Daltrey: Music lacks lead singers

By MESFIN FEKADU

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, says there aren’t many contemporary singers who could “lead” a band, and he partially blames shows like “American Idol” for it.

“A lot of the new people they choose on shows like ‘American Idol’ and things like that — I don’t ever hear lead singers,” he said. “They always seem to choose to pick people that are great singers, fabulous singers, but they’ve never got the voice that makes a great lead singer.”

Daltrey, 67, went on to name-drop some of music’s best singers: “You hear 10 seconds of Rod Stewart, you know it’s Rod Stewart. Ten-seconds of Mick Jagger, that’s Mick Jagger. Ten-seconds of Eddie Vedder, you know that’s Eddie.”

English-born Daltrey says there is one exception in today’s music scene: Adele.

“I mean, I love Adele. That’s a lead singer, that’s the real deal,” he said of the British soul singer, who’s sophomore CD “21” is the year’s top-selling album in the United States and the United Kingdom.

So, would Daltrey join the panel of a singing show to fix what he believes is wrong?

“I’d probably throw them all out,” he said, laughing.

“I quite like the idea of ‘The Voice’ — that new show, simply because they have to choose the voices,” he said. “They might present me with 50 voices, and if I didn’t like any of them, I couldn’t work with any of them. It would be pointless.”

Daltrey made the comments while promoting his latest tour, “Roger Daltrey Performs The Who’s Tommy,” which kicked off earlier this month.

“I rediscovered how fabulous it is as a piece of music, and I decided it needs to be heard,” Daltrey said of The Who’s 1969 “Tommy” album.

The CD, mostly composed by bandmate and guitarist Pete Townshend, became a Broadway musical in 1993; a film version was released in 1975. But Daltrey says his new tour gives him a chance to present his side of “Tommy.”