Frontman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frontman (also "front man") is a term referring to the lead singer or band leader of a music group. When the lead musician is female, the term frontress is occasionally used for more accuracy. Although its use is rarer, references to it seem to be consistent. The term frontwoman is also seen. Usually, the front man is the most famous member of the group; however, this is not necessarily true in all bands. The term comes from the singer's usual position during a concert, which is in front of the stage and in front of the other band members. His chief responsibility is most commonly lead voice, and he is also the one who does most of the communication with the audience between songs. Some use the term "frontman" interchangeably with "singer", while others use "frontman" only to describe someone who sings and plays an instrument for the band (such as James Hetfield or Kurt Cobain). The term "frontman" usually only applies to bands with 3 or more members, as opposed to duos, in which both the members are generally considered "frontmen".
A musician is usually called a front man when he sings the majority of the songs of the group. For example, George Harrison is not considered a front man, since John Lennon and Paul McCartney usually sang tunes during their tenure in The Beatles. On the other hand, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden sings most of the songs, therefore, he is dubbed a front man. Sometimes the majority of a group's creative input comes from the front man; these front men are often recognized or referred to as band leaders, such as Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.
[edit] Famous front men
- Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull
- Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
- Jim Morrison of The Doors
- Aaron Barrett of Reel Big Fish
- Fran Healy of Travis
- Freddie Mercury of Queen
- Angus Young of AC/DC
- Jonathan Davis of korn
- Bradley Nowell of Sublime
- Jon Anderson of Yes
- Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane
- Željko Bebek of Bijelo Dugme
- John Lydon of The Sex Pistols and later Public Image Ltd
- Joe Strummer and Mick Jones of The Clash
- Paul Weller of The Jam
- Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses
- Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy
- Bob Marley of The Wailers
- Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace
- Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta
- Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates
- Syd Barrett and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd
- Chester Bennington of Linkin Park
- Marc Bolan of T Rex
- Jack Bruce of Cream
- Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac
- Ian Curtis of Joy Division
- Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P.
- Jon Bon Jovi of Bon Jovi
- Bono of U2
- Lemmy of Motörhead
- David Byrne of Talking Heads
- Julian Casablancas of The Strokes
- Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
- Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins
- Jay Kay of Jamiroquai
- Chris Cornell of Audioslave and Soundgarden
- David Coverdale of Whitesnake and Deep Purple
- Roger Daltrey of The Who
- Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against the Machine
- Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden
- Dave Grohl of The Foo Fighters
- Mladen Vojičić Tifa of Bijelo Dugme
- Paul Di'Anno of Iron Maiden
- Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros
- Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music
- Peter Gabriel and, later, Phil Collins of Genesis
- Liam Gallagher of Oasis
- Damon Albarn of Blur
- Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead
- Ian Gillan of Deep Purple
- Lou Gramm of Foreigner
- Trey Anastasio of Phish
- Rob Halford of Judas Priest
- Don Henley and Glenn Frey of The Eagles
- James Hetfield of Metallica
- Michael Hutchence of INXS
- Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss
- Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones
- Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand
- Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers
- James LaBrie of Dream Theater
- Geddy Lee of Rush
- John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles
- Till Lindemann and Richard Zven Kruspe of Rammstein
- Toby McKeehan of dc Talk
- Steve Marriott of Small Faces and Humble Pie
- Klaus Meine of Scorpions
- Morrissey of The Smiths
- Dave Mustaine of Megadeth
- Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe
- Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath
- Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin
- Iggy Pop of The Stooges
- Joey Ramone of The Ramones
- Keith Relf of The Yardbirds
- Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers
- Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company
- David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, both of Van Halen
- Robert Smith of The Cure
- Layne Staley of Alice in Chains
- David Gahan of Depeche Mode
- Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC
- Steven Tyler of Aerosmith
- Richard Barone of The Bongos
- Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam
- Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver
- Jack White of The White Stripes
- Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys
- Thom Yorke of Radiohead
- Matt Bellamy of Muse
- Chris Martin of Coldplay
- Henry Rollins of Black Flag and Rollins Band
- Colin Meloy of The Decemberists
- Les Claypool of Primus
- Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs
- Kelly Jones of Stereophonics
- Johnny Borrell of Razorlight
- Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five
- Carl Barat of Dirty Pretty Things
- Pete Doherty of Babyshambles
- Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol
- Tom Smith of The Editors
- David McCabe of The Zutons
- Preston of The Ordinary Boys
[edit] Frontresses/Frontwomen
- Maggie Bell of Stone the Crows
- Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland
- Rosemary Butler of Birtha
- Dinah Cancer of 45 Grave
- Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go's
- Cherie Currie of The Runaways
- Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation
- Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy
- Debbie Harry of Blondie
- Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries
- Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles
- Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders
- Floor Jansen of After Forever
- Janis Joplin of Big Brother and the Holding Company
- Liv Kristine of Leaves' Eyes
- Amy Lee of Evanescence
- Courtney Love of Hole
- Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks
- Shirley Manson of Garbage
- Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs
- June Millington of Fanny
- Sandra Nasic of Guano Apes
- Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac
- Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil
- Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls
- Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees
- Simone Simons of Epica
- Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane
- Donita Sparks of L7
- Sharleen Spiteri of Texas
- Gwen Stefani of No Doubt
- Vibeke Stene of Tristania
- Wendy O. Williams of Plasmatics
- Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs
