Music News

The greatest frontman of all time? This poll says it’s Freddie Mercury.

Frequent contributor Gilles LeBlanc took a poll on the greatest frontman of all time. The result comes just in times for the premiere of the Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, which opens Friday. This story appears in the Toronto Star.

They preen, they croon, they strut. They are the greatest rock bands in the world. We all have our favourites. But can we agree there can be only one greatest frontperson of all time?

According to a recent Canadian poll asking fans to name their choice for the greatest frontperson ever — living or dead, male or female — Queen’s Freddie Mercury is the undisputed winner.

More than 100 names were submitted to the poll (found on Canadian radio personality Alan Cross’ website, AJournalOfMusicalThings.com), although some were automatically disqualified — from joke entries such as David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap to solo artists who don’t actually front a band, such as Ed Sheeran.

Among the legitimate qualifiers, Mercury definitely rocked the vote, garnering a cool 26 percent of the more than 650 entries. His tally was well over three times higher than second-place finisher Gord Downie.

Why all the love for someone who hasn’t been with us for more than a quarter century, and who last graced the stage with Queen in 1986?

Keep reading.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38040 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “The greatest frontman of all time? This poll says it’s Freddie Mercury.

  • I’ve seen Freddie Mercury top these Greatest Frontman polls. Personally I’d go with Robert Plant. Freddie was more of an entertainer and showman. Robert Plant had this otherworldly almost godlike mystique. I guess it depends on what you find appealing in a frontman

    Reply

Let us know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.