Bands that Replaced Lead Singer with Existiing Member when Lead Singer Left

#1 · 13-02-2017 7:27pm #1

This is an easy enough concept - it's just hard to say in a short sentence! Can you think of bands where the lead singer left and was replaced by a member that was already in the band, i.e.,one of the musicians?

Probably, the most famous example is Genesis. Lead vocalist Peter Gabriel left and drummer Phil Collins took on the lead vocal duties. Other examples include: Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 replaced by Marc Fox, a percussionist in the band; Limahl of Kajagoogoo replaced by bassist Nick Beggs (best known for Life in the Big Apple), Tim Smith of Midlake replaced by guitarist Eric Pulldo (e.g. The Young and The Old).

i'm sure there are plenty more examples. Remember - I'm talking about bands where there was one main lead vocalist - not ones where they already liberally shared the lead vocals.

briany · 13-02-2017 7:48pm

Don't know if this counts because there was a name change but Bernard Sumner took over from Ian Curtis on vox after Curtis's death and carried on with the same members, forming New Order.

Also, I could have sworn there was a very brief period in the Darkness' history after Justin Hawkins left and before they went on hiatus and done other projects that they had their bass player Richie Edwards doing lead vox. Really feel like I remember him fronting the band and singing One Way Ticket to Hell on TotP with them.

Declan A Walsh · 13-02-2017 9:14pm

briany wrote: »

Don't know if this counts because there was a name change but Bernard Sumner took over from Ian Curtis on vox after Curtis's death and carried on with the same members, forming New Order.

Also, I could have sworn there was a very brief period in the Darkness' history after Justin Hawkins left and before they went on hiatus and done other projects that they had their bass player Richie Edwards doing lead vox. Really feel like I remember him fronting the band and singing One Way Ticket to Hell on TotP with them.

I thought of the Joy Division / New Order connection too, but decided against it on the basis that officially it was a different band. As regards One Way Ticket to Hell, Justin Hawkins was the lead vocalist on that song but he may have left the band some time after the release of the album it was from, so another may have mimed to it! That said, it could be the case that Richie Edwards took over the vocals in the band after Justin left - I just don't know.

15-02-2017 1:39pm

The Buzzcocks. Howard Devoto left and started Magazine, guitarist Pete Shelley took the vocals, bass player Steve Diggle switched to guitar, and history was made. They signed their first record contract on the day Elvis died.

Same song:

Howard:

Pete:

Say Your Number · 15-02-2017 5:12pm

briany wrote: »

Also, I could have sworn there was a very brief period in the Darkness' history after Justin Hawkins left and before they went on hiatus and done other projects that they had their bass player Richie Edwards doing lead vox. Really feel like I remember him fronting the band and singing One Way Ticket to Hell on TotP with them.

Richie took over rhythm guitar and vocals, they also brought in a new bass player and changed their name to Stone Gods, they finished when the Darkness reformed, which is a shame cos they were heavier and minus the contrived wackiness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hEWqUXwPm8

briany · 15-02-2017 11:04pm

Say Your Number wrote: »

Richie took over rhythm guitar and vocals, they also brought in a new bass player and changed their name to Stone Gods, they finished when the Darkness reformed, which is a shame cos they were heavier and minus the contrived wackiness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hEWqUXwPm8

Yeah, I know about Stone Gods, and agree that they were a very good band, but I do have this memory of Edwards singing with them as the Darkness, just when that second album dropped and Justin dropped out due to substance abuse issues, but before any sort of hiatus was officially announced. If it did happen, it would have been a very brief period, lasting mere weeks, if that, during the confusion as to whether the band would continue, or it could never have happened at all and it's just my memory playing tricks on me. :rolleyes:

Oink · 15-02-2017 11:12pm

Manic street preachers. Main singer disappeared. Guitar player took over.

judeboy101 · 15-02-2017 11:17pm

Queen springs to mind, they still play gigs without Freddie but with some yank

Harry Palmr · 15-02-2017 11:17pm

/\ Read the thread title again! /\

The Doors - After Morrison's death guitarist Robbie Krieger took over

Squall Leonhart · 15-02-2017 11:20pm

Juniper. Damien Rice quit as lead singer and drummer Paul Noonan took vocals, renamed the band to Bell X1.

Cool_CM · 15-02-2017 11:25pm

Oink wrote: »

Manic street preachers. Main singer disappeared. Guitar player took over.

Richie didn't sing and couldn't really play guitar.
He was great at writing amazing lyrics and being **** cool though!

Harry Palmr · 15-02-2017 11:27pm

Ian McLagan replaced (or more accurately took over sole vocal duties) when Steve Marriott left The Small Faces to join Humble Pie, but they also got in some bloke called Rod Stewart soon after!

briany · 18-02-2017 9:57am

Jerry Cantrell had been the main backing vocalist for Alice in Chains, but after Layne Staley died and Alice started playing again, Jerry was lead vocalist for a short while and now is co-lead vocalist with his rhythm guitarist, William DuVall.

