ADDED: There are also singers with a 5-octave range — 28 of them! — including Axl Rose.
But "The page 'Singers with a six-octave vocal range' does not exist." All right then. There are limits!
NO. WAIT. There is a Wikipedia category "Singers with a six-octave or greater vocal range." There are 6 names.
On that list is Georgia Brown...
... pseudonym of Rossana Monti (born June 29, 1980) is an Italian Brazilian singer noted for her extensive vocal range. She was listed in the 2005 Guinness World Records for hitting the highest vocal note and for possessing the greatest vocal range for a female, claimed to be exactly 8 octaves from G2-G10 using scientific pitch notation. However, as of 2013, Tim Storms holds the record for the widest vocal range of any human with 10 octaves.
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I'm skeptical. The only singer I've actually heard with a four-octave vocal range was Yma Sumac, and hers was definitely a freakish voice. A man doing the same thing would necessarily sing the upper two octaves in falsetto. Which isn't impossible, but is a bit like saying you have a six-octave range on the violin, because you can do artificial harmonics.
Falsetto doesn't count? Roll over Frankie Valli and tell The BeeGees the news. What's next, Michelle, calling out castrati as artificial? When a man makes the ultimate sacrifice for his art (and/or the greater glory of the Church).
Minnie Riperton (Rotary Connecton & solo) was known for her five octave vocal range. Her LP Perfect Angel is an all time fave.
I would have guessed Roy Orbison before Billy Gibbons.
Soprano profundo
I like Cyndi Boste for her deep alto. This album is good (youtube)
Home Truths.
Night Ride and Change Your Way
Oh and Daddy Comes Home
Personally, I like my 5 octave vocals coming from an ensemble. Harmony trumps virtuosity any day.
Like Kovcheg. I would love to see them in person, as a post-tourist.
I didn't see Yma Sumac on that list. Her voice spanned more than five octaves.
Brad Delp, from Boston??
The difficulty in hitting high notes: the screech factor (think Siobhan Magnus on American Idol as a way to do it mostly right -- but you can't do it a lot, and putting in words too? That's really tough).
I used to have 3+ octaves when I was young. Had a great falsetto. But unless you use it, you lose it. I can't imagine singing 5.
Interesting that Chris Cornell of Soundgarden was on the four-octave list. He just died last night after a concert. Possible suicide at 52. RIP.
I'm impressed.
Even with a low-C extension, I can only get a reliable 4 (4 1/3 if you're an EZ grader or tone deaf) octaves out of my bass clarinet. Can't imagine getting that kind of range out of anything human. These folks have some kind of otherworldly control of the head tones.
Yea, billy gibbons makes me very suspicious. Axl rose is probably correct.
I too was surprised to see Billy Gibbons on the list. I suppose he doesn't show off his vocal range the way a Celine Dion or Mariah Carey does - that kind of thing is Simply Not Done in Texas blues.
I was surprised not to see Geoff Tate of Queensryche on any of the lists.
I could argue Orbison has more than 4 octaves of range.
On a quick look, they're all pop singers. No one from opera or the classical art song world seems to be on the list (although some on it were undoubtedly classically trained). And Celine Dion shows up as having a three octave range, and then as having a five octave range.
As for the men on the list, they must be including falsetto as part of the 'range.' Not surprising since so many male pop singers rely heavily on falsetto. That seems to be what today's audiences want. Won't hear it at the Met, however.
Lou Cristie, Leo Sayer, Vince Gill, Robert Plant, Barry Gibb.....
Many of the most popular male singers are tenors regardless of range.
Is Julie Andrews on the list? I read long ago that she was born with an adult larynx, and had a 4-octave range as a very young girl. She spent some of her early life hiding from the Blitz in London.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Muit4cZ-I This guy.
It's a question of how you define "singing"--with men whether falsetto counts, and women have something called a "whistle register." One name that comes up from the classical world (no whistle) is Mado Robin. There are videos on youtube. There's also this collection of real singing.
And here I thought Elvis Presley was special at 2 1/2 octaves. Roy Orbison was not a shocker.
I don't see Captain Beefheart on the lists. He supposedly had a 4.5 octave range.
I don't know the range, but I've always enjoyed where Linda Ronstadt starts, and then where she finishes, Roy Orbison's Blue Bayou.
Annie Haslam, in her prime, was stunning. She showed off her five octave range in the late 70's / early 80's AOR group Renaissance. Their Scheherazade and Other Stories is still one of my favorites from the era.
And here I thought Elvis Presley was special at 2 1/2 octaves. Roy Orbison was not a shocker.
Elvis's voice sounded just as good at the top of his register as at the bottom, though. Georgia Brown hits some high notes in the linked clip, but her voice sounds like a whistle when she does it. Functionally, she's doing all of her work within a narrow, low range (where her voice is very nice).
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