This is from Ian Anderson's tribute to Bowie, which someone posted in the RIP David Bowie thread:
"Unusually in the world of Pop and Rock where British singers feel strangely compelled to sing in ridiculous fake American accents, Bowie proudly used his own natural spoken vocal tones to carve a niche as one of the few high baritone singers of the Pop/Rock world."
Is that true that a lot of British singers try to sound American? I'd have thought more American singers try to sound British. But I actually didn't think most singers would or could try to control their voice that way. Not being much of a singer myself, I thought it kind of just comes out sounding however it comes out. I know singers can control certain aspects of how they sound (my wife studied voice and sings very well, though she really no longer uses it), but I thought most people would try to affect a particular accent. To me, generally, people don't sound "British" or "American" (if they are) when they sing, unless they have a unique speaking voice or accent that comes through (like Sinatra).
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