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Think you've got what it takes to hit these notes? Join us as we count down our picks for the most challenging songs for male singers in popular music history! From demanding falsetto runs to explosive rock choruses, these tracks have left even the most confident vocalists humbled. Which song would you dare attempt at karaoke? Let us know in the comments!
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00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the top 20 songs in popular
00:13music that are incredibly tricky for male singers to perform.
00:17For you, I have to risk it all.
00:25Number 20. I Don't Feel Like Dancing, Scissor Sisters.
00:37In reality, we could have very easily added any number of Scissor Sisters' biggest hits due to the vocal talents
00:44of singer Jake Shears.
00:45This one requires full-on falsetto and head voice for large portions of the track, which is immediately going to
00:51rule out a lot of singers.
01:00Trying to recreate this one note for note is just not an option for most. And yet, Shears glides through
01:06the track effortlessly,
01:07never sounding like he's straining his voice. The song was actually co-written by the legendary Elton John, and you
01:14hear his influence all over it.
01:22Number 19. Kiss From a Rose. Seal.
01:31When it comes to iconic power ballads, Seal has most vocalists beat with his signature song, Kiss From a Rose.
01:37Not only does he belt out its chorus with pure power and conviction, he also somehow still manages to nail
01:43the silky smooth lushness of the verses.
01:53You can forget about trying to match Seal's own natural tone of voice, but this one is quite difficult to
01:59cover in any style.
02:00There's a lot going on in the melody that requires elite rhythm, breath control and restraint.
02:05The fact that Seal himself can still pull this one off decades later is a testament to his talent.
02:19Number 18. Life On Mars. David Bowie.
02:22I wonder if you'll never know, who's in the best selling show?
02:29Though he had enjoyed some success prior to the release of Hunky Dory, that album was when David Bowie truly
02:35showcased his songwriting talents.
02:37Life On Mars might just be the greatest song of the bunch, a track that has a meandering verse chord
02:42progression that builds to an explosive chorus.
02:51It's glam rock at its absolute peak. Even if you can make your way to the chorus and reach Bowie's
02:56high notes, a lot of attempts will fall flat on that final belt of the word Mars that brings us
03:02back to the verse.
03:03Ziggy Stardust gets a lot of credit as a songwriter, an innovator and a conceptualizer, but he's got some heavy
03:09vocal chops to back it all up.
03:11Is there life on Mars?
03:19Number 17. Pride In The Name Of Love. U2.
03:23April 4. Shut rings up in the Memphis sky.
03:29Bono might be a pretty divisive figure in rock music circles, but one thing nobody can deny is that he
03:35has a pretty impressive set of pipes.
03:37During the first peak of U2's commercial success, the band were writing some of the most explosive arena-ready rock
03:43songs around.
03:44Chief among them was Pride In The Name Of Love off The Unforgettable Fire.
03:48One man will change where he is.
03:52Give a name of love.
03:56Bono really lets his vocal power shine through on this one, beginning with a subdued verse that eventually sees him
04:02break into one of the biggest choruses in the U2 discography.
04:06Written about civil rights hero Martin Luther King, the song has rarely strayed too far from the band's set lists
04:11in the four decades since it first came out.
04:22Number 16. Supermassive Black Hole, Muse.
04:26Ooh baby, don't you know I suffer? Ooh baby, can you hear me more?
04:32Matthew Bellamy of Muse is a man with more than a few vocal tricks up his sleeve.
04:38In fact, his versatility as a musician should probably be studied.
04:41From shredding guitar solos to effortlessly rattling off Rachmaninoff pieces on the piano, Bellamy is a real dynamo on stage.
04:49His ability to sing in insanely high falsetto and head voice is truly remarkable as well.
05:01Supermassive Black Hole was a pretty big step into funk-infused pop for the band, but to say that it
05:06works well would be an understatement.
05:08There's a clear Prince influence there, and for most vocalists, simply reaching those high notes might be a bridge too
05:14far.
05:15That's before you even worry about making it sound good.
05:25Number 15. Cheri, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
05:29One listen to Cheri as done by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons should make the reasons for its inclusion
05:34here very obvious.
05:36You better ask the mama.
05:42Infamous for its stratospheric tenor lines, this song is a very tough nut for most singers to crack.
