hadley is known for his suave image, as well as his powerful voice, which has been described by allmusic as a "dramatic warble". music journalist and author dave rimmer described his voice as "like a foghorn—if a foghorn could be imagined trying to emulate both [frank] sinatra and [david] bowie". his spandau ballet bandmate steve norman described him as having "a massive vocal range". according to tim rice, hadley has a "strong and expressive voice that few of his contemporaries came near to matching".