The Vocal Range of Tony Harnell: (B♭1-)C#2-B♭5

Tony Harnell is best known as the former lead singer of Norwegian glam metal band TNT, with whom he recorded eight albums. He's best known for his impressive high range, which often leads to claims that he has a "4 octave range."

In fact, the singing that Harnell is best known for is rather unremarkable in terms of range. In the 1980s, he covered just C3-F#5 on TNT's studio albums, with some full G5s live. However, later in his career, especially in his side projects, such as Starbreaker and his solo EP Cinematic, Harnell has displayed impressive low range for a high tenor, bringing him actually fairly close to the rare four-octave threshold. He also broke out a number of full upper-fifth-octave notes on TNT's 1992 album Realized Fantasies, extending his overall range further in that direction as well.

Harnell is just one of very few male singers to hit a full-voiced B♭5, and his collection of high notes is on par with just about any other singer.

I hope you enjoy this video. As always, I claim no copyright on the material used and intend the video for entertainment purposes only.

Let's look at the notes! First, the surprising collection of lows:
0:00—A spoken passage from Starbreaker's "Die For You" that gets all the way down to C#2 in full voice.
0:12—Low backing passages from "Unholy" with a quick E♭2 and lots of F2s.
0:31—More low backing F2s, from Starbreaker's "Love's Dying Wish."
0:36—A spoken line from "Unholy" that gets down to F2 in full and B♭1 in fry.
0:41—A quick F#2 from Starbreaker's "The Day Belongs To Us."
0:48—Another quick F#2, from "Hide."
0:57—Low singing down to F#2 from "Give Me a Sign."
1:04—A quick G2 from "Song 4 Dianne."
1:08—A faint G#2 from Westworld's "Get a Life."
1:15—A backing harmony from Starbreaker's "Live Your Life" with multiple G#2s and B♭2s.
1:25—A low passage from "Hide" that bottoms at G#2.
1:41—A whispery A2 from "Mother Warned Me."
1:45—A backing line on B2, with a quick A2, from "Somebody Told You."

And now it's time for Harnell's famed high register!
1:47—A great E♭5 from "Deadly Metal."
1:54—Several E♭5s, including another great sustain, from "Break The Ice."
2:29—An emotional E♭5 from "Lionheart."
2:48—Singing up to E5 in "Ready to Fly."
3:02—Singing up to E5 in "Eddie."
3:09—Emotional E5s from "Soldier of the Light."
4:09—A great sustained F5 from Starbreaker's "Evaporate."
4:23—A powerful F5 from "My Religion."
4:42—Singing on F5, with a falsetto G#5, in "Give Me A Sign."
5:17—Powerful, emotional F5 from "Perfectly."
5:35—A number of F#5s, and a great sustained E♭5, from "Desperate Night."
5:59—Powerful F#5s from a cover of "Crazy on You."
6:07—Powerful singing up to F#5 in "Purple Mountain's Majesty."
6:21—An incredible F#5 from "Mother Warned Me."
6:36—Another amazing F#5, this one from "Forever Shine On."
6:47—Tons of F#5s, and a quick falsetto G#5, from "Purple Mountain's Majesty."
7:29—Nice G5s from a live performance of "10,000 Lovers (In One)."
7:37—Extremely powerful G5s from a live performance of "Everyone's a Star."
8:10—Singing up to G5 in "Song 4 Dianne."
8:35—A glissando up to G#5 in "Mother Warned Me."
8:48—A G5 with a trill to G#5, from "Rock and Roll Away."
9:10—An incredible passage from "All You Need" with a full G#5, and then a falsetto one at the end.
9:33—Another fantastic passage from "Rock and Roll Away," with a full A5, and then a falsetto B♭5.
10:31—Glissando up to B♭5 (!) from "Hard to Say Goodbye."

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