Top 20 Worst Singers Of All Time

Think about a parody of bad singing, and you may think of this American YouTube rapper. The hallmarks of bad singing are there: speak-singing, wobbly notes, no breath control, poor articulation, the works. The comedy of this poor technique is no doubt what made IceJJFish’s first single “On the Floor” into a viral hit. Perhaps it was even the point of it all. Still, bad singing is still bad singing. Once you get past the novelty of singing which provokes laughter, IceJJFish gets very unpleasant and boring to listen to. We appreciate the effort - or lack of - though.

Another YouTube star, Jake Paul, started on Vine before landing in a Disney Channel show in 2016. He also has gone into professional boxing. Multitalented as Paul is, his rapping leaves much to be desired. Maybe that’s why one of his videos at one point was number three on YouTube’s most disliked list. His voice is shaky without autotune. He also has a dull, inexpressive style, as if he personally doesn’t believe too much in the lyrics and is reading them by rote. At least Paul can articulate more or less clearly, which is no small feat, and required when it comes to rap. But you can still detect that ever-present autotune. Maybe he should stick to boxing.

This Canadian singer and rapper is one of the world’s best-selling artists. Drake is even tied with Michael Jackson for having the most number one hits by a male solo singer on the Billboard Hot 100. So why does he sound like he just woke up at 5 a.m. and went into the recording studio as is? At least drink some water! Drake’s flat foghorn voice would make for a good blend with another voice or instrument. But by itself, it’s not very inspiring. He has okay pitch control and diction, but otherwise…we don’t see the greatness.

Speaking of flat voices, check out this Vine-creator-turned-singer. Sartorius began starring in musicals as a child before downgrading to lip-syncing videos. In 2016, he released his debut single, “Sweatshirt,” about a schoolyard crush. At best, his voice isn’t any different from your standard boy band singer, with that same pop sound which effectively conveys wholesome young romance. But Sartorius has a nasal quality to his singing that gets grating after a while, even with boatloads of autotune. At least the songs aren’t demanding in range, which makes him seem like a better singer than he is.

At least she can tap dance. Abdul’s dancing and choreographic skills are clearly on point. In fact, she even won a Primetime Emmy Award for her choreography work on “The Tracey Ullman Show.” Her singing, however, is a different matter entirely. Abdul’s nasally high voice is serviceable with songs with undemanding range, like “Straight Up.” Weak and thin voices can be redeemed by their lyrical expressiveness. But Abdul sings lyrics with that smooth pop detachment. She could have benefited from a music teacher telling her to “Fake it till you feel it,” because we’re not feeling much.

At least IceJJFish has a comically croaky voice and is almost deliberate in his bad style. There is nothing funny about the vocal prowess of these twin brothers. With their hit song, “I’m an Island Boy,” Flyysoulja and Kodiyakredd turned their life around after a stint in jail. We love a good redemption story, but it would be so much better if they were actually good rappers. The Island Boys are more than just a little off-pitch. They also are almost unintelligible, both in terms of deciphering their lyrics and making a clear musical message, and they lack flow. “I’m an Island Boy” likely went viral not because it was catchy, but because of the bad singing. It’s a pass.

This Grammy Award-winning and very controversial American hip hop artist needs little introduction. And we’re not here to do so. Put all of West’s personal life baggage aside, and what do we get, musically speaking? Without autotune, a very shaky singing voice. Even as a rapper, West’s style is too straightforward, even cumbersome. Usually, rappers are keen to show off their fast flow and clever rhyme schemes. West’s simplicity in melody and delivery no doubt is what led to his success. But we have heard Broadway performers with better patter song skills and better diction.

From a lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas to a formidable record producer, this multifaceted American performer and songwriter has gained massive acclaim. But as a singer and rapper, he’s woefully mediocre. Often in that career, he has stuck with performing with other artists after Black Eyed Peas, as if knowing he can’t carry a solo act well. When he tries to sing, even hitting a high note in “The Hardest Ever,” it’s inevitably autotuned. No doubt his fans are there for his clever songwriting, and his rapping is much more interesting when in tandem with other artists.

Is there anything we can say about this award-winning and highly influential Canadian singer that hasn’t been said already? Granted, most of the backlash has been due to the Beatles and Frank Sinatra-esque mania he inspired among his preteen girl fans. People were also unfairly critical of his earnest teen love songs. Still, as a singer, Bieber is unfortunately no Sinatra, buried as he is beneath layers of autotune and an attraction to undemanding lyrics. His part in the Luis Fonsi hit “Despacito” was clearly out of his comfort zone, with indifferent vocals and clumsy, if intelligible Spanish. Even superstars have their limits, and Bieber’s are particularly disappointing.

One of the biggest hit singles of the late 2000s, “Crank That” catapulted its artist to the top of the charts and into stardom. But as even the mildest critics will tell you, Soulja Boy is no great artiste. He has a generic voice and vague lyrical delivery, as if his mouth were stuffed full of marbles. In his most popular song, redeemable only by the novelty of the steel drum, he sounds flat and indifferent. When he does sing, it is with the inevitable aid of autotune. Soulja Boy has stuck around making new music, but with obvious diminishing returns. One hit wonders are generally rough to listen to.

