best rock singers

AC/DC was formed in December, 1973, in Australia, by guitarist Malcolm Young, whom had just left his last band, Velvet Underground. He saw first hand all the benefits that came with being a rock star, as his older brother, George Young, reach the big time as a member of the popular 1960s band, the Easybeats. He very much wanted to follow in George's footsteps. Malcolm also could see that his younger brother, Angus, was a very talented guitar player, even if he was only 15 years old, and picked him to be the new band's lead guitarist. Because Angus was still a school boy, his sister suggested that he should wear his school uniform on stage; so he did, and in time the look would become his trademark. AC/DC would go through many personnel changes that first year, but by the time they started to play steady gigs all around Australia, the main lineup consisted of lead singer Dave Evans, Rob Bailey on bass, Peter Clark on the drums, along with the two Young brothers. They recorded their first single in 1974 with "Can I Sit Next to You Girl"/"Rockin' In the Parlour". The song was produced by George, as he would also produce their future albums.

When you think of southern rock n roll, one of the first bands to come to mind is Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their blues-hard rock, three-guitar weaving line-up was a Southern image hard to forget. The band was formed by a bunch of high school friends in 1965, vocalist/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, bassist Larry Jungstrom and drummer Bob Burns. They played the first few years under various different names (Noble Five, Wildcats, Sons Of Satan and My Backyard), after they released a single in 1968, they changed their name to Lynyrd Skynyrd. The name came as a mock against their high school gym teacher Leonard Skinner, who was notorious for punishing male students with long hair and proclaimed that Van Zant and his friends would never amount to anything good in life. Shortly after they changed their name Leon Wilkeson joined the group on bass replacing Jungstrom and also around this time they added keyboardist Billy Powell. The group was discovered in Atlanta by Al Kooper in 1972 while they were playing a gig and he signed them to his Sounds Of The South label. As they began work on their first album guitarist Ed King (formerly of Strawberry Alarm Clock) join and their triple guitar attack lineup was now in place.

Good Charlotte's frontmen, identical twins Joel and Benji Madden, were born on March 11, 1979 to a middle class family in Waldorf, Maryland. Their mother raised them with a strict Christian up-bringing. Their father left the family when the twins were 16 years old, causing financial problems for the twins, their mother, older brother, and younger sister. For a short period of time the twins had to work as shampoo boys in a salon. Benji and Joel cite their older brother Josh Madden for introducing them to rock music by bands such as Rancid and Social Distortion. After attending a Beastie Boys concert at the age of 16, Benji and Joel decided to start their very own band, although Joel had never sung before, and Benji had never played guitar. The first band they started was called "The Benji, Joel, and Brian Band,' which they started with a friend. The band was short lived. They then started Good Charlotte in 1995 when they recruited childhood friends Paul Thomas (bass) and Aaron Escolopio (drums). They soon moved to Annapolis, Maryland where they were introduced to Billy Martin by a friend.

Over the past year, Pierce The Veil have been building a solid fan base in the underground SoCal music scene that birthed blink-182, Pinback, As I Lay Dying, and Thrice, among countless others. Pierce The Veil is next in line to break into the mainstream with their unique brand of melody and artistic rhythm found on their debut album, A Flair For The Dramatic.

Born on March 26, 1948, Steven Tyler took up drums and singing before becoming the bombastic, colorful leader of the rock band Aerosmith. The group would enjoy major chart success with hits like “Dream On,” “Walk This Way,” “Love in an Elevator” and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” having more than three decades worth of staying power. Tyler also served as an American Idol judge for two years.

The seeds of what would become Linkin Park were sown in Southern California in 1996, when three high school friends – drummer Rob Bourdon, guitarist Brad Delson and vocalist Mike Shinoda – decided to form a band. Soon after graduation, they completed their lineup by recruiting three more members: bassist Dave Farrell, turntablist Joe Hahn and temporary lead singer Mark Wakefield. Calling themselves first SuperXero and then simply Xero, the group began recording demos but failed to garner much interest in their songs.

Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois, United States Years Active: 1996–present Genres: Heavy Metal, Alternative Metal, Nu Metal Disturbed is an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1996 when musicians Dan Donegan, Steve "Fuzz" Kmak, and Mike Wengren hired David Draiman as their singer.

