Fran Healy (3,215 views)

[Osmosis]

Francis ‘Fran’ Healy (23 July 1973)
Member of: Travis (1990 – Present), Solo (2010 - Present)
Vocal Range: F♯2 – C6

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Summary}Healy is the lead singer and songwriter for Scottish band Travis whose sound began as something not unlike the large rock ‘n’ roll bands that were popular at the time. Their 1997 album Good Feeling featured all the usual trappings - big guitar riffs, an in-your-face vocal delivery, and the odd ode the Beatles (“Tied to the 90s”). This was not however, the sound that would put them on the map. That would come with their sophomore effort The Man Who, which, after initially selling at a slow pace set to mixed reviews, saw the band reaching peak commercial success after playing the song “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” at Glastonbury 1999, as the clear blue sky turned to a murky, rain soaked grey. The album subsequently hit number 1 in the UK and Travis became part of a small group of bands including Stereophonics and Coldplay who were heralded as the ones to take British rock ‘n’ roll into the new millennium. Coldplay would be the ones to go onto have international success but the importance of Travis for establishing that sound cannot be understated. Travis was, in the words of Chris Martin, "the band that invented my band and lots of others".


Healy’s song writing started to mellow with the release of The Man Who and especially the follow up Invisible Man, both having a greater focus on ballads and would set the precedent for bands to come, such as Keane and Snow Patrol. Healy’s vocal tendencies shifted accordingly, with falsetto being favoured over the upper 4th octave belting and distorted 5th octave passages that characterised his 90s output. With that said, he remained capable of belting into the upper fourth octave all throughout his career, as evidenced by songs like “Selfish Jean” or “A Ghost”. Some may prefer the more intimate writing present in the latter parts of his career,  though it his hard to deny that his most remarkable vocal performances are found on his 90s records when he was at his most wild and loose and leaned heavily into high note belts - the song “Turn” probably taking the cake as his best.