Getting crowned the Queen of Rap and Hip Hop is no easy feat. This Trinidadian-born rapper has the advantage of a smooth and fast rap flow, with crystal clear diction. Her success in that sense is understandable. What is not impressive or as successful is her nasal singing. Listen to it for more than a minute and it begins to grate pretty quickly. It even seems more heavily autotuned than most artists’. Minaj’s chew-toy squeakiness and vocal fry are also glaring. Critics have been more impressed by her lyric writing, particularly her verse in Kanye West’s “Monster.” Perhaps she should go into songwriting more and leave the singing to others.

The younger sister of Jessica Simpson, Ashlee’s singing career came to a halt when she was caught lip-synching on “Saturday Night Live.”. Our take? Her career should have ended because of her bad singing rather than because of lip-syncing on a live broadcast. The generic sound of her songs does her no favors, but Simpson just displays many vocal faults, singing some notes unexpectedly sharp and others flat. Her singing has a blunt quality to it, attacking the lyrics rather than embodying them. The fact that she tends to cut her notes short at the end of phrases doesn’t help to lessen that impression.

Reggaeton rappers, much like American ones, can naturally vary in ability. But Pitbull may just signal a new low in rap quality. His smoker-rough voice makes Louis Armstrong sound like Andy Williams. When he does sound even remotely tolerable, it’s largely due to studio pitch correction. He doesn’t improve in his Spanish language rap either, and in any language exhibits a lack of flow. Daddy Yankee comes off much better as his fellow rapper. This is a shame, as Pitbull has had tremendous success, selling 100 million singles worldwide. And his activism during Hurricane Maria is nothing less than inspiring and worthy of acclaim.

Do we really need to tell you who Britney Spears is? The Princess of Pop has had her share of personal drama. But one controversy that has long dogged her has been her singing ability. When her creaky non-autotune vocals for “Alien” were leaked out, it seemed to confirm a lot of haters in their belief of Spears’ terrible singing. Was it a genuine attempt or simply a vocal warm up? Regardless, Spears is not that great a singer even with polished production. In her first major hit, she has shaky breath control and thin voice, with bouts of creakiness. In the end, Spears’ talent has been in her performance skills, especially that of the Max Martin songs.

This wildly successful and influential hip hop artist also has been involved in feuds and legal actions but has also attracted some negativity for his rapping ability. And we must concur. Lil Wayne’s voice is atrocious, rough and craggy, but also paradoxically high-pitched. He has little to no flow, not that the raps themselves lend themselves to it. As for his songs, he admitted in 2023 that his poor memory makes it hard for him to remember them. We sympathize with Wayne’s health struggles, but it is perhaps a blessing that he doesn’t remember his own songs. We wish we could say the same.

One of the most famous-for-being-famous personalities, Hilton’s singing endeavors were always a feature, not the star, of her persona. Regardless, her singing voice is indeed generically mediocre at best. Like many other singers, she has the breathiness and vocal fry, but with less breath control and little lyrical expressiveness. In 2024, she made something of a comeback with “ADHD” and “BBA,” the latter with Megan Thee Stallion, but her vocal prowess hasn’t improved much. In fact, it’s even more superficial. The good news is that the limited range of the songs suits her ability just fine. Her persona and other non-musical projects have far eclipsed her singing career, for good reason.

It’s not at all fair to label a singer bad based on one terrible single. That’s why we feel comfortable labeling YouTube star Rebecca Black a bad singer based on three. Her 2011 hit “Friday” was panned by both critics and audiences alike, not just for the inanity of its lyrics, but for Black’s broad vowels and nasal singing. But since then, Black has made other songs, such as “Crumbs” and “TRUST!” The good news is, there is definite improvement from her thirteen-year-old self. Unfortunately, it also put her squarely in the generic pop singer category. It’s not that she sounds particularly terrible. It’s that she sounds like any other performer, if much more polished than her debut.

Of course, no list of bad singers would be complete without this OG. This 20th-century socialite’s ambitions as a pianist and then later an opera singer were always far greater than her abilities. But while many pop stars of today get by because they’re singing undemanding material, you can’t fake your way through Mozart, Gounod, and Delibes. Jenkins’ screechy pitch and poor diction made her a cult favorite, drawing delighted laughter from her audiences. Jenkins’ atrocious singing was most likely due to her health difficulties, including nerve damage. It’s a much better excuse for terrible singing than most singers, unfortunately.

As a songwriter, Bob Dylan is without a doubt one of the greatest. His lyrical songs became powerful social anthems for an entire generation. He even won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, albeit not without major controversy. As a singer, however, Dylan is one of the worst. With his shaky nails-on-chalkboard pitch, this folk performer has been bested vocally by many others of his genre. Even his fans freely admit this, ignoring the musical aspect of his work altogether. But the cold and brutal fact is, Dylan did not write poetry or even verse, but music and lyrics. Thus, his vocal performance does matter. And it just ain’t pretty.

All the singers on this list so far have had at least one redeeming quality, even if it doesn’t involve their singing. Unfortunately, many would say there are no redeeming musical qualities about this one. Famous as John Lennon’s second wife, Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist whose art often includes musical elements. As such, her art can be very much an acquired taste, and when it comes to her singing, it is a taste few acquire. Ono’s singing is often a melody-free caterwaul with incomprehensible lyrics. She also has a penchant for random screaming and shrieks, giving her songs an animals-are-being-skinned-alive sound. To many, she wages war against the very idea of music, including her husband’s. We think we know who won that battle.

Which other singers do you feel are no great songbirds? Let us know in the comments down below!