Bands With No Original Members Left In Them 

Are there any bands you like that have survived losing a member?

The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra has been going since 1781, and unsurprisingly, they do not have any original members. They still make great music.

It’s like Grandpas’ axe. We’ve replaced the head five times. We’ve replaced the handle three times. It’s a damn fine axe.

If you play an instrument you may have been a member of Blood Sweat and Tears and not even know it.

Went to a Foreigner concert pre-covid. No original members that night. Felt like I overpaid for a tribute band.

This has been an interesting thing to watch over the last 30, 40 years; watching classic rock bands become brands basically.

Some bands have their original members leave very early. When Iron Maiden released their debut in 1980, Steve Harris was already the only original member. If Steve Harris was to leave or die, technically Iron Maiden would have no orignal members, but you'd still have members like Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Bruce Dickinson who are still important to the band

Foreigner is pretty much hanging on by Mick Jones, and they've even done a number of shows without Jones when he was having health problems.

As a founding member of the JW Stoker Band,founded in 1975, I'm proud to say that we still have our original lineup.

My favorite hymn - In the garden of Eden - by I Ron Butterfly

I wouldn't count Priest since they started as Freight (Ian Hill being a founding member and still with Priest) and changed their name because Judas Priest was more well-known when they took Al Atkins into the fold. So that's a case of a band changing their name (a similar thing happened to Scorpions; they broke up after Lonesome Crow released, so Rudy Schenker and Klaus Meine joined Uli Roth, Francis Buchholtz, and Jürgen Rosenthal in Dawn Road, and then Dawn Road changed their name to Scorpions). So yeah, Priest still has Ian Hill as a remaining founding member. *HOWEVER* I would definitely include Stratovarius in this...their modern lineup of Jens Johannson, Timo Kotipelto, Lauri Porra, Matthias Kupiainen, and Rolf Pilve, the "almost classic" lineup of Timo Tolkki, Jari Kainulainen, Tuomo Lassila, and Antti Ikonen, and the original lineup of Tuomo Lassila, Staffan Stralman, John Viherva, and Mika Ervaskari. And this is a band that's been consistently touring and recording since the mid-80s (15 studio albums and counting, and their newer material is possibly their best).

I'm willing to bet the current members of the Duke Ellington Band as well as Count Basie's aren't original members.

You forgot JEFFERSON AIRPLANE/AIRSHIP/STARSHIP!!!

"Are you or have you ever been a member of Arcade Fire?" (a line from The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)

The American metal band Riot, after founding guitarist Mark Reale passed away, no original member was left. They are still active today. They also have had many members come and go since there mid 70's inception.

Rick Waksman recently received the CBE award. I thought I’d mention that for all of you. I just read this on Summer.

Before watching this I thought what a shame Quiet Riot won't even be included. I was pleasantly surprised as they are my second favorite band of all time the first is kiss without the impersonators. Quiet Riot was the first band featured in this video, that's awesome thank you!!

Lynyrd Skynyrd has Gary Rossington as the Last Surviving member. The band was originally called "The 1%" and "My Back Yard". The original line-up was; Ronnie Van Zandt- Vocals Allen Collins & Gary Rossington- Guitar Larry Junstrum- Bass Bob Burns- Drums The only ones alive since The Plane Crash on October 20, 1977 are Gary Rossington, Artymus Pyle and Leslie Hawkins.

Molly Hatchet has no original members. In fact all the originals are dead.

The worst musical documentaries ever are the ones where they get no music clearance. But the worst of the worst are those that play music in the background that bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to the music they are talking about.

Others, possibly? The Platters, The Coasters, Bay City Rollers, Menudo, Jefferson Airplane/Starship, Benny Goodman band, Paul Whitman Orchestra,Glen Miller band

Judas priest was news to me on this list.

Don Wilson gave up touring with the Ventures in 2015, the founder and last surviving member...

Renaissance is a band that changed all its members. It started out with former Yardbirds Jim McCarty, Keith Relf, his sister and others but within a few years everyone original had quit with Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford, Tout, Camp, etc whom all joined later on remaining. This was the classic lineup until about the early 80's. Only Haslam/Dunford were left using the name until Dunford died a few years ago.

I would've chosen Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe as the Yes alternative.

Too bad Crosby, Stills, and Nash weren't all new members. Would be funny.

The original members of The Little River Band reformed for a tour but were prevented from using their own name by the current LRB, who are really just a tribute show.

The term that has been used for this situation (no original members in a band) is called a ghost band. Split Enz in their last album (See Ya 'Round which was released in 1984) had no original members.

