15 Stellar Vocal Performances (Male Edition)

August 16, 2011

We gave you the female edition the other day and now we’re back with 15 male vocal performances that will have you doing the, “ooooooo baby!” dance---next time you need to study, or simply need inspiration to keep on keepin’ on, review this list and get fired up again!

1. Jeff Buckley- “Hallelujah”

While there’s been about a million renditions of the song our personal favorite is Jeff Buckley, he keeps the genuine message of the song, with soul---Justin Timberlake has a lovely version as well, so bonus points for him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4

2. Ray Charles- “Georgia on my Mind”

After Jamie Foxx played his Oscar winning role in “Ray,” Ray Charles was on everyone radar once again---any man that can embody the heart of Ray gets double stars in our book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IumnmhnPJKQ&ob=av3n

3. Raul Esparza- “Being Alive” from Company

Chills, incredibly moving performance by Raul Esparaza at the 2007 Tony awards from “Company” directed by John Doyle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8kYfPoHyos

4. U2- “In the Name of Love”

It’s always a toss up between “Bloody Sunday” and this performance of “In the Name of Love” from the 1984 performance in Germany--when it comes to channeling PASSION through your music, Bono knows how to convey the message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8Pnlhs7grQ&feature=player_embedded

5. The Three Tenors- “Nessum Dorma”

One must always honor the pure beauty and skill maintained by opera singers, you can’t get any better than Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras. So powerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNQeKvVPPlc&feature=player_embedded

6. Bruno Mars- “Grenade”

It may seem a little drastic to go from Pavarotti to Bruno Mars and while he’s a popular pop singer, if you’ve listened to the radio for more than five seconds you know about six of his number one hits, he’s always an incredibly talented musician, songwriter and vocalist. We love this acoustic version of “Grenade.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkuoRGig4Cs

7. Michael Jackson- “Man in the Mirror”

No one can touch The King of Pop and when it comes to live performances, Michael remained untouchable until the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Nh84lfvW0

8. The Rolling Stones- “Angie”

Whatever genre of music you gravitate towards, you can still look at Mick Jagger and think, “Goodness.....he has some PIPES.” And some dance moves, but that much we’re all aware of. Angie could easily be flipped into an acoustic tune, an accapella tune...you could get creative with this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMkFjYRWM4M

9. Aaron Tveit- “Run Away with Me”

The musical-theater songwriting duo Kerrigan-Lowdermilk always write songs that are emotional and tell a story, then they pick an artist to sing them---and it all comes together MAGICALLY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61EL69OZSlY

10. Jason Mraz- “The Remedy”

The firs time we hear Jason Mraz really improvise to his own music with ease and creativity was with his first big hit “The Remedy” since then, “I’m Yours,” “Life is Wonderful” etc. have been flipped upside-down, turned inside out, and astound us every time. We can all learn to trust our musical intuition the way Jason Mraz does when he performs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f-DzVEO7fU

11. Louis Armstrong- “What a Wonderful World”

A classic song, classic performance and overall....a good reminder. Ah, yes, wonderful world indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzJY96m3lkg

12. Daniel Radcliffe- “Brotherhood of Men”

He isn’t just Harry Potter! No he isn’t! Turns out that Daniel Radcliffe is an incredibly versatile actor and a singer, Broadway performer....the list goes on. Daniel’s performance in “How to Succeed in Business” is getting great reviews--on stage, or as HP, we’re superfans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69WpCBLrdSQ

13. Justin Bieber- “Cry me a River”

Okay, we do give you full permission for being annoyed at this listing---but when we saw the YouTube video of little Biebs singing a cover of Justin Timberlake’s song “Cry me a River” we had to PUT IT ON THE LIST. HAD TO.

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

14. Brett Dennen- “Ain’t No Reason”

This acoustic, folky, singer/songwriter has one of the most unique voices we’ve ever heard, such a beautiful unexpected sound!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KET-ifhhp7A&feature=related

15. Javier Colombe w/ Stevie Nicks “Landslide”

The winner of the first season of The Voice pretty much floored us every single time he sang and when he appeared on stage with Fleetwood Mac’s own, Stevie Nicks (yes we know she’s not a guy, but she’s on the list anyway) we pretty much died.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N8d2d0-SBg

15 STELLAR VOCAL PERFORMANCES (MALE EDITION)