He could have been an opera singer, he was that good. But as he said he was too rebellious and too crazy. And thank god he didn't, his voice and personality deserved a wider audience.
There really was nobody else remotely like him.
He was a rare type of singer in that he was what is called a 'heldentenor' and he was a natural at it, often with poor technique, but pure power to see him through.
Here is a little background... The first from a singing teacher.
... one of the rarer voice types called a heldentenor, which literally translates to “heroic tenor.” I think I’ve met two in my entire life. Meat Loaf was a heldentenor. They tend to have very dark, full voices with a range that goes all over the map. They’re like powerful baritones with a top: capable of singing low notes without losing their power and richness as well as singing their high notes with a power that makes every lyric tenor jealous.
They almost always develop later than other voices. So where a male can generally start performing in chorus work professionally (this is opera we’re talking about) at age 30, a heldentenor may need to hold off until 35 or so. While their voices are huge, they can have problems with control when they’re young. What’s more, you don’t want to ruin the voice at a young age by singing the type of repertoire demanded of heldentenors when the voice is too young to handle it – even if their technique is good.
This is a more general description for opera...
Heldentenor
The Heldentenor is the most powerful, darkest, loudest, and brilliant type of tenor. Their voice is hardest to train and they tend to reach their highest potential a bit later in life than lyric or spinto tenors. Once they do, good Heldentenors are well paid and highly sought after. “Helden” means hero in German, which is appropriate as most of the roles played by Heldentenors are heroes of Richard Wagner’s operas. These tenors find power, glory, often riches, and always get the girl. The role of “Siegfried” from Richard Wagner’s “The Ring Cycle,” is the greatest and most demanding Heldentenor role.
- Range – B2 to C5
- Roles – The title role in Otello by Verdi, the title role in Tristan und Isolde by Wagner, Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger by Wagner
- Heldentenors – Ben Heppner, Ian Storey
- Listen to clips of Ben Heppner singing arias by Wagner