Bands with NO original members

This thought crossed my mind as I was at the Foreigner concert last week.  Yes, they sound great - yes, they seem like the same 70s band we grew up with.... but no, there's not one original member on the stage anymore.   

What's your opinion of great well-known bands that lose ALL of their original members over time and are currently a band without ANY original members ?

Wouldn't they, shouldn't they re-name themselves ?  They're no longer the band that originally was... even the signature sounds of a lot of these bands is different. I'd imagine it's a lot of work/money to change a name (just like changing the name of a business - which is essentially what a band is, a business).

Huge bands like Audio Adrenaline and The Newsboys have no originals left... and their sounds are nothing like the original bands.
My personal opinion is, change the name !  Move on ! The old is done.. they're over, they've broken up !  Sure the new band sounds great, but it's not the same band, so change the name !

Your thoughts ?

At least with the Newsboys and Foreigner they were touring with original members and just ended up swapping them out while they were currently active.  While I understand why the band would continue to tour under a highly successful band name I tend to agree that they should change the name.

Are there any original members in the most recent Incarnation of Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Messiah Prophet's third album comes to mind.  While I loved it and thought it was their best, most fans didn't because there were no original members left.  However, when I first heard that album, I had never heard their earlier stuff and did not know who the original members were.


Although I don't think they are active anymore, SonicFlood also comes to mind.  While they did more albums without the original members than they ever did with, that was still never the same band even after Jeff Deyo first departed.  The edge that the first album had was never repeated and those later releases just never had the staying power that SF's debut had.

There are several groups in the Southern Gospel realm that contain no original members.  The Kingsmen come to mind.  They continued for several years and had several hits even after there were no original members left.

I think they should change the name but it won't happen. Music is a business. The bands name is a brand. Pepsi won't change their name if they get a new CEO. Bands are the same.

A good example of a band who has successfully changed their name given that it has no original members is Black Star Riders.  They are a secular band who toured for several years under the name "Thin Lizzy".  There are no original members from the original line-up of Thin Lizzy, but BSR does have a guitarist that was with the band for a decade.  Some might argue that he has a legitimate right to the name Thin Lizzy but the group decided to record under the name "Black Star Riders" instead (the band does have a sound that is very similar to Thin Lizzy)

I agree. But with Pepsi, it's still the same taste. If the band members all changed but they were still producing the exact same style of music, I think I'd feel different. 

Take van halen for an example. If every member dropped out and we're replaced by equally talented members, and their sound went from that signature "van halen" sound to something like Toad the Wet Sprocket... you simply could NOT continue to call them Van Halen ! 
I know that's an extreme example, but it's true to many of these bands like Audio A and Newsboys... their sound today is absolutely NOTHING like the original bands signature sounds. 

Now if Pepsi released a new formula and it was clear looking and tasted like Sprite, but still called "Pepsi"... that doesn't work. And that's the extreme difference with a lot of bands carrying on an old name with a repackaged brand.

Foreigner still has 1 original member..Founder Mick Jones
Lynyrd Skynyrd still has 1 original member...CoFounder Gary Rossington
Thin Lizzy/Black Star Riders has 1 original member...Brian Downey

Here are a few bands still performing with no original members...
Inflames
The Hollies
Little River Band
Misfits
Quiet Riot..the original lineup who performed and put out 2 albums was Kevin Dubrow, Randy Rhoads, Drew Forsyth and Kelli Garni
Heart..thats right, the Wilson sisters were not original members of the band

I sort of agree, although I'm not that bothered about it all it does feel slightly strange listening to a band that hasn't any of the original members in it.  For instance, I never liked Newsboys at all until Michael came along, now I think they're great.

Savage Amusement wrote:

Thin Lizzy/Black Star Riders has 1 original member...Brian Downey

Brian Downey isn't in BSR.  Jimmy DeGrasso plays drums for Black Star Riders.

Savage Amusement wrote:

Heart..thats right, the Wilson sisters were not original members of the band

I don't really think this is accurate.  The nucleus of early Heart (Steve Fosson & Roger Fisher) went through several line-up changes and few names before Ann Wilson joined the band even after she joined the band they called themselves Hocus Pocus for a while before settling back on the simple "Heart" moniker.  However, none of these line-ups recorded an album until Ann & Nancy were members of the band.  Their debut album "Dreamboat Annie" has 10 songs on it 9 of which were written by Ann or Nancy (or both) with no other writers credited for those songs.  The cover of the album also features a portriat of both sisters.  I might agree that they may not have been "founding" members of the band, but to suggest they weren't "original" members of the band would bring into account the "original membership" of nearly every band.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

I agree. But with Pepsi, it's still the same taste. If the band members all changed but they were still producing the exact same style of music, I think I'd feel different. 

Take van halen for an example. If every member dropped out and we're replaced by equally talented members, and their sound went from that signature "van halen" sound to something like Toad the Wet Sprocket... you simply could NOT continue to call them Van Halen ! 
I know that's an extreme example, but it's true to many of these bands like Audio A and Newsboys... their sound today is absolutely NOTHING like the original bands signature sounds. 

Now if Pepsi released a new formula and it was clear looking and tasted like Sprite, but still called "Pepsi"... that doesn't work. And that's the extreme difference with a lot of bands carrying on an old name with a repackaged brand.

