Morrissey

When singer extraordinaire Morrissey first arrived on the scene back in the ‘80s with the post-punk band the Smiths, he came off as a throwback. With his crooning vocals, his James Dean-inspired haircut and his contrarian opinions, the dapper frontman was the anti-rock star. He was simply too articulate and too well-kept. Flash-forward to the present day and Morrissey seems even more out of sync. While many pop stars sing to backing tracks, Morrissey simply sings. And he shows little emotional restraint, gesturing dramatically during live performances with no regard for the fact that those gestures might be better suited to the opera. And yet, that’s what makes him even more of a singularity in the pop world. Last year in front of a capacity crowd at the Akron Civic Theatre, he lived up to the billing as a pop/rock icon who's in a league of his own. (Jeff Niesel)