Hey guys welcome to Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy. I'm Ken Tamplin and we're about
to do top 10 keyboardists that can sing. Now before we do this there's a little
backstory to this. We've already done guitar, we've done bass and we've done
drums so it's about time we do keys but we're actually coming at this more from
an instrumentalist musician that can sing rather than a singer that you know
has an instrument that accompanies their singing okay. So now the reason for this
is I have a singing course it's called How to Sing Better Than Anyone Else and
we talk about a singer is only a singer because they have the guts to be one.
You're right. Let me say it again I've said it before I'll say it again. A
singer is only a singer because they have the guts to be one and a lot of
instrumentalists relegate themselves to saying I only play piano or guitar or drums or
bass or whatever and they can't really see themselves as the singer. Well I'm
about to disprove that so we're gonna do the top 10
you know keyboardists that can do this and we're gonna do a bunch of super awesome
special mentions after so wait for that because it's coming and it's gonna be
worthy to stick around but with that said we're gonna start out with Billy
Preston. Now Billy Preston's resume's sort of like the who's who. I mean he's played
with the Rolling Stones, he's played with Bob Dylan, he's played with
The Beatles, he's played with Aretha Franklin. I mean this guy's just really
done an amazing job. Ray Charles etc etc. So with that said
we're gonna start with Billy. We're gonna work our way towards number one and
we're gonna have a bunch of killer special mentions so stick around for
that. So with that said let's check out Billy Preston.
Okay next up we have Steve Walsh from Kansas. Now Steve is a consummate
keyboard player, a fantastic vocalist. In fact he was a great inspiration for me
as a singer forget about his musicianship, the guy's just a phenomenal
singer fact I did "Carry On My Wayward Son" as a cover I'll put that in
the description so you can see how I did on the song but you probably remember
songs like "Point-Of-No-Return", "Dust In The Wind". He had his own group
called Streets I mean he was just an incredible musician. So with that said
let's check out Steve Walsh.
Next in is Diana Krall. Now Diana actually started playing jazz clubs
after school at the age of 15. Tell me that doesn't show some tickling those
keys musical prowess. She also got a ride for a scholarship to Berklee School of
Music out of Boston and according to Billboard magazine was rated to number
two. I think she went to number two of the jazz charts for all of 2000 to 2009
and she married Elvis Costello. So with that said here's Diana.
Okay next we've got
Dennis DeYoung from the band Styx. Now Styx is crazy because like everybody in
the band could sing and they were all excellent musicians. Let me tell you
folks that did not happen by accident. They probably started out working at their
craft as a musician instrumentalist and then had to work at their vocals as well.
Now could you imagine with all their hits like "Renegade" or "Babe" or "Come Sail
Away" or "Blue Collar Man" if it was sung by somebody else it wouldn't be the same
song. So they have the guts to step up to the plate to learn how to sing and
sing well and write their own tunes to represent themselves with it. So with
that said let's check out Dennis DeYoung.
Now there's no way we could do top keyboardists that sing without including
Freddie Mercury. Now we could go on and on and on about his accolades but
obviously he was just an extraordinary singer and a fantastic musician,
songwriter, performer. Now Freddie was actually known for being quite quite the
character. I guess he would go in through London
and disguise Princess Diana as a man so they could go out and have a good time.
In fact was even noted as working with Michael Jackson but I decided not to
because Michael wouldn't stop bringing his llama into the studio. Some very
eccentric extraordinary things about Freddie but one I find most interesting
towards the end of his life is that I guess he couldn't even walk and was
gonna do "The Show Must Go On" they were gonna write off the song and I guess he
drank a bunch of vodka, walked in, nailed it in one take and then passed shortly
thereafter. So we lost a big light with Freddie but with that said let's check
out Freddie Mercury.
Coming up next we've got Harry Connick Jr. Now I love Harry. Harry actually
started out playing at the age of three and performed publicly at the age of
five. I kid you not. Now he's sort of the reincarnation of Frank Sinatra though I
know there's been others that have come along like Michael Buble but he really
personifies that and just is an extraordinary musician, great songwriter
and a great singer. Let's check out Harry Connick Jr.
Now we have Billy Joel and Billy's quite the character. Let me read you some fun facts
about Billy I think you might find interesting like I did. He's the sixth
best-selling recording artist of all time and the third best selling solo
artist in the United States with over a hundred and fifty million records sold
worldwide. After the failure of his first album a disheartened Billy moved to Los
Angeles where he got a job playing piano at the executive room on Wilshire
Boulevard using the fake stage name of Bill Martin.
That's where he I guess got the inspiration to write the song "Piano Man"
on his lounge gig. Pretty interesting right. So everyone's had to struggle,
everyone's had to work at their craft and some sacrifices along the way but
one other funny side note to Billy is I guess when he was younger some mean kids
knocked some books out of his hand on his way to piano class and he didn't
take too well to that so he learned out a box and later went on to become a
Golden Glove boxing champion at the amateur level. So I think that's cool. So
let's check out Billy Joel.
You know people think of Aretha Franklin as the Queen of Soul and that
she is but this sister could place some mean chops on the piano.
I guess she taught herself how to play and sing. She's also the first woman to
be inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame and grew up with Smokey Robinson. How
cool is that. So let's check out Aretha.
Next we have Ray Charles. Now Ray is quite the story because according to his
own biography, he grew up in abject poverty and sometimes would go days
without even eating. Now for you out there I don't have the money or I
don't have the instrument or I can't pay for lessons or whatever that's supposed
to mean, think about old Ray who had nothing, pulled himself up by his own
bootstraps and yes a singer is only a singer because they have the guts to be
one but a musician is only a musician because they're willing to sacrifice
like Ray and become Ray Charles check this out.
I knew you knew this was coming. Sir Elton John. Now Elton was a child
prodigy and I guess by the age of three taught himself how to play "Skater's
Waltz" by ear. No kidding 3 and I guess went on to work with Bernie Taupin
a famed lyricist and I didn't know this but I guess
Elton actually never wrote with Bernie in the same room. Bernie would write the
lyrics in one room, give them to Elton and legend has it that Elton would put music
together with those lyrics in about 10 or 15 minutes no kidding.
Here we have Sir Elton John.
Coming in at number one we have Stevie Wonder. Now
don't race off because after Stevie we've got some killer honorable mentions
but I want to mention some interesting facts about Stevie you may or may not
know and that Stevie wasn't born blind. Actually he was born six weeks premature,
was put in an incubator and they gave him too much oxygen and that's what made
him go blind but nonetheless Stevie pulled himself up by his bootstraps
and became one of the greatest instrumentalists, singers, songwriters
performers and I guess was the youngest number one Billboard chart solo artist
ever. So with that said we're gonna check out Stevie. If you like what you heard
please like and subscribe to my channel that would be awesome and if you have an
interest in singing, you can check out my singing course right here at Ken Tamplin
Vocal academy.com or you can go through some of my 600 youtube tutorials, kind of
kick the tires and see if there's anything that you could see yourself
doing as a singer, or stop by my free singing forums at Ken Tamplin Vocal
Academy.com where i've got some amazing moderators and thousands of people in
there, learning how to sing at various stages and levels of singing. So with
that said let's check out Stevie and stick around for the honorable mentions
and until next time God bless you gang peace out.
Hey guys if you like what you heard please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel
by clicking on the SUBSCRIBE button. That will actually take you to another page
where you want to click on the Bell icon and it opens up a menu and the menu has
notifications on it where there's a little box you can check, where it says
send me all notifications for this channel. Check the box and then click the
SAVE button and you'll get notifications from me, every time I have a cool video
come out. Okay thanks guys peace out.