News Keith Richards’ favourite classic rock singer
Few names are as synonymous with the world of classic rock as Keith Richards. As the guitarist for The Rolling Stones, as well as one-half of the songwriting talent alongside Mick Jagger, the Kent-born wild man of rock and roll has firmly cemented his place in the cultural landscape of classic rock. Despite his reputation as an archetypal rockstar, however, the tastes of Richards have always leaned more towards the soothing sounds of soul, blues and R&B rather than the ‘live fast, die young’ rock that you might expect.
Seemingly, the Stones guitarist has a pretty complicated relationship with rock. Admittedly, anybody who has been in the same job for six decades probably has some brimming resentment towards it. In the Under the Influence documentary, Richards affirmed that he would take reggae over rock, before explaining, “Rock and roll I never get tired of, but ‘rock’ is a white man’s version, and they turn it into a march, that’s [the modern] version of rock”.
While Richards lamenting ‘a white man’s version’ of rock and roll is pretty laughable, given that he has built his highly successful career on doing the exact same thing, this sentiment does go some way to explaining his musical tastes. A stalwart of the music industry for upwards of 60 years, you would think that Richards has been exposed to virtually every genre and style of music on the planet, and you would be correct.
Back in 2008, the guitarist was asked by Rolling Stone to collate a list of his 20 favourite vocalists. The list is a fairly interesting mismatch of figures, most of which come from the era of the 1950s and 1960s, which might shed some light on Richards’ views on modern music. Given the fact that the guitarist compiled this list some 16 years ago, it’s likely to have changed somewhat since then, but it does offer some fascinating insight into his musical taste.
As is to be expected with any list of the greatest singers of all time, Aretha Franklin tops the list. Somewhat surprisingly, though, you have to go some way down before you find a classic rock vocalist. Shockingly still, Mick Jagger is nowhere to be found in Richards’ list, though he lists himself as the 20th greatest rock vocalist of all time. Sitting pretty in tenth position is Gram Parsons. The American singer and guitarist is famed as much for his solo career as he is for his work with the likes of The Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the International Submarine Band.
The likelihood seems to be that Richards is more appreciative of his solo work, which gave the singer’s vocals a chance to shine. However, Richards’ appreciation for the rock vocalist is likely also rooted in his close friendship with the star. During the early part of the 1970s, the pair lived together in the French Nellcôte mansion, with Parsons often touring with the Stones around this time.
Parsons is often afforded a legendary reputation, earned only by those rock stars who died at a tragically young age. Nevertheless, Richards never lost his appreciation for his friend and contemporary, even performing at a tribute concert to the vocalist back in 2004. Ultimately, not many people would argue that Parsons was among the greatest classic rock singers of all time, but then not many people knew him quite like Keith Richards did.
