Hottest Male Singers from the 50s thru the 80s

Sometime ago, the topic of sexy male singers came up for discussion. Looking around online, we came across an L.A. Weekly list of their Top 20 Sexiest Male Singers of All Time. I have no idea what criteria they were using over there at L.A. Weekly, but we disagreed with their list so much that we decided to make our own list. We watched a lot of videos– A LOT! Ultimately, we decided it just wasn’t possible to compare singers in their prime from one decade to another. Basing our selections on talent and charisma as much as sex appeal, we decided to choose one winner in each decade from the 1950s to the 1980s.

1950s WINNER: DESI ARNAZ – Yes, indeed. Inexplicably, I’ve never seen Desi on anyone’s Sexy Male Singer list but multi-talented Desi exceeds our criteria. He had sex appeal and charisma galore. Desi sang equally well in English and Spanish. He played the conga and the guitar. He was a great dancer and had an enormous amount of charm. Desi’s signature song was “Babalu”; however, in the 1950s, Desi performed many songs and comedic skits on the “I Love Lucy” show, joined in by the star of the show, his real-life wife, Lucille Ball. This clip is from 1952, when Desi was about 35.

More good-lookers from the ’50s, including group, if applicable, and best known ’50s song:

Paul Anka “Diana”
Harry Belafonte “The Banana Boat Song” (Day-O)
Tony Bennett “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”
Brook Benton “Thank You Pretty Baby”
Sam Cooke “Only Sixteen”
Bobby Freeman “Do You Want to Dance”
Julius LaRosa “Eh Cumpari”
Johnny Mathis “Chances Are”
Dean Martin “That’s Amore”
Ricky Nelson “Poor Little Fool”
Elvis Presley “Hound Dog”
Jimmie Rodgers “Kisses Sweeter than Wine”

1960s WINNER: TOM JONES. There were so many sexy and charismatic singers in the 1960s, it’s tough to pick a winner in this decade. Just for starters, there was Elvis at his peak; Tom Jones with his skin-tight pants; Jim Morrison in black leather and how about Mick Jagger? It becomes a matter of personal taste. We picked Tom Jones because he was sexy and charismatic from the gate. Besides, who else could pull off a song like “What’s New Pussycat?” That was Tom’s second hit song in 1965, after “It’s Not Unusual”.

More ’60s hotties:
Johnny Cymbal “Mr. Bass Man”
John Kay (Steppenwolf) “Born to Be Wild”
George Harrison (The Beatles) “Do You Want to Know a Secret”
Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones) “Satisfaction”
John Lennon (The Beatles) “Twist and Shout”
Paul McCartney (The Beatles) “All My Loving”
Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere & The Raiders) “Kicks”
Jim Morrison (The Doors) “Light My Fire”
Wilson Pickett “In the Midnight Hour”
Smokey Robinson (The Miracles) “The Tracks of My Tears”

The 1970s brought us another fine selection of dynamite singers. There was Cat Stevens and Bob Seger, but we can’t think of a more charismatic and seductive singer from that decade that might beat Al Green, particularly on “Let’s Stay Together” and “Tired of Being Alone”. Al had the women in the palm of his hand with those good looks and that soulful voice.

David Cassidy “I Think I Love You”
Peter Frampton “Show Me the Way”
Davy Jones (The Monkees) “Daydream Believer”
Freddy Mercury (Queen) “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Mike Pinera (Blues Image) “Ride Captain Ride”
Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) “Whole Lotta Lovin'”
Lou Rawls “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”
Carlos Santana “Evil Ways”
Bob Seger “Old Time Rock
Bobby Sherman “Hey Little Woman”
Björn Skifs (Blue Swede) “Hooked on a Feeling”
Cat Stevens – “Wild World”

Now we’re up to the 1980s. In 1981, Billy Idol put quite a different stamp on Tommy James’ 1960s hit “Mony Mony” that was undeniably exciting and uh, energetic 😁, but our winner is David Lee Roth, who began the decade as the lead singer of Van Halen. He moved on to a solo career in 1985 with “Just a Gigolo”. Whether you agree or not, you can’t deny that Dave was quite a showman.

(This pic is Eddie Van Halen — David Lee Roth sings lead in the video)

More choices from the 1980s:
Jon Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer”
Michael Damian “Rock On”
El DeBarge “Rhythm of the Night”
Morten Harket (A-ha) “Take On Me”
Billy Idol “Mony, Mony”
Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran) “Hungry Like the Wolf”
Ricky Martin “Livin’ La Vida Loca”
George Michael “Careless Whisper”
Bret Michaels (Poison) “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”
Prince “Purple Rain”
Bruce Springsteen “Born in the USA”

We hope you’ll agree with at least one of our choices, although we’re sure you have your own favorites. Let us know who they are in the comments.