We measured pop music’s falsetto obsession

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From Justin Timberlake to the Bee Gees, we charted the popularity of men singing high. Become a Video Lab member!

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26 comments

@Vox February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Thanks so much for watching the video! It was a challenging task figuring out the songs I wanted to feature in the story – there were thousands to choose from. So, I made…. a Spotify playlist (sorry Pandora). It's called "Give Me a Falsetto," and you can find it in the link in the description box above or by searching for it in the Spotify app. What's you favorite falsetto heavy song?
Clarification: Pandora's library is comparable to other music streaming services. 2 million refers to the number of songs that have been analyzed through their Music Genome Project

@ZExpert-hk6kf February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Useless score

@ABoxOfCartonJuice February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

I came here bc I thought this was about the music 😭

@AndrewReed-t6q February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Michael Jackson " Don't stop to you get enough " that's a 10 for sure!

@abdulhamidadel February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

falsetto in rock, jumpsuit by twenty one pilots

@prodclaysmith February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

We need an update on that chart it's been 5 years now

@cesarmaurera1 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

No Marvin Gaye?

@hb85338 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Darren Hayes! Best falsetto ever! Romantic, sweet, and angelic!

@QKvox February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

I love the Radiohead reference

@wesleysnipes2212 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

This caricatural taste of the public is characteristic to US charts and French but in main Europe or the rest of the world its more eclectic and there's no rules to make a hit !

@gratengelsker7614 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

So this is why its so hard to sing along with the radio

@careymagic February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

I meant "… the group TenCity"

@careymagic February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

I'm a DJ who basically, more or less mixes mostly house and soul. As I was working on a falsetto house mix I was looking for a spoken-word sound effect about falsetto and I came across your video which I find extremely well done except for the omission of house music singers and songs.
Now this may be because you were only including top 10 charting songs. But I really think you miss so much because of this omission. There are some great falsseto singers who come out of the gospel tradition which leads into house music. Here are a few names of singers those of you who have seen this video about falsetto singing may want to check out.
1. Kenny Bobien
2. Byron Stingly (of the group "Tenacity")
3. Jamie Principle
4. Dajae
5. Sylvester
6. Josh Milan (of the group "Blaze")
7. Roland Clark (from "Urban Soul")
… To name a few

@donaldcasey9204 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

You guys should go back to R and B the Stylistics.

@gamemak0r February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Wow horrible analysis. If you don't sing don't analyze singers.

@ii.cc. February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

masculinity is under attack

@greengecko3536 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Elton John started this with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

@olgastampe5655 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

sam smith isnt a man. i know youre trying to prove a point but that doesnt excuse misgendering someone

@647Anna February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

I think just like with everything pop music related Michael Jackson was the one who popularized it by inspiring younger singers. Hee-heee😊

@nameunknown007 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

I'm more of a Leonard Cohen fan

@ebuhl6 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

I appreciate this video. I also want to join in with the voices calling out virtual absence of some falsetto greats, to include Prince. One person said the absence of mentions is to be expected, as it all "follows from the data."
I differ, as the people making the video can absolutely refer to data that will tell us that Prince has a large number of songs sung 100% (or near 100%) in falsetto. Data also tells us that he has huge popularity and vocal range. He was immensely popular during the 1980s, a decade highlighted by this video as "peak-falsetto." 🙂

On another point, it's absolutely true that there have been access issues with Prince's work. But that doesn't prevent mentions of the work.

@AmosAmerica February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Legendary producer Arif Mardin was working with the Bee Gees. He asked if they could sing falsetto. They were basically like "Sure, I guess" and then he produced their hit "Jive Talkin'". The Bee Gee's switched labels and they could not work with Arif any longer. Their next album was was "Stayin' Alive" Soundtrack. They continued their falsetto approach with Arif's blessing.

@aaronguo2449 February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Men ____ing high
fill in the blank

@floling February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Muse's second album wasnt released in the us when it came out in the UK in 2001 because of too much falsetto. times have changed

@jewish_ai_music February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

What is a men?

@QXJMO February 15, 2025 - 10:02 pm

Hello, its me

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