Topic: Aging Vocal Chords
Another post sparked this one, about how most musicians "change" with age. It's hard to watch a favorite artist succumb to time, but it's happening to all of us.
In particular, most male vocalists seem to lose a lot of their higher range with age. Watching tubes of singers like Ian Gillan (Deep Purple), Tom Cochrane (Red Rider), Bruce Cockburn, Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and many more ... the top register is either strained or just plain gone. The only real exception I've seen is Jon Anderson (Yes) who has a naturally high voice anyway ... like an elf. His vocals in the past 10 years are better than before, with the range still intact and some older-guy raspiness now there. Here's an example of a beautiful ballad of their's, with a nod to some nice slide guitar work by Howe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGq9Mbjl … re=related
Who are some other favorite musicians / vocalists who you feel have improved with age? What do you like better about them now than what they did in the past?