Being a great punk rock singer involves so much more than just hitting the notes.
All of the genre’s great frontmen (and women) have embodied punk’s rebellious attitude. Regardless of their respective vocal styles, they’ve all showcased an energy and spirit to rage against societal norms.
“All punk is is attitude,” Joey Ramone declared to Entertainment Weekly in 1990. “That’s what makes it. The attitude.”
His viewpoint has been echoed by many fellow punk greats, including Billie Joe Armstrong.
“Punk has always been about doing things your own way,” the Green Day frontman once explained. “What it represents for me is ultimate freedom and a sense of individuality.”
READ MORE: Top 30 Punk Rock Songs
While Patti Smith certainly embodied punk’s attitude, she used a different word to describe its deeper meaning.
“To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are,” the singer wrote in her memoir Just Kids. “It’s freedom.”
Another of the punk’s trailblazers, Iggy Pop, admitted he struggled with his relationship with the genre over the years.
“When the ‘godfather of punk’ thing started floatin’ around, I was really, really embarrassed,” Pop noted to ABC Australia. “I thought I should have a great, big rig and a cape and everything, and it was very embarrassing. And then after a while, you learn that if people call you anything, this is a great gift.”
Each of these legends can be found in our list of the Top 10 Punk Rock Vocalists. Who came in at No. 1? Read on to find out.
