Freddie Mercury Voice Type
Voice Type: Full-Lyric Tenor
It’s the legendary Freddie Mercury! The Queen frontman is widely considered one of the best male vocalists of all time. He seems to have one of those voices that is impossible to classify. He has been called almost anything, from some sort of baritone to countless types of tenors. There also seems to be some who claim his voice did not fit a fach and was a creation of his own. While it may be confusing, once you break it down it’s not overly complex.
Often noted for his expansive vocal range, Freddie was bound to be called a baritone/baritenor by some. Yes he could go very low, but that’s not enough to be a baritone. People tend to underestimate how low male voices can go (even tenors). All male voices should be making it well into the 2nd octave. It really doesn’t matter how low one can go, it’s where their voices sits. Freddie’s voice was just too high to be a baritone/baritenor. He was often belting in the upper 4th and lower to mid 5th octave with ease (Love Is The Hero, We Are The Champions, Who Wants To Live For Forever, Innuendo). He only really went low when it was called for in harmonies. It’s not really where his voice naturally shone, and it’s not where he had natural comfort. Others claim he was a baritone with well developed upper belts. (I’m going to get into trouble for saying this) His belts were rather underdeveloped technically, as they are tight and trapped in the throat. He also used a chest-dominant mix. His mix was not well developed and despite that he still accessed the tenor area with ease. Even if a baritone had really well developed upper mixed voice they would not spend the time Freddie did in his upper mix. As his voice was underdeveloped up high, yet he still had such ease there, his natural comfort was that of a tenor, and hence he must have been one. Furthermore, people use his speaking voice as ‘proof’ he was a baritone. One’s speaking voice and singing voice do not need to match up. Take Australian Season 1 The Voice winner Karise Eden. Her speaking voice is nothing like her singing voice. Sometimes it may give a clue into one’s voice type, but like in Freddie’s case, this doesn’t always happen.
Dramatic/Spinto/Heldentenor
As Freddie’s voice was rather powerful and mature he is often given the label of dramatic/spinto/heldentenor. His timbre was far too warm to be a dramatic or heldentenor. His voice also wasn’t dark enough to be a spinto. His chest-dominant mix and manly voice seems to confuse some, but his voice was too warm and light to be anything but a lyric.
Another common, yet strange misconception about Freddie’s voice. A leggiero tenor will have the lightest, brightest and most agile tenor voice. Freddie’s voice was nowhere near bright or agile enough to be a leggiero.
Freddie had a lyric voice. Lyric tenors (and sopranos) are broken down into light and full lyric. Light-lyrics will have bright and youthful voices. While a full-lyric will have a more masculine and mature voice. The voice will also be less bright than a light-lyric. This fits Freddie’s voice as it was mature and bigger than a light-lyric. Full-lyrics are often mistaken for baritones, but there tessitura will be different.
Vocal View: I love that Freddie represents the male vocalists. Often people glaze over male vocalists as they are called lazy and boring, but Freddie really explored all parts of his voice and challenged himself vocally.
