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Lead vocalist
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The lead vocalist (or lead singer) is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. Lead vocalists may also play one or more instruments. They are sometimes referred to as a frontmen (or frontwomen), and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the spokespersons in interviews and before the public. On rare occasions, the frontperson of the band is someone other than the lead vocalist.
rock groups, such as The Beatles, KISS, The Beach Boys, The Clash, the Eagles, and Pink Floyd, have more than one featured vocalist, making it difficult to establish a single "lead singer" or "frontman." Other bands, such as Fleetwood Mac, Toto and The B-52's had, in addition to the designated "lead singer," additional members who provided significant lead vocals in the course of the group's career.
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Encyclopedia
The lead vocalist (or lead singer) is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. Lead vocalists may also play one or more instruments. They are sometimes referred to as a frontmen (or frontwomen), and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the spokespersons in interviews and before the public. On rare occasions, the frontperson of the band is someone other than the lead vocalist.
Ambiguous lead vocalists
Some rock groups, such as The Beatles, KISS, The Beach Boys, The Clash, the Eagles, and Pink Floyd, have more than one featured vocalist, making it difficult to establish a single "lead singer" or "frontman." Other bands, such as Fleetwood Mac, Toto and The B-52's had, in addition to the designated "lead singer," additional members who provided significant lead vocals in the course of the group's career. See List of bands with more than one lead vocalist.
While the lead vocalist often defines the group's image and personality to the general public, several bands, such as AC/DC and Van Halen have changed lead singers and maintained the original band name and, to some extent, identity.
Frontperson
The lead vocalist of a band is often called a frontman or frontwoman, depending on the gender. This term refers not only to their physical position of being in front when the band performs, but also the duties of musical leader amongst the band and spokesperson for the band before the public. While lead vocalists or spokespersons for any musical ensembles can be called a frontpersons, the term is used very widely in rock music, where male performers dominate. This had led to the term "frontman" having a much greater linguistic presence than the term "frontwoman". Since the position commonly has an expanded role from simple lead vocalists, there have been cases in which the frontman for a band is someone other than the lead vocalist. For example, Pete Wentz, the bass player for the band Fall Out Boy, is generally called the frontman, both in the media and by the band members themselves, since he is the principal lyric writer, represents the band in most interviews and has most contributed to the band's image in the popular media. Additionally, Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five was the group's drummer, not the main vocalist.
In several bands (such as The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Journey and The Who), the lead guitarist oftentimes may share spokesman responsibilities with the lead singer. Usually, this is derived from that guitarist's specific role as a co-songwriter, co-founder and/or co-vocalist.
See also
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