"Auto-Tune has turned everybody into the same singer," former Journey vocalist Steve Perry said in an interview, calling the tool "tragic".
The ex-Journey frontman is not a fan of auto-tune, a widely used tool for pitch correction and vocal effects.
Mathematician Dr. Andy Hildebrand developed auto-Tune in 1997 with the goal of supporting or enhancing an original voice performance.
The device's patent says that "when voices or instruments are out of tune," it would always mean that "the emotional qualities of the performance are also lost. Perry thinks otherwise.
According to the vocalist, the unedited human voice actually gives off those "emotional qualities".
In the same interview with Meredith Kyle, he said that he was told a long time ago by an unnamed musician that you get an "emotional touch" from both artists when you listen to someone like Barbra Streisand or Muddy Waters.
The 72-year old rockstar continues to give importance to unedited vocals as he sees the beauty of the human voice despite hearing "struggle and imperfections" on listening to Streisand and Muddy Waters, which has "two totally different vocal timbres and styles".
According to Perry, singing is "the most primal thing". He is "not so happy" that people are going to brush off the meaning of auto-tune like the way he had described.
Some may share Perry's opinion in the music industry. On the other hand, others have recognized that the potential usefulness of Auto-Tune extends beyond the correction of the pitch.
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Other Music Icons on using Auto-Tune
Steve Perry continued on his position on the touchy topic of using auto-tune, especially on new artists today.
He has expressed disliking of the method as he thinks that unedited human voices give off "emotional qualities" that can make a listener struck in awe by the artist.
In an episode of Apple TV+ docuseries "Watch The Sound" Paul McCartney said that if former Beatles member John Lennon had the opportunity to use auto-tune, "he would have been all over it". Grammy Award winner Mark Rohnson hosts "Watch The Sound" which features a six episode documentary series which premiered on Apple TV+ last July 2021.
John Lennon's son Sean Lennon agreed that his father would play with the auto-tune but not use it to fix his voice. He said that his old man would have indeed opted to "pursue something unprecedented".
The icon's son added that while John was "not keeping up with the technology," the Beatles and his father for sure "would have tried Auto-Tune" because they were "always on the cutting edge of what was happening".
However, Cher's 1998 iconic hit "Believe" paved the way for injecting to the mainstream consciousness the use of Auto-Tune. The track turned 20 last 2018, and it has changed the music industry since.
Cher revealed in a 1999 interview with The New York Times that the Auto-Tuned vocals on "Believe" were almost eliminated from the final version of the song. Because of the poor performance of her 1995 album "It is a Man's World," she wanted to release music that would be suitable for dancing and would appeal to her LGBT fan base.
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