even though jerry ain't here it's the
music man
welcome to watch mojo and today we're
counting down our picks for the top 10
bands to survive the death
of their lead singer
[Applause]
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for this list we'll be ranking the
groups who lost their vocalists
yet continued to carry on their careers
this could have been achieved through a
name change or a member replacement
so long as the band in question kept on
rocking in the face of tragedy
what's your favorite band here let us
know in the comments
number 10 finn lizzie
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finn lizzy are one of ireland's most
iconic rock exports
thanks largely in part to the charisma
and passion of their bassist
lead singer and songwriter phil lennon
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lynette died in 1986 from septicemia
brought on by years of substance abuse
but the music lived on a decade later
when the band reformed and began to tour
in tribute to phil's life and career
these tours were largely successful
although not all of the band's fans
approved of a thin lizzy without phil
lynette
undeterred the band later toured with
ricky warwick on vocals
before forming a new group black star
writers with him
in 2012
number nine queen freddie mercury is one
of the world's all-time greatest front
men
so naturally his death from aids-related
complications in 1991
left a huge void in the lineup of rock
legends queen
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the band would soldier on with another
classic rock singer in the form of paul
rogers
from the band's free and bad company who
joined them from 2004-2009
this collaboration would tour and record
the album the cosmos rocks
albeit without bassist john deegan who
retired from music in 1997.
the same year that rogers and the band
parted ways
they would join forces with american
idol contestant adam lambert
and hit the road again
number eight stone temple pilots
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[Applause]
with stp things are a little different
in that they had already split with
their founding lead singer
scott wyland prior to the latter's death
in 2015.
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stp had officially fired weiland in
february of 2013
and were already playing shows with
linkin park's chester bennington as
their new vocalist
in a note of tragic irony bennington
himself would die in july
2017 although he had amicably parted
ways with the band two years prior
but as for the pilots as of writing
they're again active with new singer
jeff gutt
with whom they've released two studio
albums
number seven sublime sublime's fans were
understandably shaken when the band's
affable and charismatic vocalist
bradley noll died from an overdose in
1996
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the feeling was shared by noel's close
family bandmates and
friends
the surviving members formed a new band
the long beach dub all-stars
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before finally deciding in 2009 to try
and resurrect the sublime name
with new front man rome ramirez this
however hit
legal issues and the band was renamed
sublime with rome
told her no purpose
this new sublime hasn't quite resonated
in the same way with their old fans
though
many of which just can't see a sublime
without knoll on the mic
number six in excess it's one thing to
try and replace a departed lead singer
but it's another entirely to broadcast
that search to a worldwide television
audience
that's exactly what nxs did eventually
the band had already been experimenting
with different vocalists following the
death of michael hutchins
in 1997 but the program rockstar nxs
a reality show where the band picked
from 15 hopefuls
brought something new the winner jd
fortune
who in addition to writing the lyrics
for pretty vegas spent a bumpy
five-year on-and-off relationship with
the band until being himself replaced
by kieron gribben in 2011.
number five leonard skynyrd it's
possibly one of the most well known and
high
rock tragedies of all time the 1997
plane crash
which took the lives of ronnie van zandt
and steve gaines
and backing vocalist cassie gaines
[Applause]
musically ronnie left the biggest shoes
to fill
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but family roots run deep within the
leonard skynyrd organization
and the band returned a decade later
with van zant's younger brother
johnny taking over vocal duties
although their membership has seen
additional changes johnny has been a
stage and studio mainstay with skynyrd
ever since
number four alice in chains
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alice in chains were in a career lull
and struggling with chemical dependency
when their singer lane staley was found
dead in his home during the spring of
2002
[Applause]
three years later the remaining band
members would slowly begin the process
of performing live again
utilizing a number of guest singers at
benefit and award shows
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finally in 2006 one of those singers
william duvall officially took over
vocal duties from staley as the new
front man for alice in chains
a position which he holds to this day
number three grateful dead deadheads are
on another level of dedication to their
favorite band
perhaps this could explain why the
band's continued attempts at touring
after the death of their singer jerry
garcia
have been embraced remarkably well by
their ultra loyal following
the group's surviving members have gone
under a number of names
including fare thee well dead in company
and simply the dead
they've mixed in new material and new
members along the way
but they still keep on trucking and
their long strange trip continues
even though jerry ain't here it's the
music man number two
joy division
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joy division may have only lasted four
years before vocalist ian curtis took
his own life
but their influence has affected younger
bands from the worlds of punk
goth and new wave
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a new band new order was formed in the
aftermath of curtis's passing
with joy division guitarist bernard
sumner taking over vocal duties
and leading the band in a more
commercial and dance-oriented sound
new order would see themselves as
influential as joy division was to a
whole new generation
proving that the seeds sown by curtis's
time with the group continued to grow
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[Music]
number one ac dc bon scott was an
inimitable rock and roll presence
a fire brand front man for the aussie
legends ac dc
whