he really took off from the moment they joined together. Now he is starting to fade away because just like most of the ones we grew up listening to, he’s getting old.. They all are. But I hear he’s doing okay on money as he hasn’t reached out to borrow a few bucks. Or asked to come over for a bite to eat.
Dave totally ripped off and copied Jim Mangrum, the front man for Black Oak Arkansas.
I saw BOA open for James Brown and half the crowd had departed for the bar by their second song. He was strutting round the stage like a banty rooster and the mostly black crowd was not impressed, nor were we.
Jim Morrison
Amen … saw him and The Doors play in Cleveland just weeks before Morrison passed …
Pick up a used copy of David Lee Roth’s book “Crazy from the heat” cheap on eBay. He has some interesting stories, and is no dummy.
I would say Lawrence Gowan who replaced Dennis DeYoung from Styx is a pretty strong front man.
Funny line from Roth in a radio interview about food on the road.
” The four food groups are – grease , chocolate , alcohol + tobacco ”
NO GREEN M & M’s
Sam Bankman-Fraud?
On a serious note, many old folks would say Freddie Mercury, who remember when it wasn’t cool – or even legal – to be gay.
David Lee Roth truly is a showman, and a very interesting guy. He’s a grand story teller and both a good student and teacher. His energy level and focus are unnerving.
Lemme throw in Lemmy.
Hands down…Donnie John Trumpster!
Front man for the Apocalypse.
Very witty.
Don’t fear The Reaper, baby.
Gold star for TCS. “Warp Speed, baby”!
Come and see the show! It’s a dynamo!
I do love me some Kabuki Theater…although…this is more like bukaki theater, which I’m not fond of at all!
Can’t wait to see Sleepy Joe trip on the Stairway to Heaven. It will have ALL been worth it for THAT final Act!
It’ll look a LOT like this!
LOL! “Mission Accomplished!”
Hey, TCS, you asked me about “Balance of Nature”.
Here is an original article I wrote a long while ago. Check it out … and the many good comments as well.
======================
Thank you, bro! That means a lot to me. I’d trust you over ANY TV commercial!
That ain’t sayin’ as much as it sounds like, but it’s still a compliment.
Van Halen had a swagger about them that was personified perfectly in David Lee Roth. Sammy didn’t seem to have that charisma and was never really able to capture that mystique. Was he the GOAT? I would LOVE to say so, but then there’s a very long list we should be discussing first. What about the following: Robert Plant – Led Zeppelin, Roger Daltry – The Who, Ronnie Van Zant – Lynrd Skynrd, John Anderson – Yes, Alice Cooper anyone? Is this discussion limited to front men? What about Debbie Harry?
Pat Benatar kicks Debbie’s ass !
Nancy Wilson of Heart.
Janis Joplin anybody ?
I saw Heart back in ’87. They really did a great show, and Ann Wilson got to show off her pipes when we called them out for an encore: Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.” Everybody in the arena was up and dancing.
Their performance of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ at the Kennedy Center to honor LZ was amazing …
And Janis Joplin … amazing — could shout out those blues like hell wouldn’t have it …
Iggy Pop.
Johnny Rotten
First album I ever bought was also Back in Black. David Lee Roth would be hard to beat for outright personality onstage. Ozzy Ozbourne, maybe Steve Perry in terms of audience identification with their bands being on the same level as Van Halen. Freddie Mercury, yes for sure.
I can agree with Roth. Arguably the 3rd best singer in the band, but a first rate showman.
Bruce Dickinson. Man is still an amazing singer and has a lively stage presence.
Helluva producer.
Wow.
No love here for Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin ?
Best front man ever? Zamphir!
Hands down, Fee Waybill of the Tubes. I’ve seen a lot of charismatic front men, but they all pale in comparison to Fee in his prime. The rest of the band was simply outstanding also.
Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band. Best concert that I’ve ever been to.
Robert Plant……
Peter Gabriel
Don’t know about the best, but I’ll give you the most underrated…
Dave Meniketti, from Y & T.
Best Y&T song…
The most interesting and engaging frontman I have seen, was in the most interesting rock perfomance I have seen.
American Utopia
Lemmy Kilmister.
ZFG, out.
P.S. I hope God was ready for Lemmy’s humour.
Nigel Tufnel – Spinal Tap
I would pick a woman, Floor Jansen currently with Nightwish. Try a live version of Romanticide to see what I mean.
I recently read that Dave Roth was selling cars and had been for some time. Not sure if that is true but that was the word on DLR.
You mean he owns a car dealership? The guy’s worth $60 million.
Oh, nevermind, I get it…Hot for Teacher.
He was working as an EMT for a time too.
Liberty- Yeah, I remember that too. Rarely see a guy with 60M working as a EMT, but I think they let him do a gig in Las Vegas last couple of years.
My vote for frontman would be David Rockefeller fronting for the Rothschilds/Bankster for 7 decades. Rocky was no flash in the pan and he did more to f’up humanity than Lucifer or Gates . Pure evil that one , elevating the KM quest to own everything.
Diamond Dave for me also. Probably just the era I grew up in, but he really was a great entertainer and he could sing too. I never bought another VH album after they shitcanned Dave.
Adolf Schicklgruber for the win.
Best Frontman: Cab Calloway
Best Frontwoman: Maddy Prior
Chris Cornell. Front man for 2 great bands, plus 1 supergroup and solo stuff. Incredible songwriter, guitarist and arguably the best voice ever.
DJ TRUMP!!
John & Paul, Joan Jet, Eric Burden, J Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin, Steve Miller,The Blues Brothers, Scatman Cruthers, Jerry Lee Louis, Mark Farner, Mark Knopfler, Brian Setzer, Roger Waters… Anyone You Like The Most….It’s an in the eye & ear of the beholder kinda thing. I liked so many I cant really pick just one. Most everyone herein named would be the best, especially if you got to watch them live!
“Money For Nothing” starts off slow but it hits really nice!
These guys were soooo innovative! Though somewhat short lived they won a lot of awards.
I am over all still a Beatles Are The Overall Best fan.
SamFox
Here’s one from Mr. Peabody’s way back machine for all muh niggas!
Totally agree – DLR was the ultimate frontman – not the best singer by any means, but nobody was a better entertainer than Roth in his prime. Dave, the last few VH tours, tried to do too much in terms of singing – he’d try to sing higher than he ever did, and he sounded atrocious – when people age, their voice gets lower, not higher – even Geddy Lee of Rush’s voice dropped over the years, and he improved a lot. Even Hagar doesn’t attempt to sing “Dreams” like he did when he recorded it.
I used to mod at a few VH message boards 15-20 years ago, including a no-holds-barred one dedicated primarily to Dave. , which could’ve been Dave’s “official” board, but then it would’ve been subjected to censorship by Roth’s people, so the webmasters said no thanks.
OK, you fuckers asked for it! Here’s your GOAT…