My choices would be either Freddie Mercury or Ronnie Dio. Seriously, those men had voices of lions--and when they roared your spine shivered. Listen to Show Must Go On and Rainbow in the Dark, respectively to know what I'm talking about.

Who does the community think the most powerful singer to ever live is? Somebody alive? Somebody dead? Metal or not?

Glenn Hughes, Dio, Freddie Mercury, how do I choose between them?
All three of them are capable of empowering me, sending shivers down my spine, making me want to pump my fist, break stuff and get drunk (maybe not in that order, I need to be really drunk until I engage in any fist pumping)
But how to choose between them? Who'd win in a fight?

On the subject of Glenn Hughes, I was listening to Iommi at time of posting.
THIS SONG IS SEX: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUuPCTC7qFE

I'd have to say Ronnie Dio as well. My favourite Dio is Holy Diver, and that's mainly because of Dio's vocals on it. If anything, I'd say that for a singer's voice to be powerful, it'd have to be distinctive/unique or rather you know whose singing.

I have to throw in Devin Townsend, maybe not the most powerful, but definitely one of the most powerful. (and diverse)

For me Peter Steele. I've never heard anybody who can deliver such a feeling of genuine emotion with deep baritone crooning,

Shirley Bassey!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMlGlEVHp3Y

Or check any of her live performances from the early 70s. Incredible power.

As far as metal goes, I really don't think anybody could even dream of matching Eric Adams in his prime.

Dio was for sure one of the greatest singers that metal had; until the end he had an incredible voice.

About others, depending on the genre...

Halford, until early 90's. The power, the range, the delivery.
Phil Anselmo, until Cowboys. He had a Halford-esque style and his range and power was impressive.
Nils Johannson (Wuthering Heights, Astral Doors). The man a similar voice to Dio's golden years, his delivery it's utterly brutal for a heavy metal singer.
Jorn Lande. A guy who should be ranked with the greatest, he's like the crossing of Coverdale and Dio.

From another more 'extreme' genres:

I say Garm. His cleans on Arcturus, Ulver and early Borknagar are incredibly powerful and full of emotion.

ICS Vortex, Garm's 'spiritual' son has done some excellent works as well, using his great range and epicness for the better on Borknagar and adding a really needed component of variety to the Dimmu catalog. I also like what he has done with Arcturus, being the demented vocals on La Masquerade Infernale or the more melancholic and quite twisted work of Sideshow Symphonies.

I definitely agree on that - It's instantly recognizable and carries so much emotional energy.

On the more stereotypical end of the spectrum, listening to a lot of Sabbath lately has given me a massive respect for Dio and Tony Martin, who both have immensely powerful and very fitting-of-the-music voices. I used to think Dio was a bit overrated, but I've definitely reconsidered of late.

I think there's a big difference between "powerful" and "emotional" or "distinctive". Some of these choices really puzzle me. Garm? Peter Steele? Pete sounds great when he's yelling at the top of his voice but he'd probably have been the first to admit he wasn't a very good singer. A lot of guys sound pretty damn cool without having powerful voices.

In terms of sheer power, you gotta go with Hansi Kursch and/or his clone, Jens Carlsson.

Lori Lewis. But you should listen it live to know it

Carl Anderson had an amazing voice

(can't find much on youtube that isn't from the famous musical)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6E5AtGVoco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N4FSKjC6Wc

That is all. Well, this song has gang vocals. I don't know if that counts or not.

Nothing else to say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hngd2F-OXfE

He often gets compared to Jim Morrison, but I feel like Jeff Martin from The Tea Party (the band...as if I have to add that these days) has a sound of his own utilizing a bit of Eastern inflections with his strong vocals. Guy is a hell of a guitarist too.

The Halcyon Days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epo-m185jeo

The Bazaar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCye7v79Tz0

Save Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuKwRLJUrEY

Mercury and Dio also share the throne for me, for rather obvious reasons. Can't choose one without feeling like I'm neglecting the other, and they're my biggest influences as a vocalist. A close second for the title of "Most Powerful Singer EVER" would definitely be Russell Allen though. The man is a powerhouse of a singer, armed with both the roar of a lion and the wail of an eagle (he doesn't hit high notes very often, but when he does, they sound extremely dynamic and Tony Martin-esque). And even if it doesn't have anything to do with power, I feel obliged to mention the fact that the dude is really versatile; whether it's a ballad, a fast scorcher or a groove-laden crusher, Allen can sing it awesomely and without breaking a sweat. I also think that he has many sides to his voice that we don't know or barely have a hint of. An example of such a thing would be the soulfully (as in "it reminds me of soul music") wailed line towards the end of this song.

Miko from Steelheart deserves a mention. That man has almost unsurpassed power and control in the high range, wailing like few can, and has no trouble doing so live. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71rrLR1a950
Also I must say Kelly Sundown Carpenter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtNF-90aqyg
The man has a crazy piercing voice that is just pure metal. You can hear a little bit of everyone in there, I gave one of his craziest songs as an example, but he's gotten even better with time.

