The Most Successful Band Member Replacements Ever 

Which replacement do you feel was the biggest improvement?

Neil Peart replaced John Rutsey in Rush in 1974. Not only was he a superior drummer but the importance of his contributions as the band’s primary lyricist cannot be overstated.

They didn't give Phil Collins a mention, He replaced Peter Gabriel as singer of Genesis in 1975 and put the band on the commercial trajectory they all craved and the big commercial success the band eventually enjoyed in the 1980's.

Too many omissions, including the most famous one: Ringo replaces Pete Best

David Gilmour replacing Syd Barrett. I know how well regarded Barrett continues to be amongst Pink Floyd fans, but he was way too far out there. And Gilmour gave Pink Floyd the sound that made them famous. And while not necessarily an improvement, but certainly a successful replacement: Steve Morse replacing Ritchie Blackmore. Of course Deep Purple was best with Blackmore (and really, there is no replacing one of the greatest guitarists in rock history), but Morse was a very good fit for the band, and they have made some very good music together.

Interesting note on Brian Johnson replacing Bon Scott in ACDC. Before his death, Bon Scott saw a band named Geordie in concert. Geordie's lead vocalist was Brian Johnson. Bon told the guys in ACDC about the band and reportedly said that if something happened to him, Brian Johnson should be the one to replace him.

Hard to take that they didn't mention any of Spinal Tap's drummers.

Dude, how did you miss David Gilmour replacing Syd Barrett? Legendary importance right there.

Not sure how you missed Steve Perry taking over as lead vocalist (replacing Robert Fleischman) for a little band named JOURNEY! That was by far the most successful period in Journey's history.

Hammett for Mustaine worked out but leaves us with the never to be answered question of what Metallica would've been like with Mustaine.

Much like AC/DC's tragedy forcing a needed replacement Metallica had a similar situation with Jason Newstead joining to take over really the unfillable shoes of Cliff Burton

I get that their name changed but Mother Love Bone hiring Eddie Vedder after the death of Andrew Wood and renaming themselves Pearl Jam clearly belongs on the list.

Michael Schenker replacing Mick Bolton in 1973 made UFO one of the top hard rock bands in the 70s.

I’m surprised Neil Peart replacing John Rutsey wasn’t mentioned. Neil was one of the best drummers and lyricists of all time.

Joe Walsh fundamentally changed the Eagles from a country rock band. His duet on Hotel California is among the most iconic guitar parts in history. I know you probably can't use a clip due to their litigious nature, but that change is high on the list

What about one of the greatest bands of all time Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham and Nicks replaced Peter Green in 1975 and went on to make some of the most memorable music in history.

I assume their's a reason I'm not aware of as to why Ringo Starr isn't 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the list?

Neil Peart, the Master....nuff said.

For those of us there at the beginning, Paul Di'Anno was THE MAN. He always came across as a lucky (and talented) fan who got to sing for this great band, and that kind of was the case. He was like one of us. Seeing IM live in those days was a revelation. It was life-changing. Bruce Dickinson came in and did a fantastic job and the rest was history, but Di'Anno will ALWAYS have a special place in the hearts of old-school Maiden fans. UP THE IRONS!

And the one you completely ignored, despite the fact that it may have been the single most game-changing replacement in the history of rock-n-roll: Neil Peart replaces John Rutsey.

I saw AIC with their new lead singer and they were awesome! But everybody needs to really understand that Jerry is about 90% AIC sound.

Double replacement of Deep Purple's bassist Nick Simper by Roger Glover, and vocalist Rod Evans by Ian Gillan in 1969 created the iconic Mark II lineup!

How about Pink Floyd´s David Gilmour?

R.I.P Bon Scott you will always be a legend AC/DC

Jerry Cantrell was always band leader. He was instrumental in creating the sound and harmonies that define Alice in Chains and shared vocal duties equally with Lane Staley from Dirt and subsequent albums.

I think David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes replacing Ian Gillaian and Roger Glover in Deep Purple counts as a massive replacement. The biggest reason being that both these guys came in at a time when Purple was already in the stratosphere...and then helped make two insanely great Purple records : BURN & STORMBRINGER. Talk about influencing Ritchie Blackmore...no one else could think of taking a heavy metal band in a funky (or as Blackmore called it : shoe polish music) direction.

Here's an offering from the wings, The Allman Brothers finally bringing Derek Trucks in to carry on Duane's slide legacy was pretty good, Dickey bringing Warren was another master stroke. Not the best band member replacements, but better than 95% mentioned here!

Phil Collins taking over Chris Stewart's drumming spot in Genesis was pretty huge.

I think these band member replacements were improvements. Ringo Starr replaced Pete Best in The Beatles in 1962. Ian Gillan & Rover Glover replaced Rod Evans & Nick Simper in Deep Purple in 1969. Bon Scott replaced Dave Evans in AC/DC in 1974. Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks replaced Bob Welch in Fleetwood Mac in 1975.

I believe one of the worst changes, albeit highly successful, was when the girls came into Fleetwood Mac. They had a dirty, gritty blues sound before stevie.

4:47: A similar case from the same time as Red Hot Chili Peppers was when Faith No More replaced vocalist Chuck Mosely with Mike Patton, which propelled Faith No More to bigger heights.

I seem to remember a band changing their drummer and going on to be the most important, successful and influential band of all time!

Not a replacement, but the absolute best fill in ever, Jason for Bonzo, the only other drummer that could do Bonzo justice!

I think my favorite of this bunch is AC/DC. To me, it almost felt like two entirely different bands and both were great. The Bon Scott era and the Brian Johnson era were so very different in so many ways but they also had so many great things in common with each other.

Phoenix taking Bass for Linkin Park, Rick taking Bass for Jimmy Eat World, Zakk Wylde taking guitar for Ozzy Osbourne and the biggest one you missed Corey Taylor taking Vocals for Slipknot

I really do like Keith meshing with Ronnie the most it’s really awesome how they play together

Not mentioning Steve Perry, Putting Journey on the map as their Second lead singer, is a glaring omission.

Josh klinghoffer was a great John replacement, and a great placeholder. He took the band in a new direction and kept the RHCP touring live

I know it's a very obscure band, but van der graaf generator settling on there line-up of Evans, Hammill, Banton and Jackson couldn't have gone any better. Ultimate rockers.

The MOST successful replacement - either Brian or Bruce. Tough call on which one. I'd have to say Bruce because I think AC/DC was going to have all that success even if they hadn't switched singers, but I don't think Di'Anno could have taken Maiden to the pinnacle like Bruce did. So Brian was really a continuation of an already great singer, but Bruce was a huge step up IMO.

did you know that Neal Peart (The Professor) was not the original Rush drummer...he replaced John Rutsy and Rush was born

I suppose what kept people like Steve Perry, Neil Peart and Ringo Starr off this list is that their bands weren’t exactly huge when they came in. And I’m guessing Phil Collins in Genesis was ineligible due to already being in the band.

Also interesting how you chose Ronnie Wood as Mick Taylor's replacement but didn't mention Mick Taylor as Brian Jones' replacement?! Talk about big shoes to fill...

Phil Collin from Def Leppard. Replaced Pete Willis during the recording of Pyromania and recorded guitar solos on the album. Afterwards worked on Hysteria and Adrenalize and is still with the band today.

Thank you for including Eric Carr!!

My guesses before I start the video: Neil Peart- Rush, Johnson- AC/DC, Hagar- Van Halen, Bruce- Iron Maiden, Phil Collins- Genesis, Nicks/Buckingham- Fleetwood Mac, Dio- Black Sabbath. (Now "successful replacements" doesn't always mean better to me, but that you replaced someone and either stayed awesome or maybe took a step up).

Could you imagine being the new singer for AC/DC, knowing that you have some big shoes to fill, and the first album you put out with them ends up being the best selling album of any band ever at the time??

Phil Collins replaced Peter Gabriel as lead singer of Genesis.

I know it’s not rock but Johnny Gill replacing Bobby Brown in 1987 is right up there for me. Bobby since came back to New Edition. I saw them at work a few weeks ago. They killed it.

Mothers Milk … 1989 . John’s first rhcp album 🙄

Jake E Lee replacing Randy Rhoads with Ozzy was a huge one. His very first show in the US with Ozzy was the Us Festival 1983. No pressure. Just a modest crowd of 200,000+ people and he's covering Rhoad's material. There's some good pro-shot video of it on RU-vid. If anything, he upstaged Ozzy at that show. Absolutely nailed the solos and added just the right amount of his own improv on top of it.

Maybe not at the top of of the list, but Steve Howe replacing Peter Banks in Yes gave them a quirky, original sound that completely defined them and that stands alone in classic rock. And Trevor Rabin replacing Steve Howe resulted in tremendous commercial success and an album that absolutely excels in musicianship, production quality and listenability (90125). Trevor Horn and Geoff Downs jumping in to cover vocals and keys on Drama was pretty amazing too - probably not the best album to release in the Golden Age of punk, new wave and hair metal, but a musically successful replacement that honored the spirit of the music that came before it.

Ron Wood was no replacement for Mick Taylor.. imo The Mick Taylor years were the best years the Stones ever had.

How do you miss Mike Patton replacing Chuck Mosley in Faith No More?

AC/DC trivia: Dave Evans was their original vocalist. Bon Scott was his replacement.

How about Neil Peart replacing John Rutsey in Rush.......

I know that Metallica declined after the Justice album, but no one can deny that “the Black Album” was a huge success. Jason Newsted should be on this list, especially since he wrote one of the best riffs on Justice: Blackened.

Bon Scott> Brian Johnson

Well done and spot on.

Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed their plane on October 20, 1977. Ronnie Van Zant was the frontman and he was one of the few that died in that crash. 10 years later Johnny Van Zant who is Ronnie's younger brother reunited Skynyrd. The band has undergone numerous lineup changes with the last recent one a few years ago being the bassist. He still fronts the band under that name to this day

Tre Cool replaces John Kiffmeyer in Green Day in 1990

Brian and Bruce are the ones that stand out - as both bands sustained at a high musical level.

RIP Eric Carr, Ronnie James Dio, and Bon Scott

Amazing video, the only thing is, the By the Way album (rhcp) is also very successful with songs like By the Way and Can't stop. Other than that amazing work :)

How the Hell do you not have the following?: Neil Peart replacing John Rutsey on drums, and also replacing Geddy Lee on writing lyrics. Mike Patton replacing Chuck Mosley for Faith No More. Also, Jerry Cantrell was always the leader of Alice in Chains.

With the Sex Pistols, Glen Matlock left (or got fired) and was replaced by Sid Vicious, but when the band reformed some years after their break up, Glen Matlock was back in the band, again.

Bassist Justin Chancellor replacing Paul D'Amour in Tool was huge for the band, as he matched the rest of the band’s perfectionism and exploration of complex rhythms and odd time signatures.

Ummmmm ???? PINK FLOYD Gilmour was fuking GENIUS!!!!!!

I love Brian's first band, Geordie, as well. They were awesome.

William DuVall maybe a talented singer, but AIC doesn’t come close to the band they were with Staley. And while I liked VH with Sammy, their 1st four albums with DLR were the pinnacle of VH.

Definitely, without Question, light years difference, the greatest band member replacement was in the Greatest Band of All Time! Pete Best replaced by Richard Starkey! You can't top that, as they went on to be The Best, Most Influential, Most prodigous output Band the world has or probably will ever see. To top it off Sir Richard Starkey is still with us! Can't come close to this!

i'm surprised nobody mentioned michael mcdonald replacing tom johnston in the doobie brothers. (at least as far down as i scrolled, which was a long way.) yes, there was a short period where they were both in the band, but mike was the vocal "replacement" for tom on the stampede tour, and there can be no doubt that the role of "band leader" quickly shifted from tom to mike, resulting in even greater success. (pat simmons remains criminally underrated, although he's the only band member spanning the group's entire history.)

Tommy Shaw replaced John Curulewski in Styx and totally helped propel their success…can’t believe you missed that!

My guy. Pete Best being replaced by Ringo Starr.

