QUEENSRŸCHE‘s Todd La Torre has publicly disagreed with Dee Snider on the issue of what makes great “frontmen” in rock.
Earlier Dee Snider said that Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant is one hell of a singer but “not a frontman”, and explained why these two terms aren’t synonyms.
Now Todd La Torre has responded, saying:
“Dio and Plant didn’t have to run around doing jumps, spinning mic stands, or anything else unless one’s subjective opinion requires that as a prerequisite. They commanded the stage with their sheer presence and voice, and that alone was all anyone wanted, needed, and more. I’d say that makes them great frontmen.”
After Dee called Powell a “rock god” in a commemorative post, another Twitter user brought up the intro to Rainbow’s iconic “Stargazer” as an example of the drummer’s greatness.
The ex-Twisted Sister frontman replied:
“How amazing was Cozy Powell? Listen to the 1st 11 seconds of this Rainbow song & you will know…
“Then listen to the rest of ‘Stargazer’ with the incomparable Ronnie Dio on vocals & you will know why many consider it to be the greatest metal song ever!”
At the mention of Ronnie James Dio, another fan argued that the late singer was the second-best frontman in rock history only to Queen’s Freddie Mercury.
Seeing this, Dee went on to argue that “singer” and “frontman” aren’t the same thing:
“You are confusing singing with performing.
“There is a huge difference between a great frontman & a great singer.
“Ronnie was one of the greatest singers of all time, but as a frontman, he pretty much just stood on stage & sang.
“Freddie was an amazing singer AND frontman.”
After another fan chimed in that Robert Plant should be on that list as the “quintessential frontman”, Dee said that while he admired Plant’s singing, he found Plant’s work as “frontman” underwhelming:
“I’m a HUGE Plant fan vocally…but he showed me nothing as a performer. Looked amazing, with great hair…stood on stage with one hand raised and sang his a*s off. Not a frontman in my opinion.
“And FYI many great frontmen are not great singers.”
5 comments
Ronnie James Dio is the best singer and frontman in the universe. Did we not see the videos? 5’3” in mid evil gear! C’mon so gross and owning it! The best
With all due respect to Todd La Torre and his current band Queensryche. For me it’s always been Geoff Tate. Amazing singer and performer.
Todd is right, and so is Dee.
Very fine line between singer and frontman, if frontman is defined as a Wildman running around on stage but cannot sing the band is nothing. But have a great singer with great musicians that makes the band. Every once in awhile you have both a.k.a. Freddie Mercury who will always be the greatest.
Singer/ front man usually depicts a vocalist that normally does not play an instrument. He fronts the band with lead vocals, being the story teller, the performer that is always up front merely because “vocals” were as a norm the thing that usually predicated the connection between what ” most” popular fans identified with..
There are of course acceptions to this, where musicians draw an equal amount of praise, Eddie Van Halen, Blackmore, etc.
but they are rarely considered “frontman”. In any case, Vocalist who sang are certainly in this category, Hendrix was a performer, Menikete still is, etc.. Geoff Tate can not be considered in the same category, where flamboyance factored in, Mercury, Roth, etc, he is a clinician more than a performer, Dio was both, his stick was mystique, and vocal prowess, which is still considered charisma that qualified him to be a frontman and a performer