The Linkin Park vocalist came out ahead of Serj Tankian, Amy Lee, and Chino Moreno
Nu metal became popular in the late 1990s as an alternative form of metal. It's a genre that combines elements of hip hop, funk, rap, and other styles with the heavy sound of heavy metal. Major bands were responsible for the style's success, including Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Deftones, Papa Roach, and Linkin Park . And a major asset of a nu metal band is always its vocalist.
The performance of these vocalists is also impressive because they can alternate between melodic and aggressive voices, singing like a rapper or a heavy metal vocalist in seconds.
Therefore, Wikimetal asked its readers who is the best vocalist in the nu metal genre. And the chosen one was the great legend Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, with 41% of the votes. He came ahead of Corey Taylor of Slipknot, with 32% of the vote. Behind them, with 10%, came Serj Tankian , leader of System of a Down . Other contenders were Jonathan Davis, Amy Lee, David Draiman, Chino Moreno, and Fred Durst .
Interestingly, Chester's first band wasn't Linkin Park, but Grey Daze . The band didn't even fit into the nu metal genre; in fact, it leaned much more towards post-grunge. Then he was called by an executive to audition for a band called Xero, led by a guy named Mike Shinoda .
It is said that the singer who auditioned after Chester told the band: "If you don't hire this guy, you're crazy." And it's really hard to imagine that Linkin Park, which became one of the biggest bands of the 21st century, would have had that success without Chester's distinctive vocals.
For his unparalleled talent, for changing the rock scene in the 2000s and (as one of his competitors in our poll, Fred Durst, said) for keeping metal alive, Chester Bennington is the best nu metal vocalist.