Gary Holt replacing Jeff Hanneman in SLAYER was the perfect choice. R.I.P Jeff, gone but never forgotten 🤘

There's very few bands who havent had at least a couple lineup changes especially ones that have been around 50 plus years you're lucky if you get 2 original members. While i am a purist in a way i am not all the way because as much as it is nice to have the original guys out there many have passed or retired and i do think its important to have the music live on.. i was watching this podcast how they were talkin about a 70s group and how many didnt even know that its mostly wasnt original members and how some of us do care and like to know all the behind the scenes info but some could really care less as long as it sounds decent. Im just happy there are some original members out there just for the fans pretty much. I've been lucky enough to meet quite a few performers who have been around since 50s or 60s. i can see both sides but thats just how i am in general. it can be annoying when u know all this information which actually is interesting and important. some just cant quite grasp it we all have our areas of expertise so too each there own i suppose..

How about Corey Taylor replacing Anders Colsefni in Slipknot? It basically helped the band go from local hero to one of the biggest metal bands of all time? I know this list is essentially famous bands who survived the member changes, but yeah. Also, how do you not have Megadeth on this list? Dave Mustaine has burned through like 10 different lead guitarists. All of which will be Hall of Famers one day and the band never lost its sound, never lost it's speed. When Marty Freidman came to the band, they literally wrote what might be the best metal album ever recorded (Rust in Peace), and he him self wrote what most metal heads consider the best solo of all time (Tornado of Souls). Too much love for the mainstream.

Phil Anselmo replaced Terry Glaze to give Pantera it unique heavy metal identity as opposed to the glam metal when they started out. Corpsegrinder replaced Chris Barnes and gave a unique identity with his vocals, huge neck as well as his ability to windmill like nobody else can.

My two favorites are Michael Schenker replacing Bolton in UFO. And Dio replacing Ozzy in Sabbath

Floor Jansen replacing Anette Olzon (and ultimately, Tarja Turunen) in Nightwish was huge for NW.

Bruce Dickenson ,the greatest and most successful replacement of all time although I loved Paul Dianno's work previously in Iron Maiden. Interestingly Dickensons replacement in his previous band, Samson, Nicky Moore was brilliant ( listen to the great '83 studio album,- Before the Storm), unfortunetly they only lasted a couple lps.

Deep Purple Ian Gillan & Roger Glover replace Rod Evans & Nick Semper

When Curly replaced Shemp in the Three Stooges.

I'm a bit amazed y'all didn't mention Phil Anselmo replacing Terry Glaze in Pantera.

And tiy left out Ringo? Really?

Jerry Cantrell was always the leader of Alice In Chains.

William DuVall's voice harmonises with Jerry's beautifully.

I'll mention Greg Eklund replacing Scott Cuthbert in Everclear....if only because I marched with Scott in the 1984 Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps (him on multi-tenors, me in the brass line).

I prefer David lee Roth in Van Halen

He learned Blink 182s catalog in an hour. Tells you everything you need to know 🤦

Having seen Blink 182 and Travis Barker I always remeber the gig not just cause it was incredible but because I will never forget the crazy drum solo on a moving platform one of the best drummers ever to grace the works of music

Sammy replacing Dave in Van Halen was financially successful but musically depressing

This was your idea for the best? How about Jeff Beck replaces Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds? Grace Slick replaces Signe Anderson in Jefferson Airplane? Steve Howe replaces Peter Banks in Yes, then Rick Wakeman replaces Tony Kaye? How about Fleetwood Mac loses Bob Welch and gains Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks? Or Topper Headon replaces Terry Chimes in The Clash? David Gilmour replacing Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd worked out pretty well too. And as he was under the original contract and did make some recordings - although they were rightly unreleased at the time - there is the replacement of one Pete Best by a guy called Ringo.

I wouldn't call swapping out your dead front man with a live one risky

Ringo Starr replaced Pete Best was the biggest impact and controversial replacement of all time

Mike Patton replacing Chuck Mosley in Faith No More was a bit of a game changer..

Jerry Cantrell was always the band leader. Always. He didn't "step into it". That's a Terrible start

Blaze Bailey did a good job in MAIDEN too.

Also Vivian Campbell Replaced Def Leppard guitarist, Steve Clark after he died from alcohol poisoning in 1991. They are still very successful to this day.

What about Topper Headon replacing Terry Chimes in The Clash? It’s hard to imagine them going on to be as successful as they were without Topper.