Dude Sounds Like a Lady: 10 Artists Who Sound Like the Opposite Sex

By Frank Donovan

Sometimes when we see a singer for the first time, they don’t look at all the way we pictured them in our heads when we listened to their voices—in fact, sometimes they turn out to be a different sex altogether. We have to admit we’ve assumed the incorrect sex of some non-random artists, like Nina Simone, Beach House, and Rhye. Our bad!

Here are 10 artists and their songs that fooled us in the sex department.

Tracy Chapman

Everyone remembers where they were when they learned "Fast Car" was sung by a woman.

Wheatus

We were thrown for a loop when we finally saw Brendan B. Brown singing in the vid for "Teenage Dirtbag."

Nina Simone

Simone's deep contralto voice had us picturing a male singer at first.

Justin Bieber

An unfamiliar listener could conceivably misconstrue 15-year-old Bieber as a young girl.

Kim Carnes

Carnes sounds to us like a specific male, Rod Stewart.

Beach House

Def thought Victoria Legrand was a guy singing!

Silversun Pickups

We were shocked that the lead singer for Silversun Pickups is not a female.

Nico

Out of context, it wouldn't be absurd to hear Nico as a man.

Tevin Campbell

We could have sworn the beautiful voice of young Campbell belonged to a female.

Rhye

We were surprised to learn that the vocalist in the duo Rhye is a Sade-sound-alike male, Michael Milosh.