Who'd win in singing, Ricky Nelson or Justin Bieber?

Well, first of all, everyone under the age of 18 (& basically all the baby boomers) during Ricky's reign literally grew up with him. He was in the public eye his entire life, from the radio show, to the tv show, to movies, and of course his music career. Adults (young and old) knew (and loved) his family like they were an extended part of their own (it was basically the very first reality show). He was the baby and Crown Prince of "America's Favorite Family". So he had the parents won over from the start.

When he got into Rock N Roll he an advantage (& influence over the very hesitant parents) no one in that branch of music had ever had (including Elvis). He was the good, wholesome, All-American, boy next door that Americans thought of as their own, and if he was doing it (and if two of the most respected parents in the world, Ozzie & Harriet, were supporting it) big bad Rock N Roll must not be the "devil's music" after all. Ricky was as influential at making the music acceptable as Elvis was to creating it.

As far as his voice and music go, absolute top of the line!!! He had one of the prettiest and smoothest voices I've ever heard, which added another dimension to strait ahead Rock that hadn't been there before. His band was one of the best in the business (James Burton anyone??), and his material, c'mon (Travelin' Man, Poor Little Fool, Lonesome Town, Hello Mary Lou, Young World, Teenage Idol, and so on and so on). Total classics. In the late 50s and early 60s Ricky Nelson could have filled up the Billboard Hot 100 single handedly, and with great songs (no filler).

And of course, he was drop dead gorgeous. Top that off with he was a Rock N Roll star, yet any and every girl would've jumped at the chance to bring him home to meet the folks without worry (not to many you could say that for back then, much less today).

As far as I'm concerned, there is no comparison between Ricky and Bieber. Be it with talent, contributions to the world of music, (and excuse me while laugh) looks. Ricky was a major contributor to making Rock (and all it "branches" ie Rockabilly, doo-wop, soul, etc) acceptable by the adult public (he wasn't one of The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame's first 20 inductees (& youngest) for no reason), whereas what has Bieber (or any of his contemporaries) contributed besides the continual downfall of the art form? I won't even attempt to compare Bieber's "artistic" output with that of Ricky's, Travelin' Man vs the word "Baby" repeated 100x to a beat, you be your own judge, lol. Oh and how about Bieber and his dancing team (I never knew dancing produced music) vs Ricky's guitar and band.

Then of course there are the looks, and I don't know about anyone else but I've personally never been the slightest bit attracted to a 16 year old boy who looks like he's 12 and his continually mistaken for a girl, particularly over an extremely attractive and talented man who's sex has never been questioned (& for whom the term "teenage idol" was coined for).

Ricky definitely doesn't get the credit as an artists he deserves nowadays, I think partly because he very unjustly and falsely clumped in with the less than authentic bubblegum "idols" that came after him (ie Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Edd Byrnes, Paul Anka, etc).

So, obviously Ricky wins. He was a true legend. He has fans spanning generations (I'd bet my life he had way more fans back then despite today's Bieber fever), and he had the kids AND parents won over. Don't think parents today are as crazy (though he might be driving them crazy) about Bieber. I highly, highly doubt Bieber will be remembered for much more than nostalgia (limited to current his preteen fans) 50 years from now. Ricky, he'll remain a legend through the ages.

Note: I absolutely adore Ricky, he's a legend, but I don't think he was ever "destined to replace Elvis". They were just too different, and as much as I love Ricky, Elvis was a revolutionary and the King for a reason. If Ricky was going to take Elvis' place it would've happened about 20 years before Ricky died, when he was at his prime (plus Elvis died 8 years before Ricky, so if it was gonna happen it probably would've happened then). I've heard many of his contemporaries say if Elvis was King then Ricky was the Crown Prince of Rock N Roll. I think that was 100% the truth, and Ricky (or anyone) would've taken that as the ultimate compliment= )

Is Ricky Nelson Still Alive

Whoa whoa whoa (cough) I'm a teen and I disagree with this mess!! Justin Bieber is nowhere near as good as Ricky was! What are you talking about! You need to hit your head and tell it to wake up! Justin is not talented at all! I'm a Ricky, Elvis, and many other great stars back in the day fan! I was born in the wrong damn era.

Is this a joke????? Like Amy Cakes said, how could you compare such a beautiful voice and the most handsome guy that ever lived compared to someone like Justin Bieber????!!!!!!! Ricky is the best thing that ever happened in the entertainment world, he was America's first teen idol and came from America's favorite family! Gosh, words can't describe how much I love him!!! Even if you compared Justin to Kermit the Frog, Kermit wins!

I have never heard of Ricky Nelson in my life. Justin Bieber is famous and a great singer if I never heard of Ricky Nelson I'm pretty sure he isn't no better than Cody Simpson. All teens would be saying the same thing I am right now there is 40 million Bieber fans who do you really think would say Ricky Nelson. No one knows who he is, others on here obviously are gonna say Ricky Nelson because they are all haters and don't like Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber is most deffanitley a good role model and inspiration everyone tells him a million times a day that hes such an inspiration, a good role model, hes their hero and that they look up to him a lot. Ricky hasn't changed the world in any way possible I highly doubt he even has 10 fans lol.

Ricky Nelson all the way!

I don't know who Ricky Nelson is, but I'm sure he'd be way better than Justine Queerber

Justin Bieber is a no talent little SH*T! you DARE compare him to my BABY!!!!!?????? RICKY wins in every contest against JUSTIN F*CKING BEAVER!!!!! dont even SAY their names in the SAME sentence!!!! I'm a nice, quite little girl, but when people say things like THAT i get VERY ANGRY!

Ricky wins

Ricky always wins!

Ricky is amazing

Ricky is beautiful (inside and out)

Ricky is talented

Ricky is my IDOL!

Justin Beaver can suck my d*ck....

edit: well, hello Lana! we just became friends.

* Ricky Nelson, hands down.