The Ship of Theseus asks a simple question: if you slowly replace every piece of a ship
over time so nothing original remains, is it the same ship? The same question applies
to successful rock bands: is it still the band if none of the original members remain?
Quiet Riot burned very brightly for a very short period of time, but the band has a surprisingly
deep history. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Quiet Riot was originally founded all
the way back in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads, who would go on to superstardom with Ozzy
Osbourne. The original lineup also included Drew Forsyth on drums and Kevin DuBrow as
lead singer. This group managed two albums but didn't work well together, so that version
of the band broke up in 1980.
Luckily for heavy metal fans, DuBrow reformed the band with drummer Frankie Banali, bassist
Rudy Sarzo, and guitarist Carlos Cavazo, and even got Rhoads' blessing to keep using the
name. The result was "Metal Health," the band's biggest and best-known album. That means that
as far back as 1982, DuBrow was the last original member in the band. They went through several
more incarnations over the years, but after DuBrow passed away in 2007, the band working
under the name Quiet Riot has only a thin connection to the original band. Technically
bassist Chuck Wright is the oldest member, but Loudwire points out he only played two
songs on "Metal Health."
Formed in 1968 by Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, and Bill Bruford,
Yes is one of those groups that has actually been several different bands over the course
of its history — with each version of the band featuring new lineups. In fact, there
have been nearly 20 musicians in Yes at some point during the band's history. But since
Squire's death in 2015, there are no original members in it at all.
That doesn't mean the current version of the band is completely divorced from the progressive
rock legends who gave us songs like "Long Distance Runaround," or the more pop-oriented
1980s version of the band. Current member Steve Howe's involvement dates back to 1970,
and Alan White first joined in 1972.
One element of confusion with Yes is the fact that almost all of their best-known songs
were sung by Jon Anderson, whose distinctly high-pitched voice and New Age lyrics helped
define the band's sound. Anderson is still alive and active; he was part of a group called
Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman, which featured two other former Yes members. They were legally
prevented from using the name Yes, but performed Yes songs in concert until their breakup in
2020.
When you think of Heart, you think of the Wilson sisters — Ann with the impossibly
huge voice, and Nancy with the shredding guitar licks. But neither Wilson sister is an original
member of Heart — although they took over almost immediately after they joined.
"...the attention was always focused on the two of us, 'cause I guess we're just the most
obvious thing to focus on..."
Heart's history goes back to 1967 when guitarist Roger Fisher and bassist Steve Fossen formed
a band called The Army. Over the next few years, the band's name and lineup changed
frequently, at one point becoming White Heart, then briefly Heart. In the early 1970s, Ann
Wilson joined the band and the name changed to Hocus Pocus. Nancy joined shortly after,
and they became Heart once and for all.
By the time that classic 1970s lineup saw their big break with the release of "Dreamboat
Annie," it was a very different band from the one Fisher and Fossen had founded. Heart
remained a force throughout the '70s, but by the early '80s they'd run out of steam.
Fisher left in 1980, and Fossen departed in 1982, leaving no original members in the band.
The Wilsons set about re-inventing Heart, transforming it into an '80s hard rock outfit.
They released the ultimate comeback album, 1985's "Heart," without a single founding
member's contribution.
Blood, Sweat and Tears was formed in 1967 by Al Kooper, Jim Fielder, Fred Lipsius, Randy
Brecker, Jerry Weiss, Dick Halligan, Steve Katz, and Bobby Colomby. You might think with
that many founding members, some of them must have stuck around, but you'd be almost totally
wrong.
Led by Kooper, the band quickly got to work recording songs that were unusual for rock
and roll; simply having a full-on horns section set the band apart from everyone else. In
1968, they released their first album, "Child is Father to the Man," to moderate success.
But the band fell apart almost immediately due to simmering tensions between members.
Kooper, Brecker, and Weiss left before work on their second album had even started. Since
then, almost 200 people have officially been members of Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Over the course of those lineup changes and legal battles, all of the original members
exited and were replaced, then replaced again. The one thread holding everything together
is Colomby, who still owns the band name and music rights. Technically Colomby isn't in
the band anymore, though — he manages and produces, hiring musicians as needed.
Named in honor of rock n' roll legend Buddy Holly, The Hollies were formed in England
in 1962 by Allan Clarke and Graham Nash. They eventually added Tony Hicks, Bobby Elliott,
and Bernie Calvert to form the lineup that gave us classic hits like "Bus Stop." The
Hollies are often considered criminally underrated as a 1960s band. As author Peter Doggett points
out, they were huge superstars in England and probably second only to The Beatles in
terms of hit songs and influence.
"I first met The Beatles on November the 19th in 1959. They weren't even called The Beatles."
After years of success, Nash and Clarke began having creative differences, which came to
a head when the band rejected Nash's song "Marrakesh Express." Nash left in 1968 to
form a little band called Crosby, Stills and Nash. Clarke wanted a solo career and left
in 1971, only to rejoin in 1973 when a song he'd co-written for the Hollies, "Long Tall
Woman in a Black Dress," became a huge international hit.
Classics Du Jour notes that Clarke didn't just leave The Hollies again in 1999, he retired
from music altogether. The band today is led by Hicks and Elliott, who are very, very close
to being original members — but not quite.
