20th-century English male singers

John Winston Ono Lennon was an English musician, songwriter and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.

Sir James Paul McCartney is an English musician and songwriter. He gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he was the bassist and keyboardist, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile tenor vocal range and musical eclecticism, exploring genres ranging from pre-rock and roll pop to classical, ballads and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most successful in music history.

David Robert Jones, known as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as among the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie received particular acclaim for his work in the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft have had a significant impact on popular music.

George Harrison was an English musician who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Known as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison played a significant role in shaping the band's musical direction and established a successful solo career, particularly through his interest in non-Western musical influences.

Sir Richard Starkey, known as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help from My Friends". He also wrote and sang the Beatles songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", and is credited as a co-writer of three others.

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne was an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. Dubbed the "Prince of Darkness", he is widely credited as a pioneer of heavy metal music. He co-founded the band Black Sabbath in 1968, and rose to prominence in the 1970s as their lead vocalist. He performed on the band's first eight studio albums, including Black Sabbath, Paranoid and Master of Reality (1971), before he was fired in 1979 due to his problems with alcohol and other drugs.

George Michael was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. Michael was known as a creative force in songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. The Radio Academy named him the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004.

British musician

British singer and songwriter; vocalist of The Rolling Stones

British musician (born 1951)

British pop singer (born 1974)

Peter Sellers was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence with his performances on the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show. Sellers was featured on a number of hit comic songs and became internationally acclaimed for his film roles, most notably as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series.

British musician (born 1947)

Philip David Charles Collins is an English singer, drummer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis and had a successful solo career, achieving three UK number-one singles and seven US number-one singles as a solo artist. In total, his work with Genesis, other artists and solo resulted in more US top-40 singles than any other artist throughout the 1980s. His most successful singles from the period include "In the Air Tonight", "You Can't Hurry Love", "Against All Odds ", "One More Night", "Sussudio", "Another Day in Paradise", "Two Hearts" and "I Wish It Would Rain Down".

British musician, guitarist of the Rolling Stones

British singer (1944–2014)

English musician, co-founder of Pink Floyd (born 1943)

English musician, member of Pink Floyd (born 1946)

British musician (1946–2006)

English musician and lead vocalist of Led Zeppelin

British singer and musician

English heavy metal singer (born 1958)

English musician, drummer of Queen (born 1949)

Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he was the only continuous member. Kilmister had previously been a member of Hawkwind from 1971 to 1975, before being sacked from that band.

Timothy James Curry is an English actor and singer. He is famous for playing many villainous roles and rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 Los Angeles, and 1975 Broadway musical stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show.

British singer

Christopher Anton Rea was an English rock and blues singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He was known for his distinctive gravelly voice, slide guitar playing and music style blending soft rock with blues.

Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959) is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of the rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then he has pursued a successful solo career. Morrissey's music is characterised by his baritone voice and distinctive lyrics with anti-establishment stances and recurring themes of emotional isolation, sexual longing, self-deprecation, and dark humour.

British singer and guitarist

British-born Irish-American singer and songwriter

British comedian, actor and writer (born 1943)

British actor (1920–2012)

British singer

English keyboardist, co-founder of Pink Floyd (1943–2008)

British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer

English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer (1899–1973)

English singer

English singer-songwriter (born 1954)

English rock singer

British musician

British musician (1956–1980)

English singer

British bassist

English singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter

British singer (born 1945)

British musician (born 1961)

British heavy metal singer

English singer, songwriter and television show host of car shows

Damon Albarn is an English musician. He is the main vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Blur and the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual band Gorillaz.

British singer-songwriter

English musician and lead vocalist of The Who

British actor (1906–1972)

English guitarist

British singer, musician and songwriter (1952–2002)

English singer

British blues rock guitarist (1946–2020)

American composer and musician, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono

English singer

English actor (1933–1995)

English musician (born 1958)