05:48Even for those who are blessed with enough range, having the pitch control and composure to pull it off requires
05:54some real practice.
05:58Cheri, baby.
06:01Valli was, of course, packing all of the necessary ingredients in abundance.
06:05Unfortunately, a lot of covers of this notoriously difficult song end up sounding quite thin and fragile by comparison.
06:13Move it nice and easy.
06:16Girl, you'll make me lose my mind.
06:20Cheri, baby.
06:23Number 14. Best of You, Foo Fighters.
06:26I've got another confession to make.
06:31I'm your fool.
06:32Dave Grohl gives a vocal performance on Best of You that can be described as relentless, raw, and heavy on
06:39emotion.
06:40Like many of the band's best moments, Grohl does not take his foot off the gas once those big moments
06:45start coming.
06:46He's not just singing this song, he's demanding you pay attention to what he's saying.
06:50Someone's taking his face. It's real. The pain you feel. The love. The love. He died to heal.
06:59Over the years, Foo Fighters have developed into one of the most unmissable stadium rock bands on the planet.
07:04The sound of tens of thousands of people roaring this song at the same time is something that is not
07:09to be missed.
07:10Although, with that being said, only a small fraction of them can keep up with Dave note for note.
07:15The face. The face. The face. The face. The face. The face of you.
07:22Number 13. I do anything for love, but I won't do that.
07:26Meatloaf.
07:27For me, I just paraded the god of sex and girls and rock and roll.
07:33And maybe I'm lonely.
07:35Operatic rock rarely came around quite as infectious as it was on Meatloaf's Bad Out of Hell albums.
07:41The centerpiece of the sequel record, I do anything for love, but I won't do that, gave Meatloaf's career a
07:46huge resurgence in popularity.
07:48And it's not hard to see why.
07:50Some nights I like nothing I've ever seen before I will again.
07:55It's bombastic, anthemic, and totally over the top, but that's why it has such enduring appeal.
08:02Meatloaf's voice at its peak was truly something to behold.
08:06I won't do anything for love, anything you've been dreaming of.
08:11He was capable of being vulnerable and intimate one minute before lifting the roof off the place just seconds later.
08:18This captures the full spectrum of his singing ability as well as any song in his catalogue.
08:22Oh, I can do that.
08:25Oh, oh, girl, I can do that.
08:39When ACDC's original lead singer Bon Scott tragically died, the band didn't attempt to replace him with a carbon copy.
08:45They all agreed that Scott would want them to continue.
08:48And so that's exactly what they did.
08:50Brian Johnson, who was drafted in shortly after, introduced himself to the band's fans with the album Back in Black.
08:56Nobody's gonna get me on another ride.
08:59Don't look at me now, I'm just making my play.
09:02Don't try to push your legs, just get it out of my way.
09:04The title track, which eventually came out as a single, contains some of the wildest rock and roll singing imaginable.
09:10Johnson's screeching vocals fit the unruly and rebellious vibe of the band so perfectly.
09:16Considering that the song was written as a tribute to Scott, it's pretty fair to say that they succeeded in
09:20their mission.
09:21To this day, it might be Johnson's most electric vocal performance.
09:25You're my fucking brain!
09:31I'm a scientist!
09:33Number 11. Bridge Over Troubled Water.
09:35Simon and Garfunkel.
09:37I will drive them home.
09:44When Paul Simon wrote Bridge Over Troubled Water, he had enough humility to know that it should be given to
09:49his bandmate, Art Garfunkel.
09:51For a songwriter who, in many ways, had just written a masterpiece, that required a level of selflessness that is
09:57not common.
09:58When the world first heard Garfunkel singing his signature song, Simon's suspicions were proven correct.
10:12It's a truly huge ballad, and the vocal performance earned its reputation as one of the most poignant in music
10:18history.
10:18For a singer with as much as Garfunkel had, it was the perfect use of his talents,
10:23and a real thorn in the side for many other singers who attempted to cover it over the years.
10:27I will leave your mind.
10:41Number 10. Take On Me. Aha!
10:49For most people, especially those who grew up in the 80s,
10:53the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Aha's Take On Me,
10:57is the classic pencil sketch animation music video.
11:10And while the video is impressive, people's focus on it may have distracted them from the impressive voice of the
11:16band's lead singer, Mohen Harkett.
