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Top 10 Rock ‘N’ Roll Front Men: David Lee Roth

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AskMen.com has a new “Top 10″ list of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll front men of all time. David Lee Roth was their eighth pick. Of course we think he deserves to beat most, if not all of the others on their list, but at least they didn’t make the mistake of leaving him out of the Top 10!

By Nathan Atnikov from AskMen.com:

You can have the chops, you can have the songs and you can have the savvy, but if you don’t have an engaging front man, you’ll never be one of the biggest bands in the world. AskMen’s top 10 rock ‘n’ roll front men salutes the 10 most charismatic, spotlight-drawing lead singers in history. If time, age and rock genre were no object, these are the 10 rock ‘n’ roll front men that would be leading us into the future.

No.10 – Steven Tyler
No.9 – Axl Rose
No.8 – David Lee Roth

David Lee Roth made a career out of being a ridiculous, loveable dork. Only after Sammy Hagar turned Van Halen into a bunch of sourpusses did we realize how much we loved Diamond Dave. Powered by Roth’s outsized personality, Van Halen became one of the biggest bands of the late ’70s and early ’80s, and Roth himself became known as a must-see performer thanks to his wild antics, howling voice and spinning rock-star karate kicks.

Roth left Van Halen in 1985 (either forcibly or of his own accord), inciting the single most classic rock ‘n’ roll argument of all time — Roth or Hagar? Where you stand on that issue pretty defines what you are as a rock fan, though cultural memory seems to recall Roth much more fondly than the man who replaced him.

No.7 – Trent Reznor
No.6 – Ozzy Osbourne
No.5 – Thom Yorke
No.4 – Bono
No.3 – Mick Jagger
No.2 – Freddie Mercury
No.1 – Robert Plant

  • Top Jimmy

    dave was so f’in cool back then.

  • RightNow

    Wow DLR was so freaking high in that vid.
    idk what was up with that list. Tyler should be in the top 5 Bono maybe top 1000, maybe, but this list is crap. Way to be a Sammy hater. he should SOOO be on this list.

  • phillster

    nathan atnikov; you said it all,

  • Sike5150

    You gotta be kidding me. I put Roth at #6 maybe even #5. My list goes as follows: #1 Plant #2 Ozzy #3 Freddy #4Mick
    #5 Roth. Get Yorke outta here, I didn’t even know who the hell he was until I googled him. Bono,on the list but never in front of Dave. Trent Reznor shouldn’t be on here either.

  • phillster

    OH YEAH, no DALTRY?-BOLLOCKS!!!

  • Sike5150

    Yea, where’s Vince Neil or James Hetfield???? Bono…..I’m so sick of this guy.

  • Sike5150

    Yea, Daltry too. Reznor and Yorke????????? Please

  • Sike5150

    Alice Cooper, Bon Scott…..I could go on. Yorke???? Really??/?????????????

  • JROD

    somebody must want a led zepp reunion? first page is rated #1 guitarist and now plant #1 front man. what about alice? what about Bon Jovi and Ian gillan? they always forget about people.

  • Gee Lopz

    Dave Rules!! Deserves a best position on the list!

    Trent Reznor?? Thom York???? WTF?????

    I Miss Paul Stanley…

    My “Charisma frontman/showman” list:

    No.10 – Axl Rose
    No.9 – Steven Tyler
    No.8 – Bruce Dickinson
    No.7 – Bono
    No.6 – Ozzy Osbourne
    No.5 – Paul Stanley
    No.4 – Robert Plant
    No.3 – David Lee Roth
    No.2 – Freddie Mercury
    No.1 – Mick Jagger

    Sammy Hagar? No.20….

  • ikethebird

    Trent Reznor…NO Bono…..NO Thom Yorke…..Is that Yoko Ono’s evil cousin? Ozzy….No,he has more effects than Star Wars.
    DLR in Top 3.

  • bill

    These lists are stupid! Thom York!!! WTF!

  • pushtoshove

    The votes are in…U 2 is n NOT a rock band

  • steve

    Oh man where’s the rest of this concert, and why haven’t I seen this one before.

  • Kayzer Sozay

    That video is hilarious. Have you ever seen anyone smile with their upper and lowe teeth so far apart?

  • MikeBass

    Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor before DLR?
    Are you F*cking kidding me?
    Where is Sammy Hagar?
    Sammy has more energy in his C*ck than those 2 “pussies” ever think they could in any realm of music.
    Trent Reznor is only famous for 1 song, that “f*ck you like an animal” song. And Radiohead doesn’t even belong in this category.
    That writer is a faggot, and you can tell him I said he is!

  • ClubfootKolby

    Paul Stanley, Don Henley, Sammmy Hagar, David Lee Roth, Robin Zander, John Fogerty, Joe Walsh,

  • http://vhnd JCN

    What about The Hoff dammit. Its an outrage.

  • pushtoshove

    you forgot ‘The Captain and Tenille’……..

  • ace5150

    Where the hell is Getty Lee?

    Hagar has fronted to major bands and is working on his third one.

    His resume alone makes him top 5!!!

  • Christopher

    Man I gotta go with Mercury. Watch some of his live videos. I’ve never seen a crowd so moved by one man. Freddy owned that crowd when he was on stage. This isn’t the great “rock” moment to list but watch “Love of My Life” from the Wembley concert. The entire stadium is singing while Freddy conducts them. Roth has his due. He’s on the top 10. I can see why people not seeing Dickinson on there would be pissed.