In fairness, from a fan's perspective I think it's a little irrelevant to compare whether a band still has any "original" members, when in several of the cases listed, the technically "original" lineups never achieved any real degree of success. For example, who cares about the original lineup of Heart? The Wilson sisters WERE Heart as far as 99.9999% of their fans are concerned.

The Roman Emperors. Although only Nero on fiddle is remembered.

The singing group Expose had different original singing members. I saw one of the original singers from Expose perform in a casino in Las Vegas called Circus Circus once and was unaware of the fact that She was one of the original singers of Expose until years later when I saw a documentary about the singing group.

Heart's first album Dreamboat Annie was released on Mushroom Records in Canada. It won the Juno(Grammy) for best Canadian album of the year for 1976. Two of the band members came to Canada earlier on to escape the draft and since they were Ann and Nancy's boyfriends at the time they crossed the border as well. That's the Canadian rock history lesson for today.

Lynyrd Skynyrd has only Gary Rossington. I don't go to their live shows anymore. It's pretty much a really good cover band now.

The Grass Roots also tour with no original members.

Hey! Just saw this. I painted that Randy Rhodes shirt that Kevin DuBrow is wearing in the picture. :) lol awesome. made my night.

How about Renaissance, formed by Keith Relf and his sister after the breakup of the Yardbirds. They released two albums before leaving. All the original members shuffled out during the recording of the third record and by the fourth, the "classic lineup" of Michael Dunford, Annie Haslam, Terry Sullivan, Jon Camp and John Tout. Or The Grass Roots. They were originally not even a band, but a nome de plume for songwriter PF Sloan. After recording of Where Were You When I Needed You started to take off they hired a group called "The Bedouins" to become The Grass Roots. They recorded the remainder of the debut album and then broke up. Decca then hired Rob Grill and company to become the new Grass Roots from the second album on. Of course the guitarist in this lineup, Creed Bratton is famous from his work on The Office. The group disbanded in the late 70's, but Grill resurrected the name in the 80's to tour the oldies circuit. After his death, his estate allowed those musicians to continue touring under that name, as some had been with him for 20 years by that time. I saw that The Drifters and the Platters were coming to Spartanburg. Both have names owned by management and haven't had any original members since the early 60's for the Drifters and since whenever the last remaining original member of the Platters died. Note, both groups date to the early to mid fifties.

What about Renaissance? Formed by Keith Relf and Jim Mcarty of the Yardbirds, broke up soon after and another band with none of the original members co-opted the name.

Several years ago I saw Thin Lizzy, which had only the drummer, who I believe was classic era but not original. They made no bones about being a tribute band, having hired an "all star" lineup from various hard rock bands.

4.00 never knew andy kaufman fronted blood sweat and tears

Bands go through members all the time. There needs to be a distinction made between original band and classic era band. In rare cases, this may be the same.

And then there's Tangerine Dream. Only Edgar Froese remained a constant member until his death in 2015. Amazingly the band in some incarnation is still active. But then again Froese always thought of TD as an idea instead of a band.

That’s awesome I’m going to see Napalm Death in December

King Crimsons only original member left is Robert Fripp. I seen them about almost a month ago and they still did a stellar performance and I love Jakko's vocals it's amazing

Face it, folks, Heart was zip without the Wilson’s.

The embryonic "Heart" farting around the club scene with different names and not having yet scored a recording contract, probably shouldn't count.

Another band that has zero original members and keeps rolling along as a style and a name is southern fried rock band Molly Hatchet who had a break-out album with "Flirtin' With Disaster" being a monster hit. "Satisfied Man" got a lot of radio play, as well.

Molly Hatchett is another band that fits into this category.

Another couple of bands you forgot were Soft Machine and Gong.

You TOTALLY left out Molly Hatchet!! Not only are there no founding members in the band, but they have all died! And I'm not talking about the bar-band days but the lineup on the first TWO hit albums!

I can't believe they included Heart on this list. The band didn't record their first album until the mid 1970's, with Ann and Nancy Wilson. That's what you go by. Without a recording contract and album release, they are just another "basement band," nobody will ever hear of. Before, and unless that happens, it doesn't matter who was in it...

Nice video and content keep it up

The oak ridge boys came from a group called the oak ridge quartet that were playing the grand ole opry back in the 40s. Needless to say none of the members of that quartet are in the group today.

Two they didn't mention was Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet. I seen both versions of Hatchet. I will take the original, thank ya. Haven't seen this latest version of Blackfoot.

