Michael Jackson

=== Vocal style ===
Jackson sang from childhood, and over time his voice and vocal style changed. Between 1971 and 1975, his voice descended from boy [[soprano]] to lyric [[tenor]].{{sfn|Brackett|Hoard|2004|p=414}} He was known for his vocal range.<ref name="100 Greatest">{{cite magazine |title=100 Greatest Singers of All Time |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=December 3, 2010 |access-date= April 14, 2019 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-147019/michael-jackson-18-223970/}}</ref> With the arrival of ''Off the Wall'' in the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well regarded; ''Rolling Stone'' compared his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder, and wrote that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling [[falsetto]] that's used very daringly."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Stephen |last=Holden |author-link= Stephen Holden |title=Michael Jackson: Off The Wall |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=November 1, 1979 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/off-the-wall-19791101 |access-date= September 4, 2017 |archive-date= January 7, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160107042734/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/off-the-wall-19791101 |url-status= dead}}</ref> By the time of 1982's ''Thriller'', ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that Jackson was singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness".<ref name="Thriller" />

The turn of the 1990s saw the release of the introspective album ''Dangerous''. ''The New York Times'' noted that on some tracks, "he gulps for breath, his voice quivers with anxiety or drops to a desperate whisper, hissing through clenched teeth" and he had a "wretched tone". When singing of brotherhood or self-esteem the musician would return to "smooth" vocals.<ref name="NYT Dangerous" /> Of ''Invincible'', ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that, at 43, Jackson still performed "exquisitely voiced rhythm tracks and vibrating vocal harmonies".<ref>{{cite magazine |first=James |last=Hunter |title=Michael Jackson: Invincible |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=December 6, 2001 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/invincible-20011206 |access-date= September 4, 2017 |archive-date= October 1, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171001125527/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/invincible-20011206 |url-status= dead}}</ref> [[Joseph Vogel (author)|Joseph Vogel]] notes Jackson's ability to use non-verbal sounds to express emotion.{{sfn|Vogel|2012|p=9}} [[Neil McCormick]] wrote that Jackson's unorthodox singing style "was original and utterly distinctive".<ref>{{cite news |first=Neil |last=McCormick |author-link= Neil McCormick |title=Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen & Bono |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=June 30, 2009 |access-date= February 16, 2016 |url=https://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilmccormick/100000966/michael-jackson-bruce-springsteen-bono-great-singing-is-about-more-than-the-notes/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090703051404/https://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilmccormick/100000966/michael-jackson-bruce-springsteen-bono-great-singing-is-about-more-than-the-notes/ |archive-date= July 3, 2009}}</ref>