1. The Beatles
Apple Records printed "Lennon-McCartney" under each Beatles song—at least those not written by George Harrison—but it's never been too hard to figure out which of the two main Beatles was primarily responsible for which timeless hit. Just listen to the voices: John Lennon's is like his songs, unrestrained and slightly sardonic, while Paul McCartney tends toward the sweet and earnest. Both men collaborated on each other's work from time to time, and Harrison and Ringo Starr took their turns at the mic, either singing their own songs or L&M's. But as the band played on, each personality separated out, until they all fit into little individual boxes, just like on the cover of Let It Be.
2. Fugazi
Ian MacKaye is generally seen as Fugazi's "leader," because he gives the most insightful interviews and always has something to say, but the D.C. band would be a completely different animal if Guy Picciotto hadn't joined—first as a background singer, and eventually as a full-fledged singer and guitarist. Live, MacKaye and Picciotto tend to trade lead vocals: MacKaye delivers the more terse, straightforward songs (like "Birthday Pony"), while Picciotto is slightly more elastic and sing-songy ("Do You Like Me?"). One without the other works amazingly well; together, they're like punk's peanut butter and chocolate.
3. Fleetwood Mac
Even before the culty British blues-pop band Fleetwood Mac hit the big time by adding SoCal singer-songwriters Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham to the mix, they were already a multi-vocalist act, with songs sung by a rotating cast of men and women, many of whom were only around for one album or tour. The Fleetwood Mac lineup stabilized in the Buckingham-Nicks era, with holdover Christine McVie providing airy, piano-driven pop songs like "Over My Head," "You Make Loving Fun," and "Everywhere" as a contrast to twangier, more biting Buckingham offerings like "Go Your Own Way" and "Big Love," and mystical, swirling Nicks ballads like "Sara," "Rhiannon," and "Gypsy." These were three distinct voices, held together by the steady rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, who'd been keeping the band tight but mellow from the beginning.
4. The New PornographersConscious attempts to form supergroups rarely work out well (sorry, fans of The Firm, Damn Yankees, and Bad English), but when Zumpano frontman Carl Newman invited obscure art-rocker Dan Bejar of Destroyer and then-obscure alt-country chanteuse Neko Case to join with some fellow Canadian rock scenesters, the near-seamless quality of the resulting project caught even the participants by surprise. Though The New Pornographers remain Newman's show primarily, Case's tuneful belting and Bejar's more gentlemanly, Bowie-esque lilt provide a necessary complement to Newman's "maximum Bacharach" approach. Over the course of four terrific albums, the low-budget supergroup has proved as potent as any arena-rock act.
5. Hüsker Dü
In the early days of legendary Minneapolis punk band Hüsker Dü, drummer Grant Hart wrote and sang the poppier, more classically rock-oriented songs, providing a relief from guitarist Bob Mould's primal howls. But by the end of the band's run, Mould was working in a much catchier vein, and an increasingly drug-addled Hart was favoring distortion and screech. No matter which end of the spectrum they fell on, Mould's deep, growly vocals and Hart's high, boyish ones remained distinctive, providing two takes on the punk ethos: intellectual fury and childlike primitivism.
6. Eagles
The California country-rock scene drew fellow travelers from around the world, all arriving in L.A. to write songs and play gigs, even if they had to stay in the background. The musicians who made up the Eagles were session players with more ambition, and when they got their chance in the spotlight, they fought and scrapped to present their own material in their own voices. For the most part, over the course of the last 35 years, the band has been dominated by two singer-songwriters: the laid-back, country-inflected Glenn Frey, and the raspier, more acidic Don Henley. But the voices of Randy Meisner, Don Felder, Bernie Leadon, Timothy B. Schmit, and Joe Walsh have all contributed to the idea of the Eagles as a country-rock collective, offering welcome to anyone with a potential hit song to sing.
7. Drive-By Truckers
Adopting the old Beatles maxim of "you wrote it, you sing it," Drive-By Truckers have had as many as three singers performing their own first-rate songs over the years. Between 2002's Decoration Day and 2006's A Blessing And A Curse, main songwriter Patterson Hood was augmented by long-time foil Mike Cooley and soulful newcomer Jason Isbell. When Isbell left for a solo career in 2007, bassist Shonna Tucker stepped forward to contribute three tracks to DBT's latest effort, Brighter Than Creation's Dark, bringing a welcome dose of femininity to the band's drawling vocal attack.
8. The Band
If anything personified the down-home, come-as-you-are communal spirit of The Band, it was the vocal interplay between singers Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, and Rick Danko. Each singer took the spotlight on classic Band tracks—Manuel on "I Shall Be Released," Helm on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," Danko on "It Makes No Difference"—but they were most effective when singing together, trading off lead vocals and harmonizing on a dime. Calling themselves The Band was an act of unapologetic hubris, but what made The Band great was the singers' willingness to selflessly play off and support each other. They didn't just sing "put the load right on me," they practiced it.
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