Weekend Rock Question: What Is the Greatest Vocal Performance in Rock History?

John Lennon; Bob Dylan; Tina TurnerJan Persson/Redferns; Evening Standard/Getty Images; GAB Archive/Redferns

An impassioned vocal delivery can elevate a song to amazing heights. Would "Twist and Shout" be as memorable without John Lennon's shredded vocal cord screams? Can you imagine "Like a Rolling Stone" without Bob Dylan's nasal delivery of "How does it feeeeeeel?" A lot of people have sung "River Deep, Mountain High," but nobody hits the notes quite like Tina Turner. 

Now we have a question for you: what is your favorite vocal performance of the rock era? Please vote for a single artist and song. Tracks like "Unchained Melody" have been covered by a lot of people, so specify if you're voting for the Righteous Brothers, Al Green, Sam Cooke, etc. Please only vote once and only for a single song. If we get 9,000 votes for Biz Markie's "Just a Friend," we'll know something's up. 

You can vote here in the comments, on facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter using the #weekend rock hashtag. 

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Jay-Z Celebrates Historic Carnegie Hall Performance at His 40/40 Club

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Adele Will Return to Live Performance at the Grammys

Adele performs at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.

Adele will make her return to the stage with an appearance at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards on February 12th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The singer, who has been recuperating from surgery on her vocal cords, is nominated for six awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Rolling in the Deep" and Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for 21.

Since Adele was forced to cancel a sold-out tour of the United States in order to treat her vocal condition, this will be the singer's first public performance in over five months. She joins a lineup of performances that includes Coldplay and Rihanna, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Paul McCartney, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Glen Campbell and the Band Perry, Bruno Mars and the Foo Fighters. The ceremony will be hosted by LL Cool J and will air live on CBS.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Adele Will Return to Live Performance at the Grammys

Adele performs at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.

Adele will make her return to the stage with an appearance at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards on February 12th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The singer, who has been recuperating from surgery on her vocal cords, is nominated for six awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Rolling in the Deep" and Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for 21.

Since Adele was forced to cancel a sold-out tour of the United States in order to treat her vocal condition, this will be the singer's first public performance in over five months. She joins a lineup of performances that includes Coldplay and Rihanna, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Paul McCartney, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Glen Campbell and the Band Perry, Bruno Mars and the Foo Fighters. The ceremony will be hosted by LL Cool J and will air live on CBS.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Lana Del Rey Talks 'SNL' Performance

Lana Del Rey performs at Scala in London.

Just 36 hours after the most polarizing Saturday Night Live performance in recent memory, Lana Del Rey is in New York, eating a cookie. "I actually felt good about it," she told Rolling Stone. "I thought I looked beautiful and sang fine." But it's clear that Del Rey has been rattled by the overwhelming Internet vitriol hurled her way after her awkward renditions of two tunes, including the breakout single "Video Games."

How did it feel to sing on live TV?
It felt OK. The cast and crew said they loved it. I know some people didn't like it, but that's just the way I perform, and my fans know that.

Are you comfortable onstage?
I'm nervous. I'm not a natural performer or exhibitionist. When I was younger, I hated the focus, and it made me feel strange.

The backlash to that performance has been pretty harsh.
There's backlash about everything I do. It's nothing new. When I walk outside, people have something to say about it. It wouldn't have mattered if I was absolutely excellent. People don't have anything nice to say about this project. I'm sure that's why you're writing about it.

Have I given you the impression that I don't like your music? I do! Especially the song "Radio."
No. I don't know how you feel about it. It's not easy to gauge how people feel about it. I don't really want to go into it. But thank you, I love "Radio" too.

There's no confusing how Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield feels about Del Rey's debut LP. "Given her chic image, it’s a surprise how dull, dreary and pop-starved Born to Die is," says Sheffield. "It goes for folky trip-hop ballads with a tragic vibe, kinda like Beth Orton used to do. Except she could sing." Read the full Born to Die album review.

This Q&A by Austin Scaggs is excerpted from the February 16, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Read more »

Lana Del Rey Talks 'SNL' Performance

Lana Del Rey performs at Scala in London.

Just 36 hours after the most polarizing Saturday Night Live performance in recent memory, Lana Del Rey is in New York, eating a cookie. "I actually felt good about it," she told Rolling Stone. "I thought I looked beautiful and sang fine." But it's clear that Del Rey has been rattled by the overwhelming Internet vitriol hurled her way after her awkward renditions of two tunes, including the breakout single "Video Games."

How did it feel to sing on live TV?
It felt OK. The cast and crew said they loved it. I know some people didn't like it, but that's just the way I perform, and my fans know that.

Are you comfortable onstage?
I'm nervous. I'm not a natural performer or exhibitionist. When I was younger, I hated the focus, and it made me feel strange.

The backlash to that performance has been pretty harsh.
There's backlash about everything I do. It's nothing new. When I walk outside, people have something to say about it. It wouldn't have mattered if I was absolutely excellent. People don't have anything nice to say about this project. I'm sure that's why you're writing about it.

Have I given you the impression that I don't like your music? I do! Especially the song "Radio."
No. I don't know how you feel about it. It's not easy to gauge how people feel about it. I don't really want to go into it. But thank you, I love "Radio" too.

There's no confusing how Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield feels about Del Rey's debut LP. "Given her chic image, it’s a surprise how dull, dreary and pop-starved Born to Die is," says Sheffield. "It goes for folky trip-hop ballads with a tragic vibe, kinda like Beth Orton used to do. Except she could sing." Read the full Born to Die album review.

This Q&A by Austin Scaggs is excerpted from the February 16, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »