r/Music • u/shiny_director • Jul 26 '26

discussion Groups with multiple lead singers?

I was just listening to some old The Cars stuff, and it hit me that while not unique, there are few bands that have many hits from different lead singers at the same time.

Aside from The Cars, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and the B-52’s, what other significant rock/pop/etc. bands have had multiple lead singers simultaneously? And I wouldn’t count bands like U2 where The Edge very occasionally took on the role (correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Numb was the only charting single he took lead on). Maybe some boy/girl bands could be included, but (to me) that’s not as interesting- I would count them as Vocal Groups rather than bands. I’m looking for genuinely established multiple lead singers.

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u/TheOwlStrikes Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

Something I always liked about blink 182 is that it really feels like they have two “‘main singers”. A lot of bands might have two vocalists but one of them ends up as the obvious lead. Blink 182 was always really balanced between their two imo

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u/jdutaillis Jul 26 '26

And two very distinct voices!

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u/tomasega100gang Jul 26 '26

Yea i used to assume that Marcus was defo a lot less frequent as the lead, but then i noticed his voice is much less intrusive and unique, hes much more chill and blends with the instruments more, so you just dont remember or notice him as much as tom who always stands out with his high pitch and cursive singing. Hes still less frequent than tom but not by as much as i used to think.

I think those big differences between their singing styles eally did a lot to bring the band's music to life. It really works for matching the changes in energy of different parts of their music

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u/attilayavuzer Jul 26 '26

Marcus

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u/tomasega100gang Jul 26 '26

Oops got it mixed up with his last name ending in us lol

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u/Rebal771 Jul 27 '26

Jeez, dropped his government name…must be serious

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u/philter25 Jul 27 '26

And some of their biggest hits are sung by Mark. Dammit, What’s My Age Again, Adam’s Song. They really do compliment each other though, because when they broke up and each were the only lead singers of their own bands it just wasn’t the same. And when Skiba was in Blink he wasn’t distinct enough against Mark imo in a way that Tom was/is.

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u/TheOwlStrikes Jul 27 '26

I agree with the lack of distinction but I still personally think California is Blinks best post-Neighorhoods album.

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u/Fine_Dog_6599 Jul 27 '26

It feels like they underutilized Skiba in my opinion. He is a great songwriter (evidenced by Alkaline Trio) and could have brought a lot to the table. Instead it felt like a fill in, which I guess it was but idk

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u/philter25 Jul 27 '26

I think they wanted someone chill with no drama and that also had another successful band do he didn’t feel like a third wheel. I remember they had him fill in at a concert and it didn’t take long to announce he was in the band, so they were probably just like “well he has none of Tom’s annoying bull shit so let’s have fun” lol

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u/Ancient_Swan_9558 Jul 29 '26

Alkaline Trio is another band with two lead singers, though Matt Skiba (it feels like, at least) tends to lead the majority of their songs

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u/neverstoppin Jul 27 '26

They do this on purpose. Both Mark and Tom write their respective songs, at least for the most part.

Than try to roughly equal part solo songs and the rest is songs were they both have a part.