What bands have drummers as lead singers?

July 24, 2006 2:11 PM

What bands have a drummer as a/the lead singer?

After a few drinks at a street festival this weekend, this question came up and we're having a miserable time trying to come up with examples other than Genesis and the Eagles. I think the heat has fried my Google skills.

posted by awegz to media & arts (66 comments total)

Levon Helm, of the Band, had a beautiful voice and used it often. But the Band had three world-class rock singers in it, so it may not count.
posted by maxreax at 2:12 PM on July 24, 2006

Underoath is one... can't think of any others at the moment.
posted by Venadium at 2:13 PM on July 24, 2006

Georgia from Yo La Tengo sings on some of their songs.
posted by nixxon at 2:14 PM on July 24, 2006

Mates of State-- two vocalists who sing pretty much all the time; one plays organ and the other drums.
posted by fireflies to stars at 2:14 PM on July 24, 2006

What about Ringo? Or do you want full-time lead singers as opposed to one-offs?
posted by macadamiaranch at 2:16 PM on July 24, 2006

Dave Clark 5
Gary Lewis & The Playboys
posted by DandyRandy at 2:17 PM on July 24, 2006

Janet Weiss, drummer of Sleater-Kinney, also drums and occasionally provides lead vocals for Quasi.
posted by yellowbinder at 2:18 PM on July 24, 2006

The Beastie Boys might qualify.
posted by ed\26h at 2:20 PM on July 24, 2006

I was thinking more full-time lead singers. If he/she shared the duty with another band member that would be A-OK. I think we ultimately decided Ringo didn't count (no offense, Ringo).
posted by awegz at 2:21 PM on July 24, 2006

It doesn't really count, but Dave Grohl drummed for Nirvana and is the lead singer for Foo Fighters, so he's technically a drummer who is a lead singer.
posted by nadawi at 2:21 PM on July 24, 2006

Jian Ghomeshi shared lead vocals for Moxy Fruvous while playing snare and cymbal with brushes.
posted by LinnTate at 2:22 PM on July 24, 2006

Karen Carpenter(the Carpenters) and Mickey Dolenz (the Monkees). Unless you are only trying to come up with current bands...
posted by oneirodynia at 2:23 PM on July 24, 2006

I know that The Romantic's big hit ("What I Like About You") was performed by their drummer, but I don't know if he was their full time lead singer or not. I remember the Bangles having a tune that the drummer sang, I don't know if she ever sang any others. I certainly can say with all certainty that she was not the lead singer, but when I was a kid I remember having serious confusion over who "the leader" of the Bangles was.

There's an awesome local band in Boston called The Konks, their lead singer is also their drummer, 100% of the time.
posted by pazazygeek at 2:27 PM on July 24, 2006

Wasn't the singer of Red Kross also the drummer--- at least I remember he was drumming on an upright kit in a video...I could be soooo wrong though.
posted by stavx at 2:29 PM on July 24, 2006

Yoshimi P-We sings (lead? Is there a lead?) on a bunch of Boredoms tracks.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:31 PM on July 24, 2006

Heavens to Betsy drummer, Tracy Sawyer sang on some of the songs. Corin Tucker did most of the singing though (Pre Sleater-Kinney).
posted by thesiameseffect at 2:31 PM on July 24, 2006

New Radiant Storm King
The Gunga Din
Yo La Tengo
Papas Fritas


...and I know I'm missing several that I've seen.
posted by kaseijin at 2:31 PM on July 24, 2006

Low's Mimi Parker is the band's drummer and shares equal lead-singer duties with guitarist Alan Sparhawk.
posted by jesourie at 2:32 PM on July 24, 2006

The Lucksmiths!

