Old singers who "still got it" (13,728 views)

[blazejecar2]

I was looking into vocal changes that naturally occur with age and started thinking about who I know that maintained their voice well into their 50s, 60s or beyond. Who would you say took care of their voice the best and is most impressive for their age?

[halloweenjack95]

Carole King, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Tyler are good examples.

[Rodney Blazershorts]

Bruce Dickinson

[Dark Star]

Glenn Hughes is the definitive choice, obviously. Freak of nature.

Mick Jagger, perhaps because he never had a very taxing vocal style to begin with, sounds close to his youth aside from nasality.

While he is obviously now showing his age at 93, Tony Bennett sounded remarkably strong well into his early 80s.

Graham Bonnett is still quite powerful.

Steven Tyler has a bit of an old man tone now but he can still pull of demanding stuff like Dream On

Stevie Wonder still has a pretty youthful sounding tone and can still get up to F5 or so.

Carole King sounds damn incredible for her age. Her projection in particular is quite outstanding.

[Dark Star]

Oct 20, 2019 14:49:07 GMT Rodney Blazershorts said:

Bruce Dickinson

I was gonna say Bruce but I was underwhelmed by what I've heard from the Legacy tour.

[Rodney Blazershorts]

59 years is a good run.

[Deleted]

Paul Rodgers.

[aliensweetheart]

As mentioned above, Steven Tyler certainly is a singer who seems to have maintained his vocal qualities considerably well. He's still able to perform the Aerosmith songs in the original key.
Also, as a Queen fan, I cannot ignore Roger Taylor and Brian May, both 70+ years old.

[Captain Planet]

COREY FREAKING GLOVER: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDiWjekitcQ#t=8m40s

[Zedd Squared]

I can say from personal experience that Bernie Shaw is still killing it at 63, dude can still do his belting and wails terrifically but the aging has also added a little extra gravitas to his lower and mid ranges which I quite like. His tessitura has shifted down about a whole step or so compared to 90s era Bernie but he's still one of the most impressive frontmen in terms of consistency to my ears.

[ama]

People can say whatever they want about Mariah Carey, but she's nearly 50 and still slays despite her nodules. Her tone is currently the most pleasant it's been this decade to me, and she's still able to produce bright and resonant belts. It's not about how high she goes. It's about the quality of her vocals. Who cares if she only belts up to D5 the majority of the time now? At least she's consistent. Her mid-belts are still so powerful, definitely more than when she debuted, so it's not like every part of her range got worse with time. Her upper belts aren't what they used to be but still got them when she feels confident enough to attempt them. And well, the legendary whistles are still there too, I absolutely love how they currently sound. Mimi has bad vocal moments sometimes and her voice is obviously fragile, but she's not and will never be defeated.

[galaxyseal]

Cleo Laine. Almost 92 and she still got it.

[falsetokaiba]

Oct 21, 2019 4:17:09 GMT Captain Planet said:

COREY FREAKING GLOVER: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDiWjekitcQ#t=8m40s

Middle-aged guy walks onto stage wearing a big comfy sweater and flat cap, absolutely slays 'Painkiller'. Corey Glover has no chill. :)

[falsetokaiba]

Ted Neeley's voice has held up incredibly well- he was still able here to do a top quality rendition of 'Gethsemane' forty-one years after he originally performed it in the 1973 film of 'Jesus Christ Superstar', now at the ripe old age of seventy:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Ted Neeley Gethsemane 2014}

[halloweenjack95]

youtu.be/D107rzlkE_w

She still got it! Absolutely love her voice.

[Vels]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSJe1Hohrdw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffGjbaAFVpw

[Dark Star]

That Jay Black note may be my favorite high note of all time.

[Vels]

Fellas from the sixties are massively overlooked due to the weight of the Beatles. While those kept getting overrated.

[Deleted]

Klaus Meine is another singer that has preserved his voice very well.

[Zedd Squared]

Klaus still sounds solid yeah, though he really plays it way too safe now by singing everything a whole step lower and not going for any of the big money notes of yesteryear. I guess for a guy that's 71 it's still pretty impressive, though after hearing that Ted Neeley clip that Nye posted I feel like my previously established standards for impressive rock belting by 70 year old dudes has experienced I considerable reevaluation lol. Hot damn what a great performance that is.

[rebaru]

Thank you for reminding me how amazing Corey Glover is.

[Seb]

Saw hair metal group Firehouse not too long ago; their lead singer (C.J. Snare) is 59 and sounds like he hadn't aged a day. Very clear tone and belts all across the 5th octave. I was pleasantly surprised by the performance.

[onemorelight17]

What about Tom Jones?

[Siren]

Eric Adams is 65 or 67 and still pretty much doing everything he always did, just 2 semitones lower...great resonance and power in his current belting range (F4-A4) and hitting them tricky high notes (D5-G5)
examples of some belting up to A4: youtu.be/qoCd1bc79nE?t=60 , youtu.be/aJhYG1qiubk?t=116
tricky phrase in the 5th octave, topping at G5: youtu.be/obGJu_xkGA8?t=195
three octave slide: youtu.be/GXATDgU6IMs?t=263
climactic G5: youtu.be/G5RUvUE2e7k?t=281
20 seconds D5: youtu.be/dDEtgBoj9zQ?t=231

[kaji]

Singers who still sound/sounded good into their 60s and beyond - Tom Jones, Stevie Wonder, Patti Labelle, Larnelle Harris (dude is in his 70s and still sounds the same as in his 20s and 30s), Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Steven Tyler, Chaka Khan, Billy Ocean, Cindy Lauper, Annie Lennox and Charlie Wilson.
He's 67 here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7RNAu30Usc
His vocal freedom is insane for his age. And his timbre is very youthful.