Significant High Notes
C6 ("Free Soul")
A5 ("Dream On")
G♯5 ("Back in Black" Live Roppongi EX Theatre Tokyo 2022)
G5 (“Back in Black" Live Palacio de Los Deportes Mexico 2009, "Free Soul", "She’s So Strange”, "Side/Stayin' Alive" Live 8 2005)
F♯5 (“Midsummer Nights Dreamin’”)
F5 (“Gimme Some Truth”)
E5 (“Afterglow”, "All I Want to Do Is Rock", “Back in Black" Live Palacio de Los Deportes Mexico 2009, "Sailing Away”, “Say Hello”, "Side/Stayin' Alive" Live 8 2005, "Tail of the Tiger", "Turn" Live Corona Capital Mexico 2019)
E♭5 ("Sierra Leone")
D5 (“Alone on Christmas Day" Live 2007, Back in Black" Live Palacio de Los Deportes Mexico 2009, "Before You Were Young”, “Gaslight", "Happy”, “Long Way Down", "Mother” Where You Stand, “Nina's Song" Demo, "Nobody Does It Better" Live Radio 1 1998, “She’s So Strange”, "Side/Stayin' Alive" Live 8 2005, “U16 Girls”, “Used to Belong”)
C♯5 (“Hazy Shades of Gold”, “I Kissed a Girl" Live Performances 2008, “Last Train”, “Sailing Away”, “Sing" Live T In the Park Perth & Kinross 2013, "Tail of the Tiger”)
C5 (“All of the Places”, “Battleships”, “The Big Screen”, “Blue on a Black Weekend”, “Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 2004, "Flowers in the Window”, "Fly in the Ointment", “I Don't Mean to Get High", "J. Smith”, “Killer Queen”, "Moonshine", “No Love Lost”, “One Night”, “Rock ‘n’ (Salad) Roll”, “Strangers on a Train”, “Used to Belong”)
B4 ("Another Guy”, “Baby One More Time (In Session)”, “Ballad of J. Smith”, “Broken Mirror”, “Definition of Wrong”, “Get Up”, “Good Day to Die”, “Hazy Shades of Gold”, “Lola”, “Long Way Down”, “Lovely Rita", "Mother” Where You Stand, “Parallel Lines”, “Paralysed”, “Quite Free”, “River”, “Say Hello”, “This Love")
B♭4 (“1922”, “A Ghost”, "Anything", “Colder”, “Here Comes the Sun" Live, "Humpty Dumpty Love Song”, “Killer Queen”, “Out in Space”, “Selfish Jean”, “She’s So Strange”)
A4 (“A Million Hearts”, “All I Want to Do Is Rock”, “Alone on Christmas Day" Live 2007, "Animals”, “Anniversary”, “Battleships”, “Before You Were Young”, “Big Chair”, “City In the Rain", "Chinese Blues”, “Closer”, “Coming Around”, "The Day Before", “Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 2004, "Dream On", "Falling Down”, “Flowers in the Window" Live for Absolute Radio 2022, "Follow the Light”, “Friends”, “Gaslight", "Get Up”, “Good Day to Die”, “Good Time Girls”, “Happy”, “Hazy Shades of Gold”, "Holiday", “I Love You Anyways”, “Last Train”, “Last Words”, “Lola”, “Midsummer Nights Dreamin’”, "Moonshine", “Moving”, “New Amsterdam”, “Nina’s Song”, “Nobody Does It Better" Live Radio 1 1998, “One Night”, “Pipe Dreams”, “Quite Free”, “Radio Song”, “River”, “Side”, “Sing”, "Sing Me to Sleep", “Strangers on a Train”, “This Love", “Tied to the 90’s”, “Turn”, “U16 Girls”, “Under the Moonlight”, “Used to Belong”, “Village Man”, “Walking in the Sun”, “Waving at the Window”, “We Are Monkeys”, “What Will Come”, “Whenever She Comes Around", “Where is the Love?”, “Where You Stand”, “Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah”, "Zebra")
G♯4 (“Baby One More Time (In Session)”, "The Day Before", “Days of our Lives”, “Follow the Light”, “I Kissed a Girl" Live Performances 2008, "In the Morning", "The Line is Fine", “Lovely Rita", "Parallel Lines”, “Re-offender”, “Rock ‘n’ (Salad) Roll”, “Selfish Jean”, “Sing”, “The Big Screen”, “Tied to the 90’s”, “Turn”, “Under the Moonlight”, “Where is the Love?”, “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?”, “Writing to Reach You”, "Zebra")
G4 (“A Different Room”, “A Million Hearts”, “Afterglow”, “All Fall Down”, “All of the Places”, “Animals”, "Anything", “As You Are”, “Ballad of J. Smith”, “Battleships”, “Be My Baby”, “Before You Were Young”, "The Big Screen", “Blue on a Black Weekend”, “Broken Mirror”, “Chances", "Chinese Blues”, “Closer”, “Combing My Hair”, “Coming Around”,, “Days of our Lives”, "Dream On", “Eyes Wide Open”, “Falling Down”, “The Fear", "Flowers in the Window”, “Friends”, “Funny Thing”, “Get Up”, “Good Day to Die”, “Good Feeling”, “Happy”, "Holiday", “How Many Hearts”, “Humpty Dumpty Love Song”, “I Don't Mean to Get High", "J. Smith”, “Killer Queen”, “Last Christmas" Live Alexandra Palace London 2003, "Last Words”, “Life and Soul of the Party”, “Magnificent Time”, “Mid-Life Krysis”, “Midsummer Nights Dreamin’”, "Moonshine", “Mother” Good Feeling, “Mother” Where You Stand, “Moving”, “No Cigar", “Nobody Does It Better" Live Radio 1 1998, "New Amsterdam”, “No Love Lost”, “One Night”, “The Only Thing", "Paralysed”, Quicksand”, “Say Hello”, “Selfish Jean”, "Shadow Boxing", “Side”, “Song to Self”, “Standing On My Own", “U16 Girls”, “Unbelievers”, “Warning Sign”, “Waving at the Window”, "The Weight", “Whenever She Comes Around", "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah”, "You Bring Me Down")
F♯4 (“1922”, “3 Miles High”, “Afterglow”, “All I Want to Do Is Rock”, “Alone on Christmas Day" Live 2007, “Baby One More Time (In Session)”, “Ballad of J. Smith”, “Big Chair”, “Blue Flashing Light”, “Boxes”, "Buttercups", “City In the Rain", “Coming Around”, “Days of our Lives”, “Definition of Wrong”, “Driftwood”, "Ferris Wheel”, “Follow the Light”, ““Funny Thing”, “Good Time Girls”, “Happy to Hang Around", "How Many Hearts”, "In the Morning", “Kissing in the Wind”, "The Line Is Fine", “Long Way Down”, “Luv”, “Me Beside You", "Mother” Good Feeling, “Nina’s Song”, “Paperclips”, “Pipe Dreams”, “Quite Free”, “Re-offender”, “River”, “Rock ‘n’ (Salad) Roll”, “Safe”, “She’s So Strange”, “Sing”, ”Slide Show”, “Something Anything”, “Somewhere Else”, “Song to Self”, “This Love", "Tied to the 90’s”, “Turn”, “Unbelievers”, “Under the Moonlight”, “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?”, “Writing to Reach You”, "Writing to Reach You/Wonderwall" Live Webster Hall NYC 2022, “Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah”)

