Get ready for goosebumps as we revisit some of the most unforgettable falsetto moments in music history! From show-stopping classics by Queen and The Four Seasons to modern masterpieces by The Weeknd and Bon Iver, these vocal performances hit heights that left us absolutely awestruck. Which falsetto moment gives you chills every time? Tell us your favorite in the comments!
00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those memorable falsetto
00:10vocal moments that we'll take with us to the hereafter.
00:1410.
00:23Cry Me A River, Justin Timberlake
00:25JT busted out what would eventually become something of an iconic modern falsetto for
00:31his debut solo album, Justified.
00:36That LP contained a number of hit singles, including Cry Me A River.
00:44The tune would serve as an early defining song for this X and Sync boy bander, signifying
00:50a more adult sound that went along with Justin Timberlake's freshened-up image.
00:54Cry Me A River is slinky and sexy, while Timberlake's falsetto feels impossibly cool.
01:09It doesn't feel hyperbolic at all to signal out the success of this song as something of
01:13a blueprint for future young pop stars that were seeking out a similar path to solo stardom.
01:18Cry Me A River, Justin Timberlake
01:23Cry Me A River, Justin Timberlake
01:279.
01:28Somebody To Love, Queen
01:30Fans of the hard rock legends in Queen can honestly take their pick when it comes to powerful vocal
01:36moments on this track from 1976.
01:46Somebody To Love opens up with an epic-sounding chorus of voices setting the stage.
01:51But who are we kidding?
01:52We all know that it's actually the end of Somebody To Love that takes the proverbial cake.
01:57Somebody To Love
02:04Freddie Mercury's soaring falsetto hits after a tremendous rocked-out coda from the band.
02:10That supersonic note on the word to is stretched out for all its worth, and fans have been hanging
02:16there, suspending in amazement ever since.
02:308.
02:31Blinding Lights, The Weeknd
02:33Anticipation seemed to be high in the months leading up to the release of The Weeknd's
02:37fourth LP, After Hours.
02:47This was due primarily to the success of its early single, Blinding Lights.
02:51The tune was released a year prior to After Hours Street Date in 2020, and makes the most
02:57out of The Weeknd's retro-sounding falsetto.
03:06This is upbeat, driving synth-pop with a modern edge, and the falsetto vocals simply add to
03:11the magic at hand.
03:13Blinding Lights crossed over big time back in 2019, and helped introduce The Weeknd's
03:17music to a whole new cross-section of appreciative listeners.
03:217.
03:30Trouble, Coldplay
03:32The music of Coldplay has been in the news as of late for its, let's go with, ability
03:37to bring people together.
03:48Gramatic and melancholic hits like Shiver, Fix You, or The Scientist stand alongside other
03:54Coldplay songs that make the most out of Chris Martin's fragile falsetto.
03:59Songs like Trouble, which was more successful abroad than in the United States, yet nevertheless,
04:04showcases Coldplay's penchant for the pensive and thought-provoking.
04:07Martin's natural charisma as a frontman also helps his falsetto transcend on stage, reaching
04:18those people in the audience with a palpable sense of importance.
04:22What is it about doomed musicians that somehow make their recorded legacy feel all the more ghostly
04:39and not of this world?
04:47The legend of Jeff Buckley has only grown since his sole LP from 1995, Grace.
04:53The album gains particular critical prominence at the time for its inclusion of Hallelujah,
04:58a cover of Leonard Cohen that's perhaps the best ever set to tape.
05:10That isn't the only cover on record, however, since Buckley also utilized his fantastic falsetto
05:15voice on the traditional folk hymn, Corpus Christi Carol.
05:25This holiday tune, with religious connotations, takes on a whole new life under Buckley's care
05:31and adds further magic to the man's depressingly slim recorded output.
05:35Corpus Christi written there on...
05:435.
05:44Cheri, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
05:47Songwriting can be a wonderful business, and it's interesting to research a song's evolution
05:53from idea to hit.
06:00Cheri was written by Bob Gaudio of the Four Seasons, and was just one to make the most
06:06out of that group's lead singer, Frankie Valli.
06:09Other examples like Big Girls Don't Cry or Walk Like a Man are great, but it's Cheri that
06:14Gaudio allegedly wrote in 15 minutes that's a stone-cold classic.
06:21It went on to not only serve as one of the finest doo-wop songs ever recorded, but the success
06:31of Cheri also underlined how Gaudio's melodic songwriting worked perfectly with Valli's
06:36Helium Falsetto.
06:37They're called classics for a reason, after all.
06:484.
06:49Holocene, Bon Iver
06:51Fans of the modern folk rock icons in Bon Iver could likely point to a dozen examples
06:57of their favorite falsetto moments from the band's lead singer Justin Vernon.
07:08Stax is one that comes up often in conversation, as does Holocene from 2011.
07:13This tune from Bon Iver's self-titled sophomore effort earned both commercial and critical acclaim,
07:19with Holocene being nominated for both Song and Record of the Year at the 2012 Grammy Awards.
07:31It's easy to see why this song was so beloved, too, since Vernon's warm and inviting falsetto
07:36never steps over what Bon Iver is trying to do musically.
07:40It's a great performance from a very talented singer.
07:433.
07:50Svefgejenglar, Sigur Rås
07:54It isn't just every experimental band that can create a fictional, phonetic language for
07:59their music and get away with it.
08:05Yet Iceland's Sigur Rås aren't your average, everyday rock band.
08:12Their music is one of crushing, terrible beauty, grand melancholy and hope.
08:17It's impossible to describe for those outside looking in, but songs like Svefgejenglar from the band's sophomore album
08:33Augiteus Burien, possessed the ability to connect with listeners in a remarkably genuine manner.
08:39Jan Thor Jansi Bergesen's whispered, faint falsetto feels like it's made of glass, a sparkling cascade of sound that's impossible to resist.
08:492.
08:50Writings on the Wall, Sam Smith
08:58One of the most brilliant aspects about the world of Bond themes is their diversity.
09:03They're essentially a snapshot into what's cool, hip and happening during the production of each 007 adventure.
09:172015's Spectre was a critically divisive entry, both with regards to its film and title theme from Sam Smith.
09:24Speaking subjectively, however, we still think that Writings on the Wall is one of the best James Bond title songs full stop.
09:36Smith utilizes their falsetto throughout much of the time and captures that spirit of cinematic space and grandeur that's so indicative of the franchise.
09:46The double chorus at the end is particularly striking, and it brings us near tears every time.
10:01Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:05Take on me, aha, Morton Harkett's iconic work on that chorus.
10:19Nights on Broadway, Bee Gees, made falsetto singing cool again.
10:24Nights of Cydonia, Muse, epic prog moves meets falsetto greatness.
10:36No one's gonna take me alive.
10:43Don't Worry Baby, the Beach Boys, the kings of harmonized falsetto.
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11:11Number 1. Paranoid Android, Radiohead.
11:15We don't know about you guys, but we kind of want to live in a world where both Sam Smith's and Radiohead's songs for Spectre found their ways into the finished movie.
11:31That said, it isn't as if we're in any deficit of Tom York falsetto vocal moments, because, you know, Paranoid Android will forever remain a thing.
11:40A thing of beauty, of weirdness and epic musicality, a song where the aggro meets the psychedelic, and where York's amazing falsetto does a lot of creative heavy lifting.
11:58The From a Great Height sequence around the halfway point is the sort of Radiohead moment that basically cast in stone their reputation as generationally talented songwriters.
12:16What are your thoughts about male falsetto vocals? For? Against? Ambivalent? Sound off in the comments!
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