I hear what you're saying but my comment was more about the brand name than the product. Maybe... General Motors would have been a better example. The cars have changed, the staff have changed but what sells is GMC, Chevrolet and Buick.

Companies and bands are different.  The people in the band make the band and the dynamics change when those people leave.  With a company, you expect the staff and product line to change as most companies don't have that one individual who makes everything they do special.  Sure, Apple had Steve Jobs, but they seem to be doing alright without him.  Progressive has Flo, but she is a spokesperson only and not really someone who shaped the company direction or product.  Priceline has Shatner and the chick from Big Bang Theory, but again they are only spokespersons selling the product.  With a band, they ARE the product.

alldatndensum wrote:

Companies and bands are different.  The people in the band make the band and the dynamics change when those people leave.  With a company, you expect the staff and product line to change as most companies don't have that one individual who makes everything they do special.  Sure, Apple had Steve Jobs, but they seem to be doing alright without him.  Progressive has Flo, but she is a spokesperson only and not really someone who shaped the company direction or product.  Priceline has Shatner and the chick from Big Bang Theory, but again they are only spokespersons selling the product.  With a band, they ARE the product.

I understand that. But how many people continue to buy Newsboys or Audio Adrenaline albums simply because that's the band name on the cover? The local Christian radio station still plays both bands and pimps them hard - simply because the name of the band. The band is the product but the band name is the brand. Just like people buy Rolex or Charmin just because of the brand name.

The OP went to see Foreigner, even though it was all different. If that band had a different name, they would have been playing Foreigner covers and there's no way he would have paid as much as he probably did to see them.

There are lots of bands who continued to exist without original members. Underoath, Little River Band, Christian Death...

Mick Jones is now gone from Foreigner too, so there are NO original members. Mick only appears at select shows he is now "retired" and the touring band has no original members. Molly Hatchet for most of the last 20 years has toured with no original members but a few years ago Dave Hlubeck returned to the band. Blackfoot still tours and has no original members.

For a while in the early 90's Simon Kirke was the only original member of Bad Company while Mick Ralphs was out taking care of a sick wife. Which I found very odd at the time I used to tell people "It's like Steve Smith going on tour and calling it Journey". 

For several dates in 2011 or 2012 Styx did several shows with no original members as James Young had to miss due to his wife's illness (leaving only Tommy Shaw who ISN'T an original member of Styx). 
 
Guns N Roses - Axl is it as far as I know. 

Little River Band - No original members

38 Special - Don Barnes is the only original member left.

Oh, and is it like movies? I think about Star Trek. While I did give the 2 new movies a "try" I think they are total garbage. There is only one Kirk, McCoy and Spock (while Quinto did an excellent Nimoy). That series would be better to branch off and create something new, like they did with TNG, DS9 or Enterprise. Don't go back and tell stories with new actors that ruin the timeline. 

Hmmm.... Now that I think about it, I DID find these to be very interesting because they have the feel of the original series. Now if the new Star Trek movies were done like this I might be more likely to enjoy them:



Many of them become tribute bands, which is fine but just BE a tribute band. Some tribute bands are excellent and many times better than the "original bands" still out on tour.

My simple answer is....if no original members remain, then change the name.

Sometimes even a change like replacing a lead vocalist might call for a name change IMO.

I thought Mick Jones would be with the band, but alas, it was a Tribute to Foreigner and that's pretty much what we went to see.  We knew there may only be one original member, or maybe none... but we still wanted to see the "tribute" as they sound exactly like them !
As for what I paid ? It was comped with a free room- so we didn't pay a penny   - but I would have. 
I would have paid for the Atomic Punks too (Van Halen tribute) but that was free as well.

Back to the topic though. I can see both sides of the points being made about the band's name and the "brand" - I still think in an ideal world, if all original members are gone... change the name.

I personally haven't bought a new Newsboys or Audio A cuz I don't really care for the new sound by the new bands.  The only albums I really liked were with Tate on Vox, but then in my mind I simply considered them to be an extension of Tates solo works (which I thoroughly LOVE)... not the Newsboys cuz it sounded NOTHING like them.

When Foreigner first came out with the revamped line-up (including Jason Bonham) I was not interested at ALL. I saw "Foreigner Extended Versions" at Walmart in the $5 bin. I laughed. Then I picked it up, looked at the track listing and laughed again. I thought "this has gotta be worth the $5 just because it is so bad". So I bought it. And when I played it they were laughing at ME. What a solid, tight band! I was blown away with how good they sounded and how well Kelly fits in the band. It was actually the best $5 I spent on a CD! They have 2 "Extended Versions", one without Jason on drums. The one with him on drums features an extended version of "Juke Box Hero" that turns into "Whole Lotta Love". 

That being said, I hate that Mick is now gone too. But if I had the chance to see them live I would definitely go.

This is what I got to see in concert about 3 weeks ago... like you said - TIGHT !!  They sounded awesome and put on an entertaining show !!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the band Menudo

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the band Manure

Some things are better left unsaid.

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the band Menudo

]There was nothing original about their origninal lineup!

I don't follow them at all but does GWAR have any original members left?

I don't think so...

RIP Oderus and Flattus.    Such a fun band to see live.  I've seen them I think four or five times and it's always so much fun.