{"id":75784,"date":"2026-10-26T16:28:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T16:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/26\/the-best-screams-in-music-history\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T16:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T16:28:52","slug":"the-best-screams-in-music-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/26\/the-best-screams-in-music-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Screams in Music History"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Moments of vocal genius that will make your hair stand on end \u2014 from soulful shrieks to hard-rock yowls<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\tWith Halloween just around the corner, what better way to celebrate than with a list of musical moments so intense they\u2019re guaranteed to make your hair stand on end? From wails of heartbreak to yowls of terror to belts of elation, these are the 31 best screams in music history. The list has classic rock, emo, funk, nu metal, and more. Note: We\u2019re not talking about the whole song here, just the moments where the singer really lets loose and the level of larynx abuse truly gets criminal. This list is not for the faint of lung.<\/p>\n
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The Pixies, \u2018Rock Music\u2019 (1991)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Goedefroit Music\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tThe Pixies\u2019 unique ability to give alt-rock a surreal spin is on unfortgettable display here. The second song on the band\u2019s third album, Bossanova, <\/em>doesn\u2019t have one specific moment of screaming from frontman Black Francis. The whole thing is a 1:52 scream tantrum, with every lyric shrieked like his hair just caught on fire. He kicks off the song by repeating the phrase \u201cYour mouth\u2019s a mile away\u201d eight times, each one sounding more unhinged than the last, as guitarist Joey Santiago answers back with peels of banshee noise.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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The Clash, \u2018London Calling\u2019 (1980)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Michael Putland\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tOn this punk-rock classic, Joe Strummer paints an ominous picture of a dystopian London hurtling toward the apocalypse. The Clash\u2019s signature reggae-infused punk sound lays the foundation underneath lyrics inspired by the chaotic world events taking shape in 1979, such as racial injustice, police brutality, rising unemployment, a drug epidemic, nuclear disaster, and the rise of Margaret Thatcher. Strummer graces the bridge with a staccato, cackling call to arms, echoing through the cold over the Thames like a distress signal.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Childish Gambino, \u2018Redbone\u2019 (2016)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Jeff Kravitz\/FilmMagic\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tDonald Glover laid the vocal groundwork and Seventies vibe with his first single, \u201cMe and Your Mama,\u201d off his third studio album, Awaken, My Love<\/em>, wailing across the entire track. But it\u2019s the second single, \u201cRedbone,\u201d that drilled into a mainstream audience just how versatile Glover\u2019s range can be. About halfway through the psychedelic funk-fused R&B track, he captivates with a sultry cry that could raise Marvin Gaye from the dead. A falsetto with every second of that summoning dripping with soul.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Sleater-Kinney, \u2018Call the Doctor\u2019 (1996)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Lindsay Brice\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tWhen Sleater-Kimmy came roaring out of the riot-grrrl scene in the mid-1990s, one of the first things people noticed was the way Corin Tucker\u2019s soaring vocals cut through the band\u2019s dynamic punk rock. On the opening song and title track from the band\u2019s breakthrough second album, Call the Doctor,<\/em> Tucker pushes herself to the limit as she repeats the title phrase. Just as striking is the series of almost frighteningly intense screams we can hear in the background, giving the song a sense of deep rage coming to the surface.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s kind of astonishing that the massive sludge guitars on this eight-minute epic from North Carolina band Wednesday\u2019s breakthrough 2023 album, Rat Saw God<\/em>, are only the second <\/em>most intense thing in this song. They\u2019re loud, but not as explosive as singer-guitarist Karly Hartzman\u2019s shrieking, which closes out the song. She sings about watching a friend give in to addiction. Her lyrics reference the video game Mortal Kombat<\/em>, and she takes a phrase from that game \u2014 \u201cFinish him<\/em>\u201d \u2014 and repeats it until her voice becomes an improvised wail that ends up stretching out for more than two extremely raw minutes.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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System of a Down, \u2018Chop Suey!\u2019 (2001)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Annamaria DiSanto\/WireImage\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tThe hit single from System of a Down\u2019s groundbreaking 2001 album, Toxicity, <\/em>is a prog-metal roller coaster with a powerful message about religious hypocrisy \u2014 particularly the way people\u2019s lives are often judged by the circumstances of their death. Singer Serj Tankian proves himself to be one of the most dynamic singers in rock. He goes from machine-gun shouting to operatic wail. The way he stretches out the word \u201cdie<\/em>\u201d in the lyric \u201cI cry when angels deserve to die\u201d is epic, and the metal-avenger yowl he delivers after that is one for the ages.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Mitski, \u2018Drunk Walk Home\u2019 (2014)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amy E. Price\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tA searing highlight from indie singer-songwriter Mitski\u2019s third album, Bury Me at Makeout Creek<\/em>, \u201cDrunk Walk Home\u201d finds her walking home after a boozy night that has collapsed into frustration and disappointment. Against march-time drums and punishing guitar, she sings, \u201cAnd I sit on the curb \u2019cause it\u2019s the prettiest night\/With no one else in sight\/You know I wore this dress for you\/These killer heels for you.\u201d Her white-knuckled anger comes out in a hellacious scream that takes up the last 30 seconds of the song.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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My Chemical Romance, \u2018I\u2019m Not Okay (I Promise)\u2019 (2004)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tExpressing the angst of surviving adolescence with 9\/11 in the rearview, war in your midst, and a looming recession hovering over their gateway to adulthood, this understandably became an anthem for the angstiest generation. Gerard Way desperately, yet unconvincingly, pushes to reassure that he is emotionally stable in the bridge of the 2004 emo classic, via a vindictive exclamation point of a punch behind the \u201cokay.\u201d It\u2019s the \u201cokay\u201d that launched MySpace-era emo into the mainstream through the plea of a man at the end of his rope.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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The Cure, \u2018Subway Song\u2019 (1979)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Pete Still\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tOn their 1979 debut, Three Imaginary Boys,<\/em> the Cure put their own moody, black eye-liner spin on angular U.K. post-punk. The album\u2019s darkest and most haunting moment is \u201cSubway Song.\u201d Over an ominously rumbling bass line, Robert Smith sings about a woman walking alone in the London Underground, sure she\u2019s being followed by a predator. \u201cTurn around,\u201d he whispers. When the song fades out, we\u2019re left assuming the story is open-ended \u2014 until Smith lets out a blood-curdling wail of terror. It\u2019s definitely a top candidate for the greatest horror-movie jump scare in rock history.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tOne of the coolest bands of the past five years, Wet Leg always have the perfect barbed lyrics to fit their sharp songs. \u201cWhen I think about what you\u2019ve become, I feel sorry for your mum,\u201d Rhian Teasdale sings to an ex that wasn\u2019t worth the time. The real burn comes later in the track, when Teasdale informs us, \u201cI\u2019ve been practicing my loudest and longest scream.\u201d Well, she warned us. The cackle of catharsis she releases lasts 10 seconds, cutting through the band\u2019s sing-song background vocals and sweet guitar churn like a hot knife through butter.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tA lot of the artists made this list with unhinged shrieks or wild yowls. Rob Halford is here thanks to pure precision, the kind of control and power that\u2019s made him one of the most respected singers in metal history. After establishing themselves as one of biggest metal bands of the late Seventies and early Eighties, Judas Priest needed to prove they could still bring it in the 1990s, and they crushed that mission with \u201cPainkiller,\u201d which hits an Olympian peak at the 1:22 mark. Halford shrieks, \u201cThis is the painkiller!\u201d<\/em> and lets out a piercing cry that could put a seasoned opera singer in traction.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\t\u201cThis is a song about a jerk. I hexed him, now he\u2019s losing his hair,\u201d Courtney Love said, introducing this grunge classic on the TV show Later\u2026 With Jools Holland <\/em>in 1995. The resentment is palpable in the throat eviscerating, gargles-with-rocks \u201cforever\u201d she hurls at us during the chorus. She then proceeds to top that with the \u201ctake everythings\u201d that close out the track.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Adam and the Ants, \u2018Prince Charming\u2019 (1981)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Michael Putland\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tNew Wave mutant Adam Ant was a true king of the wild frontier. The repeated shrieks he lets out after each drum hit and slashing strum at the opening of \u201cPrince Charming\u201d serve as the perfect setup for the song\u2019s defiant message: \u201cRidicule is nothing to be scared of.\u201d The song\u2019s Cinderella-<\/em>themed video, featuring evil step sisters in drag, is one of the crazier productions on the early MTV era. The whole thing is an argument for flamboyance as its own liberating sake, and it touched a nerve, going Number One in the U.K.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tOn the raging lead single from the Foo Fighter\u2019s second album, 1997\u2019s The Colour and the Shape, <\/em>Dave Grohl processes the collapse of his marriage in real time, delivering one of the most honest and gripping breakup anthems of the 1990s. As the song barrels along, Grohl\u2019s frustration and anger build and build, as he pushes his voice deep into the red. Right after he arrives at the cathartic epiphany, \u201cStill, there\u2019s one thing that comforts me\/Since I was always caged and now I\u2019m free,\u201d he lets forth a howl that does indeed sound like a wild animal that\u2019s just been released from captivity.