Okay some of these are interesting, and some of these I knew about. However in the cases of bands like Heart, Judas Priest, and (apparently) Napalm Death, I don't think it's fair to cite them as having no original members left when there are still members present who wrote and played on the band's first album. To me, it doesn't matter who started the band in what year and who played in it leading up to that debut release. The band's history proper begins with whatever lineup puts out the first album, because it's not going to matter what they sounded like before that going forward.

Excellent, except for one small mistake. The Hollies hit in 1972-73 was known most commonly as just Long Cool Woman although the longer version you mentioned was also used as the title, with one exception. The word tall was never used on the song.

Junior Watson was also in Canned Heat. He played on my album, AMAZING!!!

Once a band, now a brand! Foreigner, Toto...,

Jon Anderson (Yes) also made a couple of records with New Age legend and film music composer Vangelis, as “Jon and Vangelis.”

What this video failed to mention was the original lineup of The Hollies which comprised of Allan Clarke on lead vocals, Graham Nash on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Vic Steele on lead guitar, Eric Haydock on bass and Don Rathbone on drums.

A close one is Dream Theater; John Petrucci - guitar John Myung - bass Mike Portnoy - drums Kevin Moore - keyboards Chris Collins - vocals First to leave was Chris Collins who was just barely capable of singing what the band wanted to play. He was replaced by Charlie Dominici. Charlie stuck around for one album and tour, but was kind of an odd man out in the group due to age, he was a bit older than everyone else, and, like Chris, was very challenged by the songwriting. He was replaced by James LaBrie on vocals. Two albums later, Kevin Moore felt artistically distanced from what DT was trying to become, so he finished his writing obligations on the Awake album, then left before the tour could even begin. Derek Sherinian was hired as a stopgap for the tour, but was hired full time before the tour ended. He stuck around for two albums. He was then replaced by Jordan Rudess, whom DT wanted way back for the Awake tour when Kevin left, but he was unavailable at the time. The line up was thus; John Petrucci - Guitar John Myung - bass Mike Portnoy - drums Jordan Rudess - keyboards James LaBrie - vocals This would be the lineup for the next five albums. When the band got together to begin writing what would become the album A Dramatic Turn Of Events, Mike Portnoy announced he wanted to take a break from the grind the band had been on from the start. In the end he decided to leave the band instead and was replaced by Mike Mangini. John Petrucci and John Myung are the only two original members left, and interestingly enough, grew up together and promised one another they'd be in a rock band together. So far, so good.

HEART being on this list is highly questionable.

Forgot Blackfoot. No original members either.

The Manhattans--all of the original members have passed away, leaving only Gerald Alston, who joined the group after the original lead singer left and also passed away.

My band was playing in a city in the southern US in 1990; two different sets of Drfters were playing in town that night, at two different venues. No original members (not surprised)!

Fun Fact About Heart: Steve Fossen now runs a Heart tribute band called Heart By Heart, which also includes former Heart drummer Michael Derosier.

The Heart thing is absolutely wrong. Yes, there was a band called Army before Heart with the Fisher brothers, BUT they weren't Heart, so you can't claim that it was the same band. Heck, if you're going to go that route, you could claim almost any band that was formed with the core members of a different group is that way. That's like saying Guns N Roses doesn't have any original members because they evolved from LA Guns and Axl wasn't originally the singer for LA Guns. I mean it gets really convoluted if that's your standard.

While not a band, it will surprise many people that there are no original members in The Oak Ridge Boys. The group first formed in the early 1940's, and has been recording for almost as long, but the lineup that we see today only dates back to 1973.

Renaissance had no original members by the second album. Rockapella also has no current members. The original bass left very quickly, the original high tenor left after their audition for Carmen Sandiego, the original tenor left a year or two after that show ended, and the original baritone left in the early 2000s.

Opeth and Cattle Decapitation are still active and have no original band members.

Remember seeing Foreigner a few years ago and the 1st 5 songs the last remaining member was not on stage. It seemed weird, but at least they sounded good.

In the mid-70s Fairport Convention were recording with not a single original member (although the original rhythm guitarist, Simon Nicol, rejoined in 1977 and has been in ever since, though all the original songwriters are still gone).

Trevor Rabin co-wrote Owner Of A Lonely Heart, arguably Yes' biggest hit, and he would go on to write great film scores like Armageddon and Remember The Titans.

A few years ago - Gene Simmons talked about KISS carrying on with all replacement members - in perpetuity - like for generations to come - long after all original members had passed on - Gene must figure he can still somehow make money on this idea - maybe by selling rights to other musicians to "eventually" be in KISS ?