A demo tape led to their signing to Giant Records, which released their debut album, “The Sickness,” in March 2000. The album reached the Top 30 on the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums chart. Since its release, “The Sickness” has been certified quadruple platinum in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA. Four singles were released from the album, "Stupify,” "Voices,” "The Game” and "Down with the Sickness" the latter of which was the most successful, having been certified platinum by the RIAA.

Birth Place: Glendale, California, U.S. Years Active: 1994–2006 (hiatus) Genres: Alternative Metal, Progressive Rock, Hard Rock, Experimental System of a Down (also known by the acronym SOAD, or SoaD and often shortened as System) is an Armenian-American rock band from Southern California, formed in 1993. It consists of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian (vocals, guitar), Shavo Odadjian (bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan (drums). All four members are of Armenian descent, and are widely known for their outspoken views expressed in many of their songs confronting the Armenian Genocide of 1915 by the Ottoman Empire as well as the ongoing War on Terror.

Birth Place: Norwood, Ontario, Canada Years Active: 1992–1997 (as Groundswell), 1997–present Genres: Alternative Metal, Hard Rock, Post-grunge Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock/alternative metal band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada, in 1992, under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in 1997 under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer and backing vocalist Neil Sanderson, and bassist Brad Walst. In 2003, Barry Stock was recruited as the band's lead guitarist. The band is based in Toronto.

Birth Place: Dallas, Texas Years Active: 1996−present Genres: Nu Metal, Hard Rock, Hard Rock, Post-grunge Drowning Pool is a four-piece alternative metal band that was formed in 1996 in Dallas, Texas, United States. They are currently signed to Eleven Seven Music.

Their 2001 debut album, “Sinner,” was certified platinum within six weeks, and the video for its first single "Bodies" was widely aired on various music video channels. The album debuted at #14 on the Billboard 200 chart.

On August 14, 2002, the band's lead singer Dave Williams was found dead inside his tour bus.

In 2003, the band decided on Jason 'Gong' Jones to replace Williams and released the album “Desensitized” in 2004. The album debuted at #17 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album's lead single, "Step Up," went to #7 on the Billboard US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.

Birth Place: San Diego, California, United States Years Active: 1992–2005, 2009–present Genres: Pop Punk, Punk Rock, Skate Punk, Alternative Rock Blink-182 (stylized as “blink-182”) is an American pop punk band from San Diego, California, formed in 1992. The band formed as “Blink” with vocalist and bass player Mark Hoppus, vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge and drummer Scott Raynor. In 1998, midway through a U.S. tour, current drummer Travis Barker replaced Scott Raynor.

With original drummer Scott Raynor they released their debut album “Cheshire Cat” in 1994 and achieved moderate success with its follow-up, 1997's “Dude Ranch,” which went on to sell over one million copies. Raynor was replaced by Barker midway through a 1998 tour.

Birth Place: Memphis, Tennessee, United States Years Active: 1996 – present Genres: Christian Rock, Post-grunge, Hard Rock, Alternative Metal, Symphonic Rock Skillet is an American Christian rock band originally formed in Memphis, Tennessee. The band consists of John Cooper (lead vocalist, bassist), his wife Korey Cooper (rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist), Ben Kasica (lead guitarist), and Jen Ledger (drummer, vocalist). Skillet has released eight albums, two receiving Grammy nominations: "Collide" and "Comatose."

Over the past 15 years, Skillet has spanned many different genres, including hard rock, industrial rock, and symphonic rock. As of March 2010 they have sold 1.6 million albums worldwide. Skillet was only together for a month when they received interest from major Christian record label ForeFront Records.

Birth Place: Kansas City, Missouri, USA Years Active: 1991–1999, 2000–present Genres: Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Post-grunge Puddle of Mudd is an American post-grunge band from Kansas City, Missouri formed in 1992 by Wes Scantlin.

The group's first album, “Stuck,” was released in 1994 on V&R Records. The album was produced by the band and E.J. Rose, and was recorded at Red House Studio in Lawrence, Kansas. It spawned two radio singles, “You Don't Know” and “Drift and Die.”

The group released a second album, “Abrasive,” in 1997 on Hardknocks Records. It had eleven tracks, all written by the band, three of which would eventually make it on to Puddle of Mudd's first major label release.