Significant Low Notes
E3 (“After Mark and Lard Go" Live Radio 1 2004, “Afterglow”, “All I Want to Do Is Rock”, “Anniversary”, "Another Sleep Song" Live Apollo Manchester 2007, "Anything", “Baby One More Time (In Session)”, “Ballad of J. Smith”, “Beautiful”, “Beautiful Bird (Demo)”, “Broken Mirror”, “City In the Rain", “Days of our Lives”, “Do What You Do (Earworm Song)", "Driftwood”, "Everyday Is Like a Sunday" Live Isle of Wight Festival 2005, "Fly in the Ointment", “Follow the Light”, “Funny Thing”, “Get Up”, “Good Day to Die”, “Good Feeling”, "Holiday", “I Love You Anyways”, “Indefinitely”, “Kissing in the Wind”, “Last Train”, “Lola”, “Love Will Come Through”, “Luv”, “Mid-Life Krysis”, “Midsummer Nights Dreamin’”, “New Shoes”, “Paperclips”, “Parallel”, “Paralysed”, “Perfect Heaven Space”, “Peace the Fuck Out”, “Pipe Dreams”, “Quicksand”, “Radio Song”, “Reason”, “Sailing Away”, "The Sea", "Sierra Leone", “Sing”, “Something Anything”, “Somewhere Else”, “The Beautiful Occupation”, “The Line Is Fine”, “Turn”, “U16 Girls”, “Under the Moonlight”, “Walking Down the Hill”, “We Are Monkeys”, “Where is the Love?”, “Where You Stand”, “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?”, "Writing to Reach You/Wonderwall" Webster Hall NYC 2022, "You Bring Me Down")
E♭3 (“A Different Room”, “Another Guy”, “The Big Screen”, “Butterflies”, “The Cage”, “Colder”, “The Connection”, “Everything at Once”, “Humpty Dumpty Love Song”, “I Kissed a Girl" Live Performances 2008, "More Than Us”, “My Eyes”, “Out in Space”, “Sarah”, “The Urge for Going”, “Valentine”)
D3 (“3 Times and You Lose”, “After Mark and Lard Go" Live Radio 1 2004, "Afterglow”, “Alone on Christmas Day" Live 2007, “Animals”, “Ballad of J. Smith”, “Beautiful”, “The Beautiful Occupation”, “Butterflies”, “Central Station", "Chances", "Coming My Hair”, “Dear Diary”, “Do What You Do (Earworm Song)", "Falling Down”, “Gaslight", "Here Comes the Sun" Live, "I Love You Anyways”, “Idlewild”, “Last Christmas" Live Alexandra Palace London 2003, “Life and Soul of the Party”, “Lola”, “Love Will Come Through”, “Luv”, “Me Beside You", "Midsummer Nights Dreamin’”, “Moving”, “My Eyes”, “Nobody Does It Better" Live Radio 1 1998, "Paperclips”, “Perfect Heaven Space”, “Radio Song”, “Reason”, “Reminder”, "Rocking Chair", "Shadow Boxing",  “Slide Away”, “Somewhere Else”, “Strangers on a Train”, “Valentine”, “Walking Down the Hill”, “Warning Sign”, “Waving at the Window”, “We Are Monkeys”)
C♯3 (“All I Want to Do Is Rock”, “Another Guy”, "Anything", “Beautiful”, “Boxes”, ”Colder”, “Green Behind the Eyes”, “Indefinitely”, “Last Train”, “Pipe Dreams”, “Sailing Away”, “Turn”, “Up the Junction", "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?”)
C3 (“3 Times and You Lose”, “All Fall Down”, “All of the Places”, “Anniversary”, “Blue Flashing Light”, “The Cage”, “Free Soul", "Humpty Dumpty Love Song”, "Life and Soul of the Party", “Mid-Life Krysis”, “More Than Us”, “Moving”, “My Last Chance", “The Only Thing”, "Sing Me to Sleep", Strangers on a Train”, "Walking Down the Hill”, “The Weight")
B2 (“1922”, “Another Guy”, "As It Comes", “Days of our Lives”, "Holiday", “Idlewild”, “Last Words”, “Love Will Come Through”, “New Shoes”, “Paperclips”, “Perfect Heaven Space”, “Quicksand”, “River”, “Sailing Away”, “Somewhere Else”, “Turn”, "Up the Junction")
B♭2 (“Definition of Wrong”, “Falling Down”, “More Than Us”, “The Only Thing", “Out in Space”, “Reminder”, “Sarah”, “Selfish Jean”, "The Urge for Going”, “Valentine”)
A2 (“All I Want to Do Is Rock”, "As It Comes", “Days of our Lives”, “Gaslight", "Magnificent Time”, “Me Beside You", "No Cigar", "Quicksand”, “Radio Song”, "Rocking Chair", “Strangers on a Train”)
G♯2 (“As It Comes", "Indefinitely”, “Humpty Dumpty Love Song”)
G2 (“All Fall Down”, “Waving at the Window”)
F♯2 ("Dear Diary")