11:18Take On Me. Take me on. Take me on. Take me on. Take me on.
11:26If nothing else, just trying to hit those I'll Be Gone in a day or two high notes at the
11:31end of each chorus is a lot to ask of most male singers.
11:34I'll be gone in a day or two high notes at the end of each chorus.
11:45Number 9. Faithfully. Journey.
11:48We picked Faithfully, but the truth is that most songs in the Journey catalog could have made this list.
11:58And the reason for that is Steve Perry, lead singer of the band and one of the truly great voices
12:04in the history of rock and roll.
12:06Stay like people.
12:13Rolling Stone ranked him as the 76th greatest singer of all time, and his friend Jon Bon Jovi nicknamed him
12:20The Voice.
12:21And Faithfully puts that voice on full display with its beautiful tones and amazing range.
12:33Now, we don't want to discourage people from believing in themselves, but if someone thinks they can sing faithfully as
12:39well as Perry,
12:40well, maybe they should stop believing.
12:43Don't stop believing.
12:47Hold on, listen to your feelings.
12:50Number 8. You Raise Me Up. Josh Groban.
12:53You Raise Me Up was originally written by the duo Secret Garden.
12:57The Norwegian-Irish twosome released the track back in 2002, and since then it's gone on to be covered by
13:03over a hundred different artists, both male and female.
13:06When I am down, and oh my soul so weary.
13:14One of the most popular covers is the 2003 version by Josh Groban, and copying that version is quite difficult
13:21for other male singers.
13:23You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains.
13:31Groban's vocal range is wide, and trying to replicate it isn't easy, or even possible for many other male vocalists.
13:39You raise me up, to walk on stormy sea.
13:46In 2005, Irish boy band Westlife released their version of the song.
13:50It's a very nice version of the song, but as you can hear, the vocals stay in a much narrower
13:55range.
13:56You raise me up, so I can't stand on mountains.
14:08Chester Bennington was a phenomenal vocalist, and gave Linkin Park one of the most unique sounds of the 2000s.
14:15But the notes Bennington could hit isn't really what makes the song Crawling a difficult song to master.
14:20Crawling in my skin, these wounds they will not eat all.
14:28Rather, it's the range of styles and techniques he employs throughout the three and a half minute track.
14:34This lack of self control I fear is never ending, controlling.
14:40From the softer, more melodic singing of the verses, to the loud, emotional screaming of the chorus, it covers a
14:47lot of ground.
14:48I've felt this way before, so insecure.
14:57You better prepare your throat if you plan on attempting this one.
15:01Fear is how I fall, confusing.
15:07Number 6, Earth Song, Michael Jackson.
15:10If you think you can throw on a red leather jacket and a bedazzled white glove and this song will
15:15be smooth sailing,
15:16well, then you have another thing coming.
15:18Did you ever stop to notice all the blood we've shed before?
15:24Everyone remembers how amazing Jackson was as a dancer and performer,
15:29but his vocal abilities are sometimes overlooked.
15:31Well, they can't be overlooked with Earth Song.
15:41The song speaks to our destruction of our planet and requires real heartfelt emotions to pull it off.
15:48Also, one needs to range into higher notes that aren't a moonwalk in the park for many male singers.
15:53When I'm fighting, I'm sorry, I'm mine.
15:57You're king of the dust, I thought about us.
16:01Number 5, Livin' on a Prayer, Bon Jovi.
16:04You can take our hand, but when it comes to properly rocking this track, we can't swear to the fact
16:10that you'll make it.
16:11Tommy used to work on the docks.
16:15Union's been on track.
16:17He's down on his luck, it's tough.
16:20Awesomely awful 80s hairdo aside,
16:23Jon Bon Jovi powers through Livin' on a Prayer with some subtly impressive vocal stylings.
16:28We gotta hold on to what we've got.
16:33It doesn't make a difference if we make it all night.
16:36The song might seem like a rather simple 80s rock ballad, but as many karaoke audiences know,
16:42making it through that chorus ain't as easy as many think it is.
16:53Most guys should probably just remember that it's all for fun,
16:57and it doesn't make a difference if they make it or not.
17:00We're halfway there, I'm living on a prayer.
