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The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ensemble as the dominant sound. In vocal group performances, notably in soul music and gospel music, and early rock and roll, the lead singer takes the main vocal melody, with a Choir or harmony vocals provided by other band members as backing vocalists. Lead vocalists typically incorporate some movement or gestures into their performance, and some may participate in dance routines during the show, particularly in pop music. Some lead vocalists also play an instrument during the show, either in an accompaniment role (such as strumming a guitar part), or playing a lead instrument/instrumental solo role when they are not singing (as in the case of lead singer-guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix).
The lead singer also typically guides the vocal ensemble and band with visual cues to indicate changes of tempo or dynamics, stops or pauses, and the starts of new sections (unless there is also a conductor onstage, as with a big band or unless an instrumentalist bandleader is providing this role). The lead vocalist also typically speaks to the audience between songs, to give information about a song (such as who wrote it or why it was chosen), introduce the band members, and develop rapport with the audience. The lead vocalist may also play a leadership role in rehearsals, unless there is a bandleader who takes on this role. If the lead singer is a singer-songwriter, she or he may write some or all of the lyrics or create entire songs (including chords and melodies).
Examples of a lead vocalist in rock music are Freddie Mercury from Queen and Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones. Similarly in soul music, Smokey Robinson was the lead singer of The Miracles. There may be two or more lead vocalists in a band who rotate singing lead between songs or within songs, such as with The Beatles or Fleetwood Mac, or two or more vocalists may share lead vocals on the same lines, as was often the case with ABBA.
In K-pop, the lead vocalist is often referred to as a vocalist with the second-best vocal technique.
Academic David Horn has written:
The influence of American rhythm and blues recordings may well be a crucial one in the assimilation of the format of lead singer plus backing group into the guitar-based British 'beat music' groups of the 1960s, and in American groups such as The Beach Boys. From these various points – including Motown – it went on to become a standard device in much rock and pop music. In some bands – most famously, The Beatles – the role of lead singer alternated (in this case, principally between two performers), while in others – for example, Herman's Hermits – one lead singer dominated.
In rock music, the lead singer is often the band's leader and spokesperson. While lead singers or spokespersons for any musical ensembles can be called a front man, the term is used very widely in rock music. Since the position commonly has an expanded role from simple lead vocalists, there have been cases in which the front man for a band is someone other than the lead vocalist. For example, while the lead vocalist for the band Fall Out Boy is guitarist Patrick Stump, the bassist and lyricist, Pete Wentz, is generally called the front man, both in the media and by the band members themselves, since he represents the band in most interviews and contributes most to the band's image in the popular media.CARAMANICA, JON (12 December 2008), "The Frontman in the Background". The New York Times. (accessed 19 January 2009)
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