Frontman Fired, Fortune Made: 11 Rock Bands That Got Bigger
Frontman Fired, Fortune Made: 11 Rock Bands That Got Bigger
- Bands like AC/DC and Van Halen replaced lead singers and became even bigger stars.
- Losing a lead singer doesn't have to mean the end of a band's success.
- Replacing the frontman is a risky move, but can lead to a band's greatest achievements.
Rock music loves a comeback story, especially when it comes with screaming fans, bruised egos and a brand-new frontman cashing platinum checks. Plenty of bands collapsed after losing their lead singer. A rare few somehow pulled off the impossible: they replaced the guy at the microphone and became even bigger stars afterward.
Here are 11 rock bands that changed singers and hit an even higher gear.
1. AC/DC
After the death of Bon Scott in 1980, AC/DC looked finished. Then came Brian Johnson and the monster album Back in Black. The band went from hard-rock favorites to worldwide legends almost overnight.
2. Van Halen
When David Lee Roth walked out, fans expected chaos. Instead, Sammy Hagar helped deliver four No. 1 albums and turned the band into an arena-rock cash machine.
3. Genesis
The artsy prog-rock outfit lost flamboyant singer Peter Gabriel and replaced him with drummer Phil Collins. Suddenly Genesis became one of the biggest pop-rock acts on Earth.
4. Black Sabbath
When Ozzy Osbourne was fired, heavy metal fans thought the end had arrived. Then Ronnie James Dio stepped in and revived the band with Heaven and Hell.
5. Journey
Journey was respected but not massive until Steve Perry arrived. His soaring vocals turned them into kings of arena rock and FM radio.
6. Fleetwood Mac
Before the arrival of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac was mainly a blues-rock band with a cult following. Then came Rumours — one of the best-selling albums ever recorded.
7. REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon spent years grinding it out on the road before vocalist Kevin Cronin became the band’s defining voice. Once he settled into the frontman role, the group exploded with radio staples like “Keep On Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling.”
8. Pink Floyd
Original leader Syd Barrett was a psychedelic genius, but his departure could have destroyed the group. Instead, David Gilmour helped guide the band into superstardom with albums like The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall.
9. Faith No More
The band struggled early on until the arrival of unpredictable vocalist Mike Patton. Suddenly they had a breakthrough hit with “Epic” and became one of the most influential alternative metal bands of the era.
10. Iron Maiden
Early singer Paul Di’Anno helped launch the band, but replacing him with air-raid-siren vocalist Bruce Dickinson took Maiden into heavy metal immortality.
11. Deep Purple
The arrival of powerhouse singer Ian Gillan transformed Deep Purple from a psychedelic-rock curiosity into a hard-rock titan. Without Gillan’s voice on songs like “Smoke on the Water,” rock history looks very different.
Rock bands replace drummers all the time. Bass players come and go. Replacing the lead singer is like changing the hood ornament on a speeding Corvette, everybody notices. These bands didn’t just survive the switch. They built bigger legends because of it.