<3<3<3
posted by ludwig_van at 2:33 PM on July 24, 2006

The dude from 3 Doors Down started out singing behind the kit.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 2:34 PM on July 24, 2006

tim alexander, after leaving primus, went on to drum and eventually sing lead for Laundry.
posted by shmegegge at 2:36 PM on July 24, 2006

Cowboy Mouth

Night Ranger

I think we can formulate a law here: "Don't let your drummer be a lead singer unless you want to suck."
posted by The Michael The at 2:38 PM on July 24, 2006

Eagles (Don Henley)
Genesis (Phil Collins)
posted by raider at 2:38 PM on July 24, 2006

Oh. Duh.
posted by raider at 2:39 PM on July 24, 2006

I think the problem is that if a drummer tries to sing while he's drumming, the physical movement of drumming will affect his voice negatively.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 2:40 PM on July 24, 2006

Magma!!
More info here.
posted by Monstrous Moonshine at 2:44 PM on July 24, 2006

Volcano Suns featured Peter Prescott (Mission of Burma's drummer) bangin' the cans and singin'.
posted by box elder at 2:46 PM on July 24, 2006

Jellyfish
posted by gfrobe at 2:47 PM on July 24, 2006

Death From Above 1979
posted by unlicensedarchitect at 2:48 PM on July 24, 2006

Speaking of Magma, Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins does the double duty.
posted by Asbestos McPinto at 2:49 PM on July 24, 2006

Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg 7?
Although I guess Max doesn't do much actual singing.
posted by clh at 2:58 PM on July 24, 2006

Kram from Australian band Spiderbait sings wherever they have male vocals. Their female bass(?) player does the other vocals.
posted by cholly at 2:59 PM on July 24, 2006

I remember the Bangles having a tune that the drummer sang, I don't know if she ever sang any others. I certainly can say with all certainty that she was not the lead singer, but when I was a kid I remember having serious confusion over who "the leader" of the Bangles was.

The Bangles' drummer (Debbi Peterson) does indeed sing lead vocals in several songs, including the singles "Going Down to Liverpool" and "Be With You," neither of which was terribly successful.

They actually didn't have a "lead singer," although Susanna Hoffs sang lead vocals on most of the hits. When they perform live, the lead guitarist (Vicki Peterson) does most of the talking.
posted by clarahamster at 3:03 PM on July 24, 2006

The guys in Doves switch around instruments and vocal duties, but I've seen videos of one of them on the drums while singing. Spiderbait's vocalist is the drummer.

The band U.S.E. doesn't really have one vocalist they use for everything either, but here's a video of the drummer doing his thing that you might enjoy.
posted by chimmyc at 3:04 PM on July 24, 2006

I think the problem is that if a drummer tries to sing while he's drumming, the physical movement of drumming will affect his voice negatively.

On top of the fact that most bands record vocals and instrumentation separately in the studio, I think that most of the bands here have larger problems than "poor singing."
posted by The Michael The at 3:07 PM on July 24, 2006

I always cringe when I see bands that feature the drummer as the lead singer (esp. bar bands). It seems to me that it's terribly hard to look cool while singing and drumming at the same time.

Levon Helm of The Band did well (based solely on my viewing of Last Waltz).

I think it mainly has to do with microphone placement (and it's minus a million points if the drummer is wearing a headset mic).
posted by davey_darling at 3:12 PM on July 24, 2006

Yeah, Jellyfish springs to mind.
posted by fire&wings at 3:14 PM on July 24, 2006

The China Drum had a drummer who handled all vocal duties.
posted by turaho at 3:16 PM on July 24, 2006

There's a fantastic three piece funk/acid jazz band from NYC called Tortured Soul whose drummer is also the full time singer. He's equally impressive as a drummer and a soulful vocalist. Also, the band performs their concerts live as if they were DJ sets ... that is, all of their songs flow/mix from one to the next. Thus, not only is this drummer belting it out vocally but he's also drumming non-stop for at least an hour. I have no idea how he doesn't just collapse at the end. Check them out if you have a chance ...
posted by General Zubon at 3:17 PM on July 24, 2006

The Powerpuff Girls (couldn't find an English version)
posted by cillit bang at 3:25 PM on July 24, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Drummer Grant Hart of Husker Du handled half the songwriting/singing duties, IIRC.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 3:33 PM on July 24, 2006

From a Don Henley interview:

