5 reasons Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne & Rob Halford were named in Rolling Stone’s 200 Best Singers of All Time

West Midlands-born Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant and Rob Halford were named among the 200 Best Singers of all Time by Rolling Stone magazine. All of the rockstars grew up in and around Birmingham. While Ozzy grew up in Aston, Robert is from West Bromwich and Rob Halford was born in Sutton Coldfield.

While Ozzy is at number 112, Robert - lead singer and lyricist of Led Zeppelin - is at number 63 on the list and Rob is at 129. The magazine has described the singers as “the vocalists that have shaped history and defined our lives — from smooth operators to raw shouters...”.

Compiled by staff writers and contributers, the list includes singers from the UK like Elton John, Billie Eilish and more. The list “encompasses 100 years of pop music,” the magazine said.

It is only apt that Ozzy, the former lead vocalist of Black Sabbath, Robert Plant, the frontman of Led Zeppelin, and Rob Halford - the frontman of Judas Priest have a place on the list.

Why Ozzy was named in the list:

1. The Rolling Stone magazine said that while most people would say that his voice is not good, he actually has a “great” one.

2. “The way he sounds like no one else is a superpower.”

3. “Ozzy not only manages to out-blast guitar gods like Tony Iommi and Randy Rhoads but proves himself a riveting heavy-metal yarn spinner, menacing but full of good humor.”

4. “His bombastic shout is reminiscent of drill bits and electric guitar feedback.”

5. He embraces “those unique limits” and “wholeheartedly” commits to the bit, the magazine added.

Why Robert Plant was named in the list:

1. His vocal style “informed early on by sources such as Skip James and Blind Lemon Jefferson, quickly evolved into something unique.”

2. “Plant’s greatest performances came when he aimed for serenity rather than savagery,” said Rolling Stones.

3. “It’s almost as if he always knew he’d reinvent himself as a mystical folkie.”

4. His later collaborations with “Alison Krauss and musicians from Mali and Morocco are some of the most credible late-career vocal work by an ex-arena rocker,” the magazine said.

5. His songs like Immigrant Song and Kashmir show his range.

Why Rob Halford is one the list:

1. Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford is known as the Metal God.

2. He kept on sharpening his voice into the ideal instrument for the genre he so proudly epitomizes, says the Rolling Stone.

3. From the raspy, attitude-heavy style heard on early-Eighties classics like “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” and “Living After Midnight” to the banshee shriek of 1990’s “Painkiller.”

4. Slayer’s Kerry King told Rolling Stone that Halford “hits notes and holds notes for a duration that’s almost inhuman. It’s like Eddie Van Halen playing guitar; that’s Rob Halford singing.”

5. He threw down a spiked leather gauntlet with his opening wail on 1976’s “Victim of Changes”.