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}B♭5 ("Hazy Shades of Gold" [1a], "J. Smith" [1b])
A5 ("All I Want To Do Is Rock" Live Coordenada Guadalajara 2022 [1b], "Back In Black" Live Roppongi EX Theatre Tokyo 2022 [1a])
F♯5 ("Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 2004 [1a])
E5 ("Get Up" [1b])
C5 ("Peace the Fuck Out" [2a])
G♯4 ("3 Miles High" [2a])

B2 ("U16 Girls" [1c])
B♭2 ("Dear Diary" [1d])
G2 ("Beautiful" [1c], "Fly in the Ointment" [1c])
F♯2 ("We Are Monkeys" [1c])
C2 ("No Cigar" [2a])
.......................................................
[1] Questionable Quality
a. Short yelp/shriek
b. Voice break
c. Anacrusis/Short Dip
d. Overly breathy low notes

[2] Questionable Identity
a. Cannot for sure be attributed to the singer in question

Questionable notes are any notes with a questionable significance. In short, this spoiler acknowledges notes that I am aware exist, but do not want to contribute to the singer's range. These involve (but are not limited to) weak vocal fry, uncontrolled slides, very short notes, notes hit at an ambiguous pitch and notes where it is unclear who is singing.

…………………………………………………..
*Boldface marks notable passages and examples of the singer's capabilities.
*Blue marks notes sung in a soft falsetto.
*Green marks harshly distorted passages.
*Italics mark non-melodic notes.
*Underlines mark notes in backing vocals or otherwise obscured.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}Travis
Glass Onion (EP) (1993): C3 - C6
Good Feeling (1997): A2 – F♯5
The Man Who (1999): B2 – B♭4 - G5
The Invisible Band (2001): G♯2 – G4 – E5
12 Memories (2003): A2 - B♭2 – G4 – G♯4
The Boy With No Name (2007): B♭2 – C5 – C♯5 – E5
Ode to J. Smith (2008): B2 – A4 – D5
Where You Stand (2013): B♭2 – B2 – A4 – D5
Everything at Once (2016): A2 – A4 – C5
10 Songs (2020): G2 – B♭4 – C5

Solo
Wreckorder (2010): A2 - A4 - C5

SPOILER: Click to show

{Credits}The following source proved invaluable in locating rare b sides and covers of songs in live settings: @tsmithpage forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/travis-non-album-tracks.192553/

[Macca]

That Bold F#5 sounds like E5

[Osmosis]

Apr 7, 2022 19:23:42 GMT Macca said:

That Bold F#5 sounds like E5

I kept going back and forth on it. You're right though

[Osmosis]

Big update to the thread courtesy of some rare b sides and live performances (about 30) that I found thanks to this poster on the Steve Hoffman forum: forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/travis-non-album-tracks.192553/

Found a new highest note and a new bold too, both from Back in Black. Really surprising effort from Fran, the song is a bit much for him these days but back in the mid to late 2000s he was going for most of the original melodies. The best quality performance is now linked in the thread

[Osmosis]

I recently stumbled across the Band's Glass Onion EP which was recorded with an old line up of the band. What's cool is it has a range expanding note. Do people think it is closer to B5 or C6?

[Electric Mami]

Hearing it closer to C6 personally

[Homelander]

I agree. It is 100% a C6.