  • Gongha

    replace Yorke and Reznor with Mike Patton and HR (Bad Brains).

  • John

    Paul Stanley? Bon Scott?

  • Nick

    Paul Stanley?????????????

    Kiss is/was a joke. I liked when they went disco…they suck. And he has no business anywhere near this list.

    Oh…and Don Henley??? Where the Eagles even a Rock and Roll band? I don’t think so!!!

    Vince Neil??? Please.

    Remember… this is a list spanning all time. Not just the 80s

  • wright

    DAVE IS THE BEST FRONTMAN………. HE’S ROCK AN ROLL

  • WACF80

    For energy Dave is #1. Then Mercury #2.
    Plant is on there because he is part of led Zep.
    Is Ozzy considered a front man even if the albums have his name on it? Ozzy is a solo artist. For his work with Sabbath he is #3.

  • chris

    8,9,& 10 should be 1,2 & 3

  • Thom

    How do they figure it was Sammy that turned van Halen into sourpusses? HAs Sammy EVER looked like he wasn’t having the time of his life? And with Chickenfoot coming, it looks like he and Mikey still are…..

  • McD’s

    What about Celine Dion!

    Though I guess she doesn’t have a band!

    LOL!!

  • Dan

    And the beat goes on.

  • David Alexander

    The is NO question David is better than:
    No.7 – Trent Reznor
    No.6 – Ozzy Osbourne
    No.5 – Thom Yorke
    No.4 – Bono

    I think the only two that can deliver like David are Mick and maybe Freddie.

    Plant is a great singer but not the greatest front man.

    Its either David Lee Roth or Mick Jagger. Now one else worked the crowd/stage like them.

  • David Alexander

    And David Bowie, though not a heavy metal singer, was the most talented theatrical perfomer in rock.

  • Erick

    “Only after Sammy Hagar turned Van Halen into a bunch of sourpusses” ==> Funny stuff!

  • Fred

    That’s video makes Dave look like a slightly retarded pot head. Oh, wait.

  • bborl

    Gave up on these lists several years back when it was either FHM or Maxim tried to tell me that Queen Latifah was more “desirable” than Cindy Crawford and then Rolling Stone tried to tell me that Ike Turner was a better guitarist than EVH. I think this list would be more crdible it had the following.

    10 George Michael
    9 Barbara Streisand
    8 Barry Manilow
    7 David Lee Roth
    6 Celine Dion
    5 Elton John
    4 Liberace
    3 Cher
    2 Michael Jackson
    1 Bette Midler

  • Yes!

    Daltrey, Morrison, Ian Anderson, Ian Gillan, Keith Relf. Would be interested to see the criteria for the making of their list…never even heard of askmen.com.

  • Karl

    I like plenty of what Sam did with VH but come on guys. Those asking why he’s not on the list, are you really putting him next to the likes of Plant, Mercury and, yes, DLR? This is not a Sam v Dave thing, but sorry, no way.

  • Karl

    And how come no-one’s mentioned Angus Young?

  • Erwin

    Hi Ducky/dirty Duck,

    I’m a metal/rock adict, but i also listen to U2 and think they are just great! So now you no one……ha,ha.
    Bono is a very nice guy with MEGA charisma. More than they entire list together.
    I like Diamond Dave but to me he is somthing like a quizemaster/karatekid/singer.
    Sammy Hagar is the musician, the Van Halen songs with Roth are great but the ones with Hagar are real songs.
    I would say, fuck dat list, its al about music and having fun.
    Roth and Hagar are great in there own way, and Bono………………..well, he is from another planet.

  • Matteau23

    I’m sorry but any list that doesn’t include Jagger, Daltry or Morrisson (who could easily be 1-2-3 depending on preferences) is just not credible and worth arguing over..

  • ?

    Vince Neil and Joe Elliott might be the two worst singers ever. Singing is part of being a front man and they are terrible live singers as are Paul Stanley, Trent Reznor and Bon Jovi…
    Not in any order

    Bruce Dickenson
    Robert Plant
    Eddie Vedder
    Freddie Mercury
    DLR
    Steven Tyler
    Axl
    Mick Jaggar
    Roger Daltry
    Young James Hetfield

  • aztroutboy4u

    freddie-dave-plant.how could thay get that wrong?

  • aztroutboy4u

    bono who?

  • http://none tj

    Fucken a Van Halen #1

  • Anthony

    This is a bullshit list! Where the hell is my main-man Robin Zander of Cheap Trick? Nahh, just kiddin’…Actually, come to think of it, Zander can sing the shit out almost any type of song, even today. I wouldn’t put him on a top ten list, though.

  • Z

    Dave should be closer to #1, gotta be in top 5 easily, however at least they got #1 right = Mr.Plant hands down, even during his solo efforts!
    Both frontmen command the stage even with two of the best guitarists right next to em!
    TELL ME who can pull that off these days?

  • Dirk Franzen

    Lots of good choices. How about Geoff Tate, Ronnie James Dio, David Byron?

  • http://www.myspace.com/ibw_superstar Derrick

    No way! Trent Reznor above David Lee Roth!?!?

    This list is a joke!!!