Declan A Walsh · 23-10-2022 7:01pm

Bumping this thread up because there is a more recent example. Bear in mind what the thread is about, namely a departing lead singer being replaced by an existing musician from the band. Some of the examples that were given in this thread were not applicable because either (a) the person who left was not a singer, or (b) the new singer was new to the band as well! Look at my opening post to remind you.

Anyway, the more recent example is Kasabian. Kasabian's main lead vocalist Tom Meighan left in 2020. Sergio Pizzimo, its guitarist and occasional lead vocalist, took over all the lead vocal duties.

loyatemu · 12-11-2022 9:32pm

2nd-division 90s Trip-Hop band the Sneaker Pimps - they actually sacked their female vocalist with whom they'd enjoyed decent success, and one of the anonymous background guys took over vocals. They were promptly dropped by their record label and saw out the rest of the career in obscurity.

Surprised no-one has mentioned Pink Floyd yet as Syd Barrett was very much their lead singer before mental illness led to his departure. Bassist Roger Waters and new guitarist Dave Gilmour share vocals on most of their subsequent records, and occasionally keyboard player Richard Wright as well.

paul71 · 12-11-2022 9:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/102636823#Comment_102636823

I was about to mention that. I went to school with them.

mct1 · 12-11-2022 10:27pm

Moody Blues. When Denny Laine left, guitarist Justin Hayward took over as lead singer.

GerardKeating · 12-11-2022 10:49pm

Genesis ,

When Peter Gabriel left, Phil Collins took over lead vocals.

Capt'n Midnight · 12-11-2022 11:21pm

Does The Prodigy count ?

AC/DC of course.

Declan A Walsh · 13-11-2022 8:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119867600#Comment_119867600

I said that in my first post!

Declan A Walsh · 13-11-2022 8:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119867534#Comment_119867534

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119867666#Comment_119867666

Justin Hayward was not an existing member of the band when Denny Laine left. He came into the band as Denny's replacement as guitarist. So he does not count. Also, the band shared the lead vocals around anyway.

The Prodigy does not count as it is largely instrumental. The guys who eventually did some vocals were mainly dancers.

ACDC does not count either as, as there was no time in the band's history that a lead vocalist left the band to be replaced by an existing musician.

Declan A Walsh · 26-02-2023 9:19pm

English indie pop band The Chesterfields. Dave Goldworthy was the original lead singer. They folded in the 1980s and reformed a few times in the following decades. Dave died from an accident and the subsequent reformed band featured its long-running bassist, and one of the original founding members, Simon Barber as lead vocalist.

trashcan · 26-02-2023 11:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/102636863#Comment_102636863

Yeah, was about to correct that. James was always the singer. Genesis and Joy Division/New Order were the two that came to mind for me straightaway.

Declan A Walsh · 27-02-2023 8:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292569#Comment_120292569

Thanks for that. I mentioned Genesis in the first post. I ruled out New Order on the basis that they were officially a different band from Joy Division.

Leilak · 27-02-2023 8:44am

Bruce Dickenson replaced Paul Dianno in Iron Maiden

Declan A Walsh · 27-02-2023 9:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292885#Comment_120292885

That does not count as he was not an existing member of the band. Look at the first post for examples of what I mean.

27-02-2023 9:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/102613165#Comment_102613165

its not unusual that a band appears on a mimed promotional show minus a singer and gets another member to mime it

killing joke got a dummy singer and the drummer mimed

https://youtu.be/nkel3s49nnU

27-02-2023 9:27am

The misfits reformed without Danzig and at one point had the bass player sang, but in fairness who gives a sh1t about bands that reform without the actual songwriter

rpirl · 26-04-2023 5:13pm

The band Yuck would probably fit the bill... Daniel Blumberg did nearly all the lead vocals on the debut album after co-writing most of the songs with Max Bloom

Blumberg left after the debut and Bloom (who I think had only sung one song on the debut) stepped up to become frontman / lead singer

Declan A Walsh · 10-07-2023 3:40pm

After Fun Lovin' Criminals original frontman Huey Morgan left, existing member Brian Leiser, who played a number of instruments, took over the lead vocals.

The Homeball · 12-07-2023 4:34pm

Lot so them in Metal. When Martin Van Drunen left Pestilence, guitarist Patrick Mameli took over. Guitarist Jeff Waters is now singing in Annihilator, they've had plenty of singers over the years. Bassist Jeff Walker took over from Sanjeev in Carcass. Guitarist Pepper Keenan took over from Karl Agell in COC. Loads more.

rpirl · 12-05-2024 5:52pm

A guy called Eoin O'Kelly fronted The Hitchers when they started out... after a few singles / EP's he left and the rest of the band shared lead vocals on future releases

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDEGJhnYPTg

Bands that Replaced Lead Singer with Existiing Member when Lead Singer Left

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