David Bowie

Voice type: Baritone
Vocal range: (C2-)D2-B4
Best display of range: "Sweet Thing (Reprise)" (F♯2-B4)

Notable high notes

• B4 ("Heroes", "Sweet Thing (Reprise)")
  
• B♭4 (Life on Mars")
  
• A4 ("Changes")
  
• G♯4 ("Jean Genie", "Lady Grinning Soul", "Let's Dance")
  
• G4 ("Changes", "Heroes", "Space Oddity")

Notable low notes

• B2 ("Jean Genie", "Space Oddity")
  
• G2 ("The Man Who Sold The World")
  
• E2 ("Sound and Vision", "The Drowned Girl" live, "Fame" live)
  
• D2 ("Heroes" live, "China Girl", "Fame" live)

He gets Bb4s in "Life on Mars"!

Ray wrote:Found an old Notepad file with all this info... dunno how accurate it is. Wasn't there an alleged D2 in "China Girl"?

Found an old post by Jowox mentioning Bowie's range. Unfortunately, it doesn't introduce anything new, except for a "confirmation" of the "China Girl" D2: "Bowie? In Mars he hits a Bb4 but he moust have gone higher...lowest I know of is a short D2 in China girl". I guess somebody should just check the song for themselves to see about the note.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/842618132ba537ae/

Thoughts on this low clip from "China Girl"?

My first post. Hi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjBQKIOb-w&feature=related

A live 'Heroes' from some time in the last ten years. At :58 he touches on C2. He hits several effortless-sounding D2s here as well, and also hits some G4s later in the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrfc8c6VkTA

There's also a very brief C2 here. He's very resonant down to an F#2. Even more impressive is the high range he demonstrates moments later. Gets up to a B4 at 1:18.

I can't find any evidence of Bowie singing higher than a B4 in full voice, but I've barely scratched the surface of his discography. He also has a bewildering breathy head-voice that doesn't sound like falsetto. See 1:24 (or listen to the whole thing, as it's a great vocal performance all around): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jlOPW9zesY.

Hey and welcome! I'll check those properly later, thanks for the links!

Timmerbo wrote:My first post. Hi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjBQKIOb-w&feature=related

A live 'Heroes' from some time in the last ten years. At :58 he touches on C2. He hits several effortless-sounding D2s here as well, and also hits some G4s later in the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrfc8c6VkTA

There's also a very brief C2 here. He's very resonant down to an F#2. Even more impressive is the high range he demonstrates moments later. Gets up to a B4 at 1:18.

I can't find any evidence of Bowie singing higher than a B4 in full voice, but I've barely scratched the surface of his discography. He also has a bewildering breathy head-voice that doesn't sound like falsetto. See 1:24 (or listen to the whole thing, as it's a great vocal performance all around): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jlOPW9zesY.

Hey, how did you find this site?

I don't hear a C2 in that live "Heroes" but great D2s. Where's the C2 in "Sweet Thing"? Good B4. Pretty good high singing there for him.

Ray wrote:Hey, how did you find this site?

I don't hear a C2 in that live "Heroes" but great D2s. Where's the C2 in "Sweet Thing"? Good B4. Pretty good high singing there for him.

The C2 is on 'just for one da-ay'. Listening to it again, it may be a C#. He scoops from it to a D.

The C2 in 'Sweet Thing' is at :42 at the beginning of the phrase, but it sounds fry-ish.

I found this website after getting into a pretty futile discussion about Robert Pattinson's vocal range (!) on an imdb board with a guy who I assume is a user here. I said Pattinson was a tenor, and he lumped Pattinson in with high baritones such as Bono and Billy Joel, both of whom I view as tenors (when they were in their prime, at the very least!). He cited the list on this website. I figured: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I've always troubled myself with pop singer's ranges because I'm a singer myself. Had no idea this website existed until a few days ago.

Robert Pattinson?

Billy Joel has often been discussed and I don't agree that he was tenor during his prime, baritenor yes. He really blurred the lines between baritone and tenor but he seemed to be really comfortable down there even with his light tone. He also strained some notes while singing live. During 80's he was 100% baritone.

Bono has kinda same thing but after 90's I'm really sure that he became high baritone. He has lowered key of many performances, his highs have become more 'head voice-like' and he has made much better use of lower singing.

Nice to see you joining the conversation though, new guys are always welcome! (By the way, who was this guy who linked it to you? )

Timitzii wrote:Nice to see you joining the conversation though, new guys are always welcome! (By the way, who was this guy who linked it to you? )

Don't know his username here. He's a massive Jeff Buckley fan, I can tell you that.

...

*Points at Danerage*

Okay, I'm not sure but nevermind that one! Any other singers who you like?

Timitzii wrote:

...

*Points at Danerage*

Okay, I'm not sure but nevermind that one! Any other singers who you like?

Sure, if you don't mind me veering wildly off-topic: Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Jim Morrison, Freddie. Steven Page. Early Burton Cummings. Jack Black (seriously, and I found a C5 for him, by the way). I tend to prefer music that I can sing along to.

Timmerbo wrote:

Ray wrote:Hey, how did you find this site?

I don't hear a C2 in that live "Heroes" but great D2s. Where's the C2 in "Sweet Thing"? Good B4. Pretty good high singing there for him.

The C2 is on 'just for one da-ay'. Listening to it again, it may be a C#. He scoops from it to a D.

The C2 in 'Sweet Thing' is at :42 at the beginning of the phrase, but it sounds fry-ish.

I found this website after getting into a pretty futile discussion about Robert Pattinson's vocal range (!) on an imdb board with a guy who I assume is a user here. I said Pattinson was a tenor, and he lumped Pattinson in with high baritones such as Bono and Billy Joel, both of whom I view as tenors (when they were in their prime, at the very least!). He cited the list on this website. I figured: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I've always troubled myself with pop singer's ranges because I'm a singer myself. Had no idea this website existed until a few days ago.

I don't hear a C2, C#2, or D2, more like a slightly flat E2 imo.

And that other "Sweet Thing" C2 is pretty fryish yeah

Timmerbo wrote:

Timitzii wrote:

...

*Points at Danerage*

Okay, I'm not sure but nevermind that one! Any other singers who you like?

Sure, if you don't mind me veering wildly off-topic: Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Jim Morrison, Freddie. Steven Page. Early Burton Cummings. Jack Black (seriously, and I found a C5 for him, by the way). I tend to prefer music that I can sing along to.

Quite awesome choices, I have to say!

Where is this C5 for Black?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz07w673btM

Really fast scat run scaling down from C5 at 1:31 in 'Heaven on their Minds'. 1:15 is a C too that I initially thought was falsetto, but I'm not sure.

I'm also curious as to where Black's listed E2 came from. I've listened to a lot of Tenacious D and the lowest I've ever found was a G#2. What have I missed?