"I could stand out front and sing Eagles songs that I sing in my set, but I think people enjoy watching me sing and play the drums. It seems to fascinate people. I don't know why."
posted by futility closet at 3:37 PM on July 24, 2006

The Beat Farmers had Country Dick Montana until his untimely demise.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 3:39 PM on July 24, 2006

Taproot's drummer Jarrod sometime sings lead.
posted by blackkar at 3:55 PM on July 24, 2006

Sheila E
posted by zzztimbo at 4:15 PM on July 24, 2006

Another one is zZz. Organ, drums, and Amsterdam.
posted by box elder at 4:24 PM on July 24, 2006

I think it's worth noting that Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish not only sang while drumming, he drummed standing up!
posted by kimota at 4:26 PM on July 24, 2006

Night Ranger actually had two vocalists.. Kelly Keagy and Jack Blades.

Here's an opposite one: the old vocalist for Racer X left and became the drummer for Badlands.
posted by drstein at 4:46 PM on July 24, 2006

I think it's worth noting that Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish not only sang while drumming, he drummed standing up!

So does Tali White from The Lucksmiths, judging from the photo in their wikipedia entry.
posted by ludwig_van at 4:46 PM on July 24, 2006

the Hard Ons
posted by Tixylix at 5:06 PM on July 24, 2006

The Romantics!

What I like about you, you hold me ti-iiiiight.
Tell me I'm the only one, wanna come over ton-iiiiight
yea-uh
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 5:47 PM on July 24, 2006

The Need
posted by beerbajay at 6:23 PM on July 24, 2006

John Dittrich drums and sings lead for country group Restless Heart, and Canadian rock group Sloan has two members who play, Chris Murphy and Andrew Scott, but I can't say if either of them have sung lead while drumming.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:52 PM on July 24, 2006

My old band Thred, which many of you all enjoyed over in Music.MeFi, featured the drummer on lead vocals most of the time, including that song.
posted by emelenjr at 6:53 PM on July 24, 2006

Lightning Bolt
posted by sixacross at 7:25 PM on July 24, 2006

The Barbarians' drummer, who had a hook for one hand, sang the autobiographical song "Moulty". This uplifting song from 1966 is on Lenny Kaye's Nuggets anthology.
posted by rfs at 7:43 PM on July 24, 2006

Rare Earth.

God, I'm old.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 7:45 PM on July 24, 2006

Extremely silly London punk rock band Snuff.

Another London band - not particularly well known, but very good nonetheless - Stuffy/The Fuses. (Drummer and lead singer Stephen Gilchrist aka Stuffy also plays drums for ex Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, fact-fans)

Yorkshire folk-punks and train enthusiasts (I kid you not) Blyth Power.
posted by coach_mcguirk at 11:02 PM on July 24, 2006

Triumph
posted by pretzel at 12:26 AM on July 25, 2006

When Soundgarden started in 1984, Chris Cornell sang from the drumstool.
posted by macdara at 3:33 AM on July 25, 2006

Japanther.
posted by dame at 6:37 AM on July 25, 2006

pop punk bands:
Sinkhole
Thirsty

ug, i know there are more...
posted by annoyance at 7:40 AM on July 25, 2006

Dirty on Purpose Check out their video at Youtube
posted by Brando_T. at 8:03 AM on July 25, 2006

Newsboys do. The head holler-er of the group, Peter Furler, was the band's drummer for a while, and still occasionally handles vox and stix at the same time. Or sometimes he'll sit down at another kit to have drum-solo battles. Or he'll keep the rhythm section going while the main drummer (Duncan Philips) goes up on their crazy rotating/tilting/drum riser that floats above the stage...wearing a seat belt...
posted by Milkman Dan at 2:03 PM on July 25, 2006

Don't forget Peter Criss.
posted by turbodog at 4:41 PM on July 25, 2006

Ummm...I'm horrified that I'm about to start this argument, but Mickey Dolenz wasn't the lead singer of The Monkeys. Davy Jones was the lead singer/tambourine player extraordinaire.
posted by AlliKat75 at 1:42 PM on July 26, 2006