So they are basically “cover bands”

I have the Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe cassettes from 88 to 90. Trevor Rabins Can't look away 1989. Yes Union of 1991 with Anderson Howe and Rabin. Also GTRs cassette from 1986 with Steve Howe and Steve Hackett. Some might remember When the heart rules the mind. All good stuff with that Yes sound.

I feel like bands have certain members that are their heart (Iommi with Sabbath, Lemmy with Motorhead, Squire with Yes, Wright with Floyd) and without them the band are nothing.

The story my mom tells me is that she got to hang out with Quiet Riot backstage. After the concert, one of the members of the band called her house and asked if she wanted to go with them on tour. My grandfather picked up the phone and said "Never call this number again" and hung up. Lol

Could you argue for Deep Purple not having any original members.Though Ian Paice has been there more or less from the start,technically the original drummer was Chris Curtis who founded Deep Purple under the name Roundabout.

Funny video. Been pondering my brain about this as well for years. It's an intriguing philosophical conondrum. Sepultura is another band with no original members. Bassist Paolo Jr. is their longest lasting member and he was not their first bass player, though technically his predecessors only had very to extremely short tenures.

If the band autographs bassist leaves then there would be no original members left in that band because he is the only original member left

The Guess Who hasn't had any real roots since 1975 when Burton Cummings left the band, some hard core fans might say it hasn't been original since 1970 when Randy Bachman left.

*Napalm Death* is an excellent example of Theseus' Ship. After they left the band, Nic Bullen, Mick Harris, and Justin Broadrick formed *Scorn* and released the album "Vae Solis". These were the three members who played on Side A of *Napalm Death's* "Scum". So is Side A of "Scum" by *Napalm Death* or *Scorn* ? Is "Vae Solis" by *Scorn* or *Napalm Death* ?

And then you have ZZ Top who had the same lineup from formation in 1971 until the recent passing of bassist Dusty Hill. Original Rush drummer John Rutsey appeared on the band's eponymous debut album and than left due to health issues. He was replaced by Neil Peart for the second album, Fly By Night, and the lineup remained constant until Peart's death.

Three cheers for the jazz flute! I had no idea Canned Heat was the band behind this flute-infused anthem:)

Maybe it will be like a sports franchise. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are long gone but the Yankees still bring in new players all the time.

What's in a name? M-O-N-E-Y!

Humble Pie's Thirty Days in the hole was a post-Frampton song, Clem Clemson on lead guitar. Favorite Pie album? Rock On!

When a band exists without any of the original members, it has crossed the threshold from band to institution.

How about Molly Hatchett and Kingston Trio?

American power metal band Riot (now Riot V) are that way too. With the death of their founding guitarist Mark Reale they had no founding members left in the band.

Not sure if anyone pointed this out yet, but it was actually Peter Frampton who started Humble Pie and invited Steve Marriott. Also, Sweet They have had recent success in Europe with only Andy Scott remaining from the classic lineup. And he was not an original member.

Gong and Tangerine Dream too, formed in 60s and 70s, doesn't even have a band member that joined before 2000.

If It Wasn't for James Young. Styx would have no original members in it now.

The Grassroots is another band that went through many personnel changes.

WITH DIFFERENT MEMBERS AND DIFFERENT NAMES YES IS STILL YES RIP CHRIS SQUIRE !!!!!

Blackfoot. They're a tribute band at this point. Ricky Medlocke joined Skynyrd, and he was Blackfoot's leader. Odd. Then, Ohio Players. Most commonly known for Love Rollercoaster. Every member is dead. You rarely hear them mentioned... but they never reformed with anyone, so that's why I guess.

Imagine playing a show in front of a Barilla pasta advert lol.

The Outlaws. Henry Paul came in back in 1973 BUT the Outlaws were playing teen clubs and the college circuit in Florida since 1967-the 73 version was basically the same band with Henry Paul replacing Herb Pino on rhythm and vocals. The Outlaws make fine music, but no original members....Even the recently departed drummer Monte Yoho was not technically original -the original was David Dix-however Monte entered in the 60s so truly was part of the original as he and David alternated for a time based on David’s work schedule.

The band touring as Little River Band has no original members, and is missing the three primary songwriters from their heyday: Glenn Shorrick, Beeb Birtles, and Graham Goble. The current LRB is essentially a tribute band.

Your information about Judas Priest is wrong because Ian Hill has been with the band since it was formed in 1969