Ian Gillan
Tenor · Hard Rock · Rock · Metal · UK · prominent since 1969
What is Ian Gillan’s vocal range?
Ian Gillan's vocal range is commonly cited as G2 to A#5 (Bb5) — about 3.3 octaves, or 39 semitones, and is usually classified as tenor. Full voice is cited up to around G5; everything above that comes from falsetto or head voice.
High tenor that trades melody for siren-like screams; belts stay bright and forward with little weight. That cited span is wider than 76% of the 357 voices in this library.
- Signature song
- Smoke on the Water
- High A#5 heard in
- Child in Time
Reading the numbers
- Full voice is cited to within 3 semitones of the top note, so this reads as a chest-dominant voice rather than one that flips into a lighter register.
- The ceiling clears the conventional tenor top of C5 by 10 semitones.
- 5 other voices here carry the identical cited range — at the resolution these figures are quoted in, those voices are indistinguishable on the chart.
- Ranked by bottom note, it is the 111th lowest of the 357 voices here; by top note, the 116th highest.
Commonly cited figures, not lab measurements — extreme notes are one-off recorded moments, not the singer’s everyday range.
Take the free 2-minute range test — your mic finds your lowest and highest notes, then this page shows exactly how your voice lines up with Ian Gillan’s.
Also bottoming out on G2
46 other voices here are cited to the same floor.
Also topping out on A#5
43 other voices here reach the same ceiling.