Bjork, Jonathan Davis, Chino Moreno, Mike Patton, Peter Steele, Dio, Layne Staley, Ozzy (back in the day), Phil Anselmo, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, Bruce Dickinson, Sinead O'Connor, Max Cavalera, Ice Cube, Jens Kidman, Chris Cornell, Aaron Lewis, Maynard James Keenan, Stevie Wonder, Glen Benton, Tom Araya, Kurt Cobain, too many awesome people to name just one

Not only did you basically ignore the question posed by this thread, but your response was a list and had no substance. Please don't do that.

I'd say Graham Bonnet. That guy has a massive voice, and even John Birch commented that he was amazed at how loud and powerful his voice was. This is coming from a guy who worked with Bruce Dickinson!

Dax Riggs called you a dork on twitter

Diamanda Galas puts all metal vocalists to shame. Lisa Gerrard is also great.

The likes of Ronnie James Dio and Bruce Dickenson are up there without question. However, I also think David Draiman of Disturbed would have to be pretty high on the list. Regardless on how you feel about the band, you have to admit that there's real power in his vocals

What about Mike Patton? If anything, the sheer range of his voice would work in his favour given the amount of vocal effects and whatever that he works into a lot of his songs.

James Brown. Sure, he was a soul singer, but he had a pretty powerful voice and managed to keep it more or less his entire life.

Hansi Kursch.

There's not even an argument.

(As well, I never understood how people could call Jens Carlson Hansi's clone, apart from their shared raspiness, they don't have much in common, and their voices are easily distinguishable from one another.)

Jens has a contesting voice for sure, but Hansi's career spans three decades, and is still holding up great in his late forties.

Tony Martin. Followed by Bruce Hall.

Robert Plant and Rob Halford.
Planty because of his delicacy...he knew how to sing what where and his great influence.

Halford because of his incredible range and dynamism.

I always liked Jon Olivas' earlier stuff with Savatage. He did a lot of stuff vocally that was cheesy and over the top, but was still fucking awesome, powerful, and left a great impression. He was completely shameless in his approach and I always though that was really cool. His high pitch vocals are always great.

Meatloaf has an incredibly powerful voice

I agree about Freddie Mercury and Shirley Bassey. My recent personal favorites are:

Brandon Boyd - some people might disagree due to Incubus's sellout to MTV with Morning View album, but I like how he sings in Anna Molly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9wPvlTBgZw

Jim James - in Gideon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crqM-Hmx5rY

Matthew Bellamy - in Knights Of Cydonia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Yc3HhSl1Q

Uh yeah, that's bunk. Morning View is sick.

Dio and Mercury are both flawless
the guy from Powerwolf is really really good too imo

Hoo boy! Just saw Dead Can Dance live last Tuesday and her performance was probably one of the big reasons why DCD is probably the best live act I have ever witnessed (metal or otherwise).

For me personally, although not necessarily the most powerful of vocalists, I've always claimed that Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) is the voice of God.

not metal at all, but Janis Joplin!!!!

Seconds on the obvious ones: Dio, Dickinson & Kürsch.

You're never gonna guess my pick. Yes.

A. A. Nemtheanga.
He's not the most technical singer, or even the best singer, but he does it with passion and quote, means what he sings.
That and the for ex his presence on live occasion, defines "power" for me.

I guess it matters how you define "powerful". If you just mean that they can belt out loud scream notes, that's one thing. I think a lot of your well known classical tenors (think Bocelli or Pavarotti) are as capable of singing with volume as any metal guy, often with a superior range. I can't count the number of times I've heard a metal singer has a "5-6-7 octave range" when all they can do is shout limited high notes. Otherwise, I dunno, we're getting into a "who is the best singer ever" argument then. Then the answer in western popular music for that is Sam Cooke (IMO).

How about John Arch? When he was in Fates Warning, he had the voice of a thousand angels. I'd say that's pretty powerful.

Also, why is there hardly any mention of any thrash singers? Toxik's Josh Christian is pretty damn amazing. Same with a lot of other singers from technical thrash, and even normal bay area thrash singers. The question does ask for the most "powerful" voices, so Mercury & Dio might not necessarily have the most powerful voices...

Other worthy mentions include Liege Lord's Joe Comeau, and THE TYRANT from Jag Panzer. C'mon guys, The Tyrant.... his voice is the symphony of fucking terror.

Obviously Dio, Bowie and Freddie.

Anneke Van Giersbergen on the woman front. Those vocals on In motion 1 and 2 by the gathering are earth shattering.

One of my favorite vocalists is Roy Khan. He's got this rich, dramatic tone to his voice that you really don't hear often anymore. I once heard him described as "the Frank Sinatra of power metal," and I feel that's pretty accurate. I love the way he switches his timbre to compliment different lyrics and shifts in mood so easily.

Tony Martin and David DeFeis.