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Screamin\u2019 Jay Hawkins, \u2018I Put a Spell on You\u2019 (1956)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: David Redfern\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tA pioneer of shock rock, Hawkins initially set out to create a bluesy, refined love song. But after enjoying a few drinks, he embraced a weirder, more sinister approach and a cult classic was born. Bringing a macabre essence throughout the song, he finished with a series of hysterical, chaotic noises \u2014 grunts and snorts included \u2014 that possess wild and hauntingly violent undertones. The song was so disturbing for its time that it was initially banned from radio.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Beastie Boys, \u2018Sabotage\u2019 (1994)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: John Atashian\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tThis hard-hitting Beasties classic was a lighthearted middle finger to their Ill Communication<\/em> engineer-producer, Mario Caldato Jr., who was growing increasingly annoyed with their inability to get anything done in the studio. Like a rebellious teen, Adam \u201cAd-Rock\u201d Horovitz penned lyrics teasing Caldato by accusing him of sabotaging their art. That mischievous spirit reaches its peak just after the break in the song when the signature riff kicks in. The culmination of \u201cf-you\u2019s\u201d is an outburst with so much energetic force it sounds like the band could burst through a concrete wall.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Suicide, \u2018Frankie Teardrop\u2019 (1977)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Allan Tannenbaum\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tArmed with just a Farfisa organ, a drum machine, and a distortion pedal, the pioneering electro-punk duo of Martin Rev and Alan Vega were more out-there and intense than pretty much any of their guitar-wielding peers on the 1970s New York punk scene. Their peak moment of sonic and emotional terror is \u201cFrankie Teardrop,\u201d a 10-minute meltdown about a guy who loses his factory job and goes on a killing spree. The topic is scary enough, but the way Vega punctuates his lyrics with unhinged yelps makes it even more chilling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Olivia Rodrigo, \u2018All-American Bitch\u2019 (2023)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Christopher Polk\/Billboard\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tWomen have long faced the unrealistic expectation to always be positive, sweet, grateful, and never angry, to express only the \u201cgood\u201d emotions. Rodrigo\u2019s sarcastic pop-punk take on this fallacy reaches its boiling point as she demonstrates, \u201cI scream inside to deal with it,\u201d releasing the repressed, piercing exhale of a young woman scorned by the societal and political pressures of existing while female, then reverting back to the outward presenting perfect all-American girl.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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The Rolling Stones, \u2018Gimme Shelter\u2019 (1969)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tIt\u2019s seemingly impossible to steal the spotlight from a band like the Rolling Stones in their prime. Merry Clayton did it at 20-years-old, pregnant, and fresh out of bed in her pajamas and curlers for a recording session that took place in the middle of the night. It\u2019s her \u201cmurder\u201d in the third refrain that cries out so hard, gifting us with a voice crack so iconic that even Mick Jagger couldn\u2019t hold in the awe. His reactive \u201cwoo\u201d can be heard in the background on the original recording.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Little Richard, \u2018Good Golly, Miss Molly\u2019 (1956)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Siegfried Loch – K & K\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tRock & roll\u2019s first great screamer. Little Richard\u2019s performances perfected the idea that music can push you to a point where words weren\u2019t going be enough to communicate the power of what you were doing. The quintessential example is the ecstatic holler he lets out before the sax solo on \u201cGood Golly, Miss Molly.\u201d \u201cThe scream that I scream just before the saxophone player takes a solo is a scream of excitement,\u201d he said. Every rock shouter still lives in his shadow.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Paramore, \u2018All I Wanted\u2019 (2009)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tony Woolliscroft\/WireImage\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tDespite this epic emo power ballad being a Paramore fan favorite, singer Hayley Williams\u2019 vocals are so precise on \u201cAll I Wanted\u201d that she avoided performing it live until the When We Were Young festival in 2022. At 2:39 in the track, the music stops abruptly, and Williams\u2019 voice ascends heavenward as she gives into an all-consuming desperation with a stunning mix of power and vulnerability.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Nirvana, \u2018Where Did You Sleep Last Night\u2019 (1993)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Frank Micelotta\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tNirvana closed their 1993 MTV Unplugged in New York<\/em> performance with a searing rendition of the traditional folk-blues song \u201cWhere Did You Sleep Last Night,\u201d based on Lead Belly\u2019s 1940s version. Kurt Cobain goes deeper and deeper into the song\u2019s sense of desperate betrayal until he lets out a noise that sounds more like a wounded animal than a sad rock singer. It might be the most chilling moment of his entire career.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Linkin Park, \u2018Given Up\u2019 (2007)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tim Mosenfelder\/Corbis\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tOnly a once-in-a-generation talent like Chester Bennington could capture this level of anger, exhaustion, and over\u00adwhelming defeat and channel it into one perfectly controlled 17-second vocal-cord Chernobyl. On this new nu-metal rager, the Linkin Park frontman sounds like he\u2019s pulling from the depths of his own personal hell with a laser-focused release of pent-up frustration.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Big Brother and the Holding Company, \u2018Piece of My Heart\u2019 (1968)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Fantality Corporation\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tJanis Joplin is the bridge that unites blues legends like Ma Rainey and Seventies rock shouters like Steven Tyler, with an explosive style so physically demanding she had to refrain from speaking after shows. Her classic 1968 hit fronting San Francisco psychedelic-blues greats Big Brother and the Holding Company peaks at 3:31, with a window-rattling blast of resilience in the face of romantic desolation.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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John Lennon, \u2018Mother\u2019 (1970)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: WATFORD\/Mirrorpix\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tIn 1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono underwent primal-scream therapy. Lennon used that experience when he created his classic album Plastic Ono Band,<\/em> especially on the opening track, about his late mother, Julia (\u201cMama, don\u2019t go,\u201d he sings). It is a pivotal moment in the history of the rock scream, going beyond mere heartbreak to excavate deep psychological pain.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Prince, \u2018Darling Nikki\u2019 (1984)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tWhen Prince\u2019s iconic falsetto morphs into a raw, provocative siren, it\u2019s impossible not to be mesmerized. He reinvented rock & roll sex appeal with the orgasmic cry of \u201cDo Me, Baby,\u201d the vocal shredding that closes out \u201cComputer Blue,\u201d and the sultry intro to \u201cTemptation.\u201d But nothing in his vocal arsenal can match the erotic magnetism of\u00a0 \u201cDarling Nikki,\u201d which goes from a wink of guitar to a cinematic full-body rush.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Guns N\u2019 Roses, \u2018Welcome to the Jungle\u2019 (1987)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Marc S Canter\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tThe Eighties were full of preening metal screamers, but the tight, piercing, almost-post-human shriek that opens GN\u2019R\u2019s 1987 classic, Appetite for Destruction,<\/em> unleashed a completely different species of rock & roll animal into the jungle. It was a precise, difficult sound to get, a true feat of pharyngeal gymnastics that oozes sexuality in its primal delivery.\u2013J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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James Brown, \u2018Get Up Offa That Thing\u2019 (1976)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: David Redfern\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tNo singer can beg, scream, or shout like the Godfather of Soul \u2014 whether it\u2019s the \u201cwows\u201d peppering \u201cI Got You (I Feel Good)\u201d or the depth of the \u201closts\u201d in \u201cIt\u2019s a Man\u2019s Man\u2019s Man\u2019s World,\u201d Brown knew how to use his signature shriek to elicit a range of emotions. In this case, it\u2019s a five-alarm wail daring you to get up and move, an invitation to an all-night rager where all of your woes get swallowed whole.\u2013J.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
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Ike and Tina Turner, \u2018River Deep \u2014 Mountain High\u2019 (1966)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Ron Pownall\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\tGroundbreaking producer Phil Spector\u2019s magnum opus was born out of a frenzied session in which he used a then-unheard-of-number of session musicians and background vocalists. Tina Turner\u2019s gravelly vocals burst through Spector\u2019s famous Wall of Sound with the force of a hurricane, crescendoing in a banshee vocal tear that remains one of the greatest performances in rock-soul history.
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![\"UNITED](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/best-screams-courtney-love-hole.jpg?w=300\")
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![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/best-screams-alan-vega.jpg?w=300\")
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![\"BIRMINGHAM,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/best-screams-hayley-williams.jpg?w=300\")
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![\"INGLEWOOD,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/best-screams-prince.jpg?w=300\")
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![\"WORCESTER,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/best-screams-tina-turner.jpg?w=300\")