Admittedly, we’re playing this one a little fast and loose by including those who make up the “singer’ in a singer / backing band situation, like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. But they’re great entertainers and we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention them in this discussion.

There are some who say the art of being a great lead singer is slowly vanishing from the concert stage and that the world will never see another Talking Heads-era David Byrne, or a flamboyant lead singer fronting a band much in the same way Rod Stewart once handled vocals for Faces or how David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar brought plenty of panache to Van Halen.

What’s your take? Who is (or was) the best of the best? The comment thread is waiting, so let’s get busy!