Sometimes, a guest vocalist can turn a song into a hit. I don’t doubt the following three classic rock songs would be hits without their guest vocalists. However, these three singers really stole the show. And I think they deserve some credit.
Videos by American Songwriter
Merry Clayton in “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones
Merry Clayton’s vocals in “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones are legendary. The way she sings is absolutely explosive. Few backing vocal tracks are as memorable from this particular era as hers are. It’s the part of the song that everybody remembers, regardless of whether or not they were alive to see the song debut in 1969. I think she deserves more credit for how she turned this song into an emotional rollercoaster.
Clare Torry in “The Great Gig In The Sky” by Pink Floyd
Like Merry Clayton’s vocals in “Gimme Shelter”, Clare Torry’s vocals in “The Great Gig In The Sky” by Pink Floyd are insanely memorable. It’s the best part of the song, honestly. And while the whole composition is quite stunning, Torry’s wordless vocal run transformed the piece into a truly atmospheric and attention-grabbing song. This song gave a lot of people an existential crisis back in the day. And I think the way Torry sang, without using any distinguishable words, made it all the more thematic.
“I was very impressed with her,” engineer Alan Parsons said of Clare Torry’s studio work on The Dark Side Of The Moon. “There was a bit of direction given; they said, ‘Sorry, we’ve got no words, no melody line, just a chord sequence – just see what you can do with it.’ She was only there for a couple of hours.”
Sting in “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits
“Money For Nothing” is a well-loved fan-favorite classic rock gem from Dire Straits. Sting (yes, Sting from The Police) made it even better as one of the finest classic rock guest vocalists to work with the band. His falsetto voice is immediately recognizable the second the song starts up. “I want my MTV” became a thing of pop culture for years after this song was released in 1985. In fact, that first “MTV” line ended up being the actual production company’s credit title card audio. It’s a little piece of history.
Photo by PA Images via Getty Images
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