17:06Number 4, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, The Darkness.
17:10Justin Hawkins of The Darkness believes in a thing called love, and so do we.
17:15We also believe that this song is one of the most difficult for male singers to sing.
17:19I wanna kiss you every minute, every hour, every day.
17:26If you've never heard the song before, then as it begins,
17:29you might be wondering what it is that makes it so difficult.
17:32But don't get cocky.
17:34I believe in a thing called love.
17:35Just think I'm living on my mind.
17:37Feel the chance we can make it now.
17:39When you make it through the sun goes down.
17:41Wait until Hawkins hits those touching you high notes,
17:44and keeps it going into the chorus.
17:46Touching you.
17:47Can't you touch you again?
17:52By then, any male singer who thought this is going to be easy,
17:56starts to realize that most definitely is not the case.
18:00I'm wearing the color.
18:06Number 3, Dream On, Aerosmith.
18:10Every time Steven Tyler looks in the mirror,
18:13he sees a man with an amazing singing voice.
18:15But for most any other male out there who thinks they can sing like Tyler,
18:19we have two words for you.
18:21Dream on.
18:29And it isn't just the vocal range and the sheer power of Tyler's voice
18:33that makes this a tough one.
18:34There's also the change in melody,
18:36which can catch some singers off guard.
18:47And the same holds true for another difficult Aerosmith track
18:50that deserves a mention on this list,
18:52I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing.
19:01Number 2, Unchained Melody.
19:04The Righteous Brothers.
19:05Originally released in 1955,
19:08Unchained Melody has been recorded over 1,500 times by more than 670 artists.
19:14And time goes by so slowly.
19:24But for the purposes of this list,
19:26we will focus our attention on the 1965 version recorded by the Righteous Brothers.
19:31Are you still mine?
19:39We can't imagine any male singer listening to Bobby Hatfield croon
19:43and think to themselves that it would be easy to do that.
19:48Time goes by so slowly.
19:54Even Elvis Presley, who had a great voice and did a great version of the song,
19:58didn't try to hit the same high notes and pull off the same crescendos
20:02that Hatfield did so effortlessly.
20:14Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
20:18Go The Distance.
20:19Michael Bolton.
20:20Demanding solo ballad that requires extremely versatile vocal work.
20:31I'll Make Love to You, Boyz II Men.
20:34A balancing act between emotional restraint and technical skill.
20:38Go Relax, let's go slow.
20:44Never Gonna Let You Go, Sergio Menzies.
20:47Frequent vocal leaps make this one a unique challenge.
20:58We Didn't Start the Fire.
21:00Billy Joel.
21:01Endurance and articulation make this Billy Joel classic tricky.
21:05Hyperdermics on the shore.
21:06Giant and London martial law.
21:08Rock and roll, a cola wars.
21:09I can't take it anymore.
21:11Writings on the wall.
21:12Sam Smith.
21:13A falsetto heavy tune that requires exceptional breath control.
21:32Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's Adia, Songs from Iran, reimagining
21:39Persian melodies as modern rock, metal and pop songs.
21:42Check out the full track and album below.
21:45Where are you my love so near?
21:47Say the word and I'll appear.
21:49I wrote this song just for you.
21:51To tell you what I always knew.
21:59Number 1.
22:01Bohemian Rhapsody.
22:02Queen.
22:03Where do we start with this one?
22:05Bohemian Rhapsody is a prog rock classic.
22:08Anywhere the wind blows doesn't really matter to me.
22:17Part ballad, part opera aria, part hard rock anthem all wrapped up in an almost six minute
22:23vocal trip that has humbled many a singer who has taken the ride.
22:26Mama, ooh, didn't mean to make you cry.
22:37And we aren't the only ones who think Freddie Mercury's performance of the song is a vocal feat,
22:42not to be taken lightly.
22:43I see a little silhouette of a man.
22:46Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the pandango?
22:49In a Rolling Stone readers poll, Mercury's performance of the song was voted
22:53the greatest in the history of rock and roll.
22:56But yeah, you can go ahead and try to sing it if you want.
22:59Call me, call me.
23:04Just remember, this is the real life.
23:07This isn't just fantasy.
23:09But what do you consider to be the hardest pop song for a male singer to sing?
23:12Let us know in the comments below.
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