Every now and then a lead singer needs a water break, soĀ someone else takes overĀ onĀ vocals.Ā And every now and then one of those songs becomes a huge hit.Ā Ā (And you know the lead singer HATES that!)
“Rolling Stone”Ā has a list of 15 classic examples.Ā Here are 10 highlights:
1.Ā Ā “We’re An American Band”,Ā Grand Funk Railroad, 1973 . . . sung by drummerĀ Don Brewer.
2.Ā Ā “Take It to the Limit”,Ā The Eagles, 1975 . . . sung by original bassistĀ Randy Meisner.
3.Ā Ā “Beth”,Ā KISS, 1976 . . . sung by drummerĀ Peter Criss.
4.Ā Ā “Don’t Fear the Reaper”,Ā Blue Oyster Cult, 1976 . . . sung by guitaristĀ Buck Dharma. Ā (This one’s kind of a cheat . . .)
(All FIVE members of BOC sang.Ā And while Eric Bloom was their most frequent lead singer, Buck sang a lot of tracks, including their three best-known songs, “Reaper”, “Burnin’ For You” and “Godzilla”.)
5.Ā “Tempted”,Ā Squeeze, 1980 . . . sung by keyboardistĀ Paul Carrack, who was only with the band for ONE ALBUM.
6.Ā Ā “Africa”,Ā Toto, 1983 . . . sung by keyboardistĀ David Paich.Ā It was the band’s only #1 single.
7.Ā Ā “Sister Christian”,Ā Night Ranger, 1984 . . . sung by drummerĀ Kelly Keagy, who wrote it for his younger sister.
8.Ā Ā “These Dreams”,Ā Heart, 1986 . . . sung by guitaristĀ Nancy Wilson.Ā It was actually one of two songs they were offered by outside songwriters.Ā The other one wasĀ “We Built This City”, which somehow became a hit forĀ Starship.
9.Ā Ā “Don’t Look Back in Anger”,Ā Oasis, 1996 . . . sung byĀ Noel Gallagher.Ā He presented this song andĀ “Wonderwall”Ā to his brotherĀ LiamĀ and told him to pick which one he wanted to sing.Ā Obviously, Liam choseĀ “Wonderwall”.
10.Ā Ā “Happy”,Ā The Rolling Stones, 1972 . . . sung byĀ Keith Richards, who generally takes the vocals on one song per album, and this is one that became a hit.
(Hit upĀ RollingStone.comĀ to see the full list.Ā They published it a while back, and are putting it back out there . . . possibly to get everyone’s mind off of the world’s current lead singer, COVID-19.)
