If there's one thing that anyone who's ever heard Atlantan hard-rock outfit Royal Thunder can agree on, it's that singer Mlny Parsonz has a powerhouse voice, a rich, honeyed instrument as soulful as it is rafter-shaking. Rolling Stone writer (and former Revolver editor) Kory Grow might have summed up the group best when he described them as representing "an alternate universe where Janis Joplin fronted Led Zeppelin."
It's been six long years since Royal Thunder's last album, 2017's Wick, but the band's grunge- and classic-rock-informed sound has only sharpened and deepened in that time, as heard on their upcoming fourth LP, the aptly titled Rebuilding the Mountain, due out June 16th via Spinefarm.
Ahead of its release, we caught up with Parsonz to get the singer's picks for the five greatest vocalists of all time.
Mike Patton
I can't think of anyone more talented and versatile. Mike Patton has such colorful ability to sing just about anything. He has such a confidence and creative approach that has surprised me time and time again. When I think of Mike Patton, I wish I could meet him, but that might kill me? I think about how much respect I have for him. He's a total badass. If ya didn't know that, now you do.
Freddy Mercury
George Michael
Nobody could fill Freddy Mercury's shoes, but I do believe (and he did at one point) that George Michael could squeeze into a pair and walk the miles. I won't ever forget that booty-shakin', blue-jean-wearing total babe, glowing on my TV screen in the Eighties. Much like Freddy, he too had this confidence and it walked with such grace from one note to the next. He swirled around the instruments like someone dancing in a ballroom that thought nobody was watching them. But I could see him. He was magical.
Phil Collins
Call me a dork but I'm more of a nerd. Phil is like a hot razor blade cutting the purest form of cocaine. I think his vocals are so electric and high vibrating and his lyrical sensibilities always impress me. He is so honest and I like how he kinda sits between space and time. He's, like, tethered to some raw shit somewhere in the ether and I think he knows it.
Kate Bush
A queen. Need I say more? No. But I will. She's kinda tied with Annie Lenox for me. I love how Bush DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK. She does whatever she wants and takes you through fairytale fantasies all the while twirling and flipping and spinning through a painting that derives from what I believe is her own planet. She's gotta be an alien, right?
