Best Ever BACKING VOCALISTS

They are the unsung stars of the music world. Often uncredited and never in the spotlight, backing vocalists occupy a crucial yet underappreciated space in modern popular music. Their work frequently elevates the music they perform on, adding extra humanity, emotion and melody. Some backing vocalists are band members, and others are brought in as session singers. A good backing vocalist is worth their weight in gold, and they deserve our time right now. I’ve gathered a small list of some of the best ever, and I invite you to listen to them all with fresh ears, because it’s no less than they deserve.

She’s one of the most celebrated backing singers of all time. Venetta Fields added her soulful sound and taste to songs from a wide range of artists including Ike & Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. From blues and soul to rock ‘n’ roll, Venetta Fields has a voice that we’ve all grown up with.

Is it too much to call Michael Anthony Van Halen’s best singer? Maybe, but even throwing that out there is testament to the bassist’s skills on the mic. Every VH tune with big Mike’s singing is better than every track without them. Runnin’ With The Devil and Summer Nights are the two that spring instantly to mind, but there are loads more.

In between the two flamboyant frontmen (sorry, Gary) and one of the world’s greatest guitarists, there wasn’t much room for Anthony to make his mark, but those who listened closer were amply rewarded.

Merry Clayton would be worthy of inclusion based purely on her incredible vocal performance on Gimme Shelter, right? It’s unforgettable, but that would be to deny equally amazing performances on Sweet Home Alabama and Feelin’ Alright, with Joe Cocker. These are all what I’d call vocal Home Runs, and we’re all the better for knowing them. What gifts we’ve been given!

Ah, see! No, it’s not Bono doing the backing vocals on all of those U2 songs. Well, mostly not. Edge is great at those huge widescreen ‘aaaahs’ that transform songs like New Year’s Day, Beautiful Day and Stay (Faraway, So Close) into epic anthems.

He’s been known to take the odd lead vocal over the years too (Van Diemen's Land, Numb) and I hear he’s also pretty decent on the ol’ six-string, too.

Much like the opinion I ventured with Van Halen, I believe there is a fairly strong case here for Chili's guitarist John Frusciante being a better vocalist than Anthony Kiedis.

Do you agree? Maybe listening to some of Frusciante’s solo work would sway your opinion, but in reality, all you need to do is listen to the band’s By The Way record to hear where all of the melodic context and emotional content comes from.

I’m not sufficiently Bon-Jovi-ised to know if this is true, but I did hear recently that it was actually Richie Sambora who provided the high notes in Bon Jovi bangers like Livin’ On a Prayer. Is that true? Even if it’s not, Sambora’s vocals always added hugely to that famous Bon Jovi dynamic lift that happened during their colossal choruses. They lost more than an ace lead guitarist when he retired, but hey, at least we still have the songs! We’re halfway there!

Sorry.

Calling Mike Mills ‘R.E.M.’s bassist’ is like saying that Pele was okay at football. He’s a fantastic, melodic backing vocalist who adds a lot of light and shade to R.E.M.’s songs, but he’s also a top notch bassist, pianist (Nightswimming is all him) and a strong songwriting force within the band. 

The members of R.E.M. can mostly all play a number of instruments, and you may find that a certain song features guitarist Peter Buck on the drums, say, or drummer Bill Berry on the guitar. Mills? He can do it all, and his voice is a perfect contrast to Michael Stipe’s velvety baritone.

Alice in Chains brought a culpable darkness to their twisted and muscular grunge sound, with a focus on harmonising vocals. The late great Layne Staley was a phenomenally gifted singer, and he was expertly backed by guitarist Jerry Cantrell. In fact, it’s almost fair to say that Cantrell sang co-lead vocals on a high number of AIC songs, something that has carried on over to the most recent iteration of the band with William DuVall. Certainly, it’s the mix of the two voices throughout the band’s heritage that gives them their signature sound, quite as much as their (awesome) riffs.

We know her as a country megastar with the voice of an angel, but throughout her career, Emmylou Harris has lent those angelic pipes to artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Paul Simon. Cream of the crop! As it should be for such a talent. She has also collaborated with Mark Knopfler, Dolly Parton and many others, where her voice is used in a number of locations within a song. A personal favourite? How about Return of the Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons?

Despite the fact that she’s one of the most famous singers in the world, I’m going to be bold and say that Sheryl Crow has a very underrated singing voice. Listen to Mississippi (written for her by some guy called Bob Dylan?) from her Globe Sessions record for ample proof.

But in her early career, there was one guy who noticed her latent talent: big MJ himself, Michael Jackson. Yes indeed, Chez was a backing vocalist on his Bad tour from 1987 to 1989, with the huge 80s hair to prove it! 

Aside from him, Crow also recorded backing vocals for artists such as Don Henley, Stevie Wonder and Belinda Carlisle.

Ah yes, you’ve heard of this singer, too? Yes, David is obviously something of a household name, but I wonder how many people know about his second career as a backing vocalist on other artist’s music? Fans will probably recognise him singing back-up on Lou Reed’s Transformer album (which Bowie produced), and most of us will search YouTube at Christmas time for his duet with Bing Crosby.

But what about his backing vocals on the Arcade Fire’s Reflektor album? And indeed, what about the unlikely scenario of him singing backing vocals on Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson’s album? Comprised entirely of Tom Waits covers, no less? Hidden gold!

The Pixies were famously namechecked by Kurt Cobain as one of his biggest influences, and so it is that their first tenure together in the 80s has proven to cast a huge shadow across all alternative guitar music since.

What cannot be overemphasised is the powerful influence of bassist/backing vocalist Kim Deal. Acknowledged by producer Steve Albini as his favourite ever vocalist to record, Deal’s ultra-distinctive vocals provided light to the shade of Black Francis’ voice. Moreover, her breezy, smiling attitude cut straight through a moody rock scene that maybe took itself a little too seriously at times.

Deal is no longer with the Pixies, but it's telling that their modern records have backing vocals that are produced to sound specifically like Deal’s voice.

Backing vocals almost always improve a song. That’s not an opinion, it’s a basic fact. This article has hopefully made that reasonably obvious, and I hope also that you’ve come away with a few new songs to get excited about. Does your music have backing vocals? If not, why not?