Robert Anthony Plant, (born 20 August 1948) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin, he has also had a successful solo career spanning more than 40 years and possessing a powerful wide vocal range (particularly using his trademark high-pitched vocals). Plant is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock and roll, and he has influenced contemporaries and such later singers as Freddie Mercury, Axl Rose and Chris Cornell. In 2006, heavy metal magazine Hit Parader named Plant the "Greatest Metal Vocalist of All Time". In 2009, Plant was voted "the greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by Planet Rock.