10 Singers Who Look Nothing Like Their Voice

MsMojo

Don't judge these books by their covers! Join us as we count down our picks for the singers whose appearances completely contradict their vocal abilities. From Susan Boyle's operatic surprise to Bobby Caldwell's soul that threw listeners for a loop, these artists prove that extraordinary voices can come from the most unexpected sources.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Singers who

00:13look completely different from the way their voice sounds on record.

00:1610. Bjork

00:25Bjork may appear to be relatively unassuming, but over the course of nearly

00:29five decades, she has become one of music's most iconic creative forces.

00:41Her voice is one that can take many forms, from the soft and delicate to the truly manic

00:46and chaotic.

00:47Regarded as one of the premier vocal talents of her generation, Bjork truly decided to flex

00:52her muscles by releasing Medulla, an album that was created entirely with her voice.

00:57Like most of her releases, it was a critical success and earned her two Grammy nominations.

01:11Despite being in the business since 1976, she has shown no signs of slowing down.

01:169. Tom Waits

01:32Tom Waits is a man of many voices, yet he still manages to throw people for a loop every time

01:38a first time listener hears him.

01:40The theatrical side of Waits' performances and even his interviews is designed to draw

01:44people in.

01:45But when he opens his mouth, he is capable of creating sounds that don't even seem human.

01:50From his early days as the wine-addled jazz singer, to the more experimental music of his later

02:03years, Tom Waits is one of the great idiosyncratic artists of the last 50 years.

02:08Need any more proof?

02:09Go listen to his album Bone Machine.

02:158. Jelly Roll

02:20One look at Jelly Roll is enough to make a few assumptions about what you're about to hear,

02:35but most of the time, those predictions will turn out to be totally wrong.

02:399. Jelly Roll

02:47Jelly Roll is a true genre-bending artist, one who seamlessly pivots from country to rap

02:53and rock. He initially tried to make his mark on the music industry as a straight-up rapper,

02:58but eventually found his success when he blurred the lines and dipped into country music.

03:02His voice is one that is unique as can be within the contemporary music world.

03:077. Michael McDonald

03:18Michael McDonald has made his mark on pop music in many different ways. He was a member of

03:31Steely Dan, achieved huge success with the Doobie Brothers, and had a prolific solo career.

03:37The one constant that they all share? McDonald's powerhouse voice.

03:44He might look like a very normal dude who you wouldn't even notice if you passed them on the street,

03:52but he has one of the great soul voices of his era.

03:55McDonald's success wasn't an accident, and though he deserves huge credit as a songwriter,

04:00it's that golden voice that really brought it all home.

04:076. Bob Dylan

04:13Bob Dylan

04:18Bob Dylan may have eventually grown into his voice, but when he first burst onto the scene in his early 20s,

04:24people were genuinely shocked to hear him sing. Forget about the wisdom that comes through in his lyrics,

04:29but he seemed to enter adulthood with the voice of an old man.

04:41People like to rag on Bob for having a voice that's a little rough around the edges,

04:45but he's not trying to be Aretha Franklin. We're sure he left more than a few people's jaws on the floor

04:50when he first arrived in Greenwich Village back in the early 60s.

04:54He has truly maximized his voice's potential in every possible way,

04:58utilizing it to form a sound that is totally his own.

05:015. Kate Bush

05:18Kate Bush, at her core, is all about the performance.

05:21She's a singer who will inhabit different characters if a song calls for it,

05:25putting on accents and changing her entire tone when it's needed.

05:29She wrote some of her biggest hits before she had even turned 20.

05:32After her debut album The Kick Inside was released,

05:35she would continue to shock people with her vocal power one release after another.

05:48If we had to sum Kate Bush's voice up in one word, it would be expressive.

05:52When it comes to Kate Bush, everything from her facial expressions to her physical movement is part of the show.

05:58And when she approaches the mic, you just never can be fully certain of what to expect.

06:104. Tiny Tim

06:12Tiny Tim

06:20Tiny Tim is certainly not as tiny as his name would suggest.

06:24In many ways, he's the gold standard for singers who sound nothing like you'd expect.

06:28He first came up in the same New York scene that brought us Bob Dylan,

06:32and upon achieving a breakthrough hit with his song Tiptoe Through the Tulips,

06:36his place in the history of oddball novelty music was sealed forever.

06:48Tiny Tim has a falsetto that would put most singers to shame.

06:52To this day, the fact that a man who looks like that can produce that sound is one of music's great mysteries.

07:063. Roy Orbison

07:08Roy Orbison truly had rock and roll's golden voice.

07:18Though his pompadoured hair made him look pretty similar to most of the other singers who were making waves in his era,

07:24when Roy opened his mouth, it was different.

07:26While many other performers preferred to make their presence known on stage with theatrical movement,

07:41Orbison would stay unusually still and let his voice do its thing.

07:46There's a reason why he was able to have such a huge success in the early 1960s

07:50and then pull off an all-time great career comeback in the late 80s.

07:54A truly unique presence in music history.

08:092. Bobby Caldwell

08:12Bobby Caldwell is best known for his iconic hit, What You Won't Do For Love,

08:16and for having a voice that has been throwing people for a loop for decades.

08:20People tend to picture someone entirely different when they first hear Caldwell sing,

08:24yet that beautiful voice is coming from the most unlikely of places.

08:35There are YouTube reaction videos where people react to seeing Caldwell for the first time,

08:39and the result is always one of surprise.

08:42There's no denying that he had one of the most perfect soul voices of the late 70s and 80s.

08:53Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

08:56Michael Jackson, a timeless voice that remains entirely unique.

09:09Andrea Bocelli, don't let his everyman appearance fool you.

09:12Barry White, the most impossibly smooth voice in music.

09:24Joe Cocker, emotionally intense singing at its very finest.

09:31Joe Cocker, emotionally intense singing at its very finest.

09:42Teddy Swims, the rich tenor voice we simply did not see coming.

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10:081. Susan Boyle

10:13Susan Boyle managed to capture the imagination of the entire world when she stepped in front of the judges on Britain's Got Talent.

10:20People are often quick to make assumptions when it comes to talent shows,

10:24but little did we know that Boyle was about to blow our minds.

10:27She ended up winning the contest outright, surging through each stage of the show with her perfect operatic voice.

10:47As soon as the public heard her for the first time, the result of that season was a foregone conclusion.

10:52To say that she was a global sensation would be putting it lightly.

11:04Boyle stands as proof that you should never judge a book by its cover.

11:15But which singer left you completely and utterly shocked when you first heard them open their mouths?

11:19Let us know in the comments below.

11:21Let us know in the comments below.

11:23Let us know in the comments below.

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