The concept of a "super group" was a novel idea in the 1960s when Small Faces guitarist
Steve Marriott brought together bassist Greg Ridley of the band Spooky Tooth, Peter Frampton
from The Herd, and teenage drumming phenomenon Jerry Shirley to form Humble Pie. Considered
one of the first super groups, the band had a string of hit songs, including the timeless
classic "30 Days in the Hole."
Frampton left in 1971 and would eventually release one of the most successful live albums
of all time. The band continued until 1975, was reformed by Marriott and Shirley in 1979,
and then fell apart again in the early '80s. Shirley secured the rights to the name Humble
Pie in 1989 and started it again. There was some hope that Marriott and Frampton might
rejoin, but that dream ended after Marriott died tragically in a fire at his home in 1991.
These days you can still go to a Humble Pie concert, but you won't see any original members.
Drummer Shirley still owns the name and manages the band, but he doesn't tour with them.
You would probably instantly recognize Canned Heat's most famous song. "Going Up the Country"
is a staple of classic rock playlists, movie soundtracks, and commercials.
Canned Heat was formed in 1965 by Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, who were huge fans of American
blues music. From the very beginning, the band's lineup was in flux, but appearances
at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and their iconic performance at Woodstock in 1969 made
them superstars.
Sadly, Wilson died of a drug overdose in 1970. The band powered on with Hite until 1981,
when he also died of a drug overdose.
Canned Heat never broke up — it just keeps hiring new members and plugging on. It's currently
anchored by drummer Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra, whose tenure with the band dates back to 1967.
Judas Priest are legends of heavy metal, with songs like "Livin' After Midnight" and "The
Ripper" that are considered classics of the genre. While the band is still going strong,
it has exactly zero original members. This isn't surprising, since it hasn't had any
original members for the vast majority of its existence.
Judas Priest was formed in 1969 by lead vocalist Al Atkins, bassist Brian Stapenhill, guitarist
John Perry, and drummer John Partridge. They were originally a blues-rock band with an
entirely different sound. In fact, according to author Neil Daniels, guitarist K.K. Downing,
who came to define the band's sound along with eventual lead singer Rob Halford, auditioned
for the band — and was rejected by Atkins.
The group broke up in the early 1970s, and Atkins joined a band called Freight featuring
Downing on lead guitar, which took on the Judas Priest name. But by 1973, still before
the band even recorded their first album, the only original member left was Atkins,
though the lack of success convinced him to quit. Halford joined, setting the stage for
the band's most successful period as their sound evolved into harder rock. From that
point on, not a single founding member has had anything to do with Judas Priest.
In the annals of one-hit wonders, there's a special place for Iron Butterfly. Founded
in 1966 by Doug Ingle, Jack Pinney, Greg Willis, and Danny Weis, the band is famous for exactly
one nearly endless song — the extremely 1960s, 17-plus-minute-long "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida."
But that song is so iconic and instantly recognizable that it's provided a living for the band since
its release in 1968.
And the number of people who have made their living off of that one song at some point
during the last 50-plus years is pretty substantial. More than 65 musicians have been official
members over the years. The band started a revolving door of members almost immediately.
They broke up in 1971 but reformed in various incarnations over the years, as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
racked up tens of millions of sales.
Iron Butterfly reformed with Ingle and Ron Bushy, who joined a few months after its founding.
Ingle retired in the late '90s, leaving Bushy in charge of the group. Iron Butterfly is
essentially a tribute band at this point, though Bushy almost counts as an original
member.
Sometimes bands bring in musicians to fill gaps, then one of those new players slowly
takes over. That's what happened with one of the first Australian bands to crack the
American market, The Little River Band.
The Little River Band formed in 1975 as a bit of a supergroup in its native Australia,
as founding members Beeb Birtles, Graham Davidge, Graeham Goble, Dave Orams, Derek Pellicci,
and Glenn Shorrock were all pretty established performers in their home country. The band
enjoyed almost immediate success with their first album and ended the 1970s as one of
the biggest-selling groups around.
The '80s weren't so kind, however. Wayne Nelson joined in 1980 as a new bassist and sang lead
on one song. The band went through a prolonged period of mutation as Shorrock, Birtles, Goble,
and Pellici were all gone by 1992. The original members continued to shuffle in and out of
the lineup until 1998, when they all — more or less — permanently left.
Wayne Nelson took over lead singing duties and today pretty much runs the band. The current
lineup features musicians who only date back to 2004 at the earliest.
Unless you're into grindcore metal, you might not know much about Napalm Death, but within
the heavy metal community, this band is legendary. They've also been around for 40 years, originating
in 1981. Well, a band called Napalm Death was founded in 1981. None of the current members
were there at the time.
Napalm Death was launched by Nic Bullen and Miles Ratledge, who brought in guitarist Simon
Oppenheimer. After a few years of personnel changes, demo recordings, and live shows,
Bullen and Ratledge began to evolve in different musical directions. The group split off, with
Bullen leading Napalm Death. Bullen's frustrations continued until he quit in 1986, just after
recording a final demo that became side one of their first official album, "Scum," released
in 1987.
The lineup has been steady ever since, but the band wasn't established as an influential
classic until all the original members were gone.
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