Frontman

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Frontman (also "front man") is a term referring to the lead singer or band leader of a music group. Usually, the front man is the most famous member of the group; however, this is not necessarily true in all bands. The term comes from the singer's usual position during a concert, which is in front of the stage and in front of the other band members. His chief responsibility is most commonly lead voice, and he is also the one who does most of the communication with the audience between songs. Some use the term "frontman" interchangeably with "singer", while others use "frontman" only to describe someone who sings and plays an instrument for the band (such as James Hetfield or Kurt Cobain). The term "frontman" usually only applies to bands with 3 or more members, as opposed to duos, in which both the members are generally considered "frontmen".

Some famous front men are:

Freddie Mercury of Queen
Bon Scott and Brian Johnson of AC/DC
Jon Anderson of Yes
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day
Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane
Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols
Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses
Darryl Hall of Hall & Oates
Syd Barret of Pink Floyd
Marc Bolan of T Rex
Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P.
Jon Bon Jovi of Bon Jovi
Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead
Bono of U2
David Byrne of Talking Heads
Julian Casablancas of The Strokes
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins
Chris Cornell of Audioslave and Soundgarden
David Coverdale of Whitesnake and Deep Purple
Roger Daltrey of The Who
Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine
Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden
Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music
Peter Gabriel and, later, Phil Collins of Genesis
Liam Gallagher of Oasis
Damon Albarn of Blur
Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead
Ian Gillan of Deep Purple
Rob Halford of Judas Priest
James Hetfield of Metallica
Michael Hutchence of INXS
Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones
Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers
Geddy Lee of Rush
John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles
Till Lindemann and Richard Zven Kruspe of Rammstein
Toby McKeehan of dc Talk
Steve Marriott of Small Faces and Humble Pie
Klaus Meine of Scorpions
Morrissey of The Smiths
Jim Morrison of The Doors
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth
Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath
Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin
Iggy Pop of The Stooges
Joey Ramone of The Ramones
Keith Relf of The Yardbirds
Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers
Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company
David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, both of Van Halen
Robert Smith of The Cure
Steven Tyler of Aerosmith
Richard Barone of The Bongos
Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam
Jack White of The White Stripes
Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys
Thom Yorke of Radiohead
Matt Bellamy of Muse
Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance

A musician is usually called a front man when he sings the majority of the songs of the group. For example, George Harrison is not considered a front man, since John Lennon and Paul McCartney usually sang tunes during their tenure in The Beatles. On the other hand, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden sings all the songs of the band, therefore, he is dubbed a front man. Sometimes the majority of a group's creative input comes from the front man; these front men are often recognized or referred to as band leaders, such as Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

When the lead musician is female, the term "frontress" is occasionally used for more accuracy. Although its use is rarer, references to it seem to be consistent. The term "frontwoman" is also seen.

Well-known frontresses/frontwomen include: