Well somebody had to do it. My votes go to Eddie Vedder and Sharon Jones. Neil Falllon from Clutch could possibly be the nicest frontman ever.

Joe Strummer.

Suede, the interviews Bret Anderson has been doing have been great,  Cerys Matthews is up there along with Radiohead and Blur. Lots of  them about

Justin Sullivan, nice guy, great lyricist. New Model Army in case you were wondering

Another mention for Eddie, and I’ll add Dave Grohl.

Foo Fighters.

+1 for Dave grohl. Apparently “the nicest man in rock and roll”

Eddie Vedder was the first name that popped into my mind too.

Mark Knopfler seems very normal, don’t particularly know if he’s nice, but he seems to be almost the polar opposite of what a frontman should be like.

I’ll raise you sheryl crow and willie nelson.

https://youtu.be/FA1KsuQikHk

Blaze Bayley, always willing to spend as much time talking to people who come to his shows as he can

Charlotte Wessels, Delain. met a couple of times – once was at a gig before the show to do an interview with one of the others guys in the band – after that an i was hanging round waiting for the interview slot with another band on the bill she sat down at my table for a natter for 5 mins til she was called away for some set up.

Joaquim – sabaton – always found him really friendly

Damon Albarn always comes across as decent (albeit in an ‘I went to Art School and just get esoteric stuff better than you’ way).

Miki Berenyi? And yes, Lush ARE great.

James Dean Bradfield during his sober periods.

Got to be The Frames and Glen Hansard

The Temperance Movement. Phil Campbell is great. I met him last year 🙂

Guy Garvey.

I base this on nothing but listening to interviews with him but he seems like a lovely bloke?

Probably don’t fit the great band description in many people’s eyes, but John Peel rated them very highly and he’s right and you’re wrong.  David Gedge of the semi-legendary Wedding Present always seems a nice enough chap whenever I’ve talked to him.

Black Sabbath/Dio/Rainbow: Ronnie James Dio (RIP, Ronnie \m/  \m/).

Keith the Bass from Here & Now.

Dick Lucas from Subhumans/Culture Shock/Citizen Fish.

Nigel Blackwell from Half Man Half Biscuit.

All the Bonzos I’ve met have been sweeties.

Mike Patton was actually very pleasant in real life…..

The Specials – Terry Hall

Doves – Jimi Goodwin ( tbh all of them are sound)

Damon Albarn +1

Human League – Phil Oakey

all spring to mind.

Vanian from the Damned is a good egg

Dave Faulkner from the Hoodoo Gurus is a good guy.

Pulp

Slowdive

(there’s actually quite a few fronted by ‘normal’ people come to think of it)

Not a band I know, but there was a huge outpouring of love for George Michael when he passed that’s never seen a backlash, even from the gutter tabloids. Seemed a lovely Man, I mean even when he went mad on the weed and crashed his Car into a shop he chose a SnappySnaps, a brand at the forefront of a dying industry probably glad of the publicity and insurance money.

Thin Lizzy – Philip Lynott ! Legend

Ian Dury.  sorely missed.

Funny how there are more women in this thread than the other one….

Hmm, thread confirms I definitely prefer the bellends! [edit]though I did meet Joe Strummer and he was very nice. Long after the Clash however

Iron Maiden – Bruce is ace. Pilot, fencer, all round good egg.

Thunder – Danny can’t dance, but he’s a lovely bloke. As are the rest of the band, I should mention!

How can you tell if someone is not a bellend from occasionally hearing an interview or meeting them once ?

Vanian from the Damned is a good egg

i watched the Dammed documentary recently and he does not even bother to show up for all the gigs. And I think it was Roman Jug that  said he was nightmare working with doing the Phantom cords as he he had to rely on someone who was unreliable.

“crashed his Car into a shop he chose a SnappySnaps,”

someone painted ” WHAM” on the boarded up door. Honest, I saw it . 🙂

+1 for Dave grohl. Apparently “the nicest man in rock and roll”

That’s what I had always thought, but then I watched the Foo Fighters – Back and Forth film. I think Dave Grohl has mellowed now that the band are enormously successful (and they’re all older) but at the end of Nirvana / early years of Foo Fighters he comes across as a massive knob!

My first job was working in a recording studio in Liverpool.

Met many of the local bands. One or two idiots.

But I did get to meet Cozy Powell. throughly nice bloke. and sadly missed.

That’s what I had always thought, but then I watched the Foo Fighters – Back and Forth film. I think Dave Grohl has mellowed now that the band are enormously successful (and they’re all older) but at the end of Nirvana / early years of Foo Fighters he comes across as a massive knob!

I think I know what you mean, he hired and fired bandmates with a callous indifference and binning all their work on the first album and re-recording everything himself wasn’t exactly kind.

I not sure if that’s all that unusual (well perhaps the playing all the parts yourself bit) for the band scene and at least he never sold the Nirvana angle to push Foo Fighters.

2nd Gedge.

+1 for Thunder. Danny Bowes, great voice, one of the nicest blokes about and about as far from the stereotypical rock and roll frontman as you could get. Part way through a Christmas gig a few years back, after completing the acoustic first half of the set he announced “I’m just going to go for a little wee wee and then we’ll be back to play some more”.

Guy Garvey was nice when I ‘met’ him. I was a student in Brighton in 2001 and had a part time job with an events company doing stewarding etc. I ended up stewarding for Elbow when they played HMV in Churchill Square shopping centre! They were relative unknowns and were promoting Asleep in the Back. I helped them pack up etc at the end and he gave me a poster and signed it with the ironic comment ‘Cheers for da protection :-)’ which made me smile as there were about 50 people there and I was anything but security material! Was pleased that they went on to big things.

Pulp

there’s actually quite a few fronted by ‘normal’ people come to think of it

He might well be lovely but he ain’t exactly ‘normal’ 😉

Garbage, obvs. Shirley Manson was interviewed on six music the other week and was as charming, witty, sharp and funny as ever, has the filthiest laugh in the world and reminded me that this still holds true….

Every man over 35 still madly in love with Shirley Manson

I think I know what you mean, he hired and fired bandmates with a callous indifference and binning all their work on the first album and re-recording everything himself wasn’t exactly kind.

I not sure if that’s all that unusual (well perhaps the playing all the parts yourself bit) for the band scene and at least he never sold the Nirvana angle to push Foo Fighters.

That’s exactly what I meant!! 🙂

I do largely agree with it probably not being that unusual. I suspect that to lead a really huge band, or even have aspirations that your band could get that big, it helps to be pretty mercenary when things need done / changed.

Every man over 35 still madly in love with Shirley Manson

Er, really?! I think I prefer Marilyn Manson 😉

Bret Anderson

I doubt Bernard Butler would agree with you on that one.

Dave Grohl

Might be nice but he’s tedious. 5 minutes of chat about how he takes no notice of curfews between every 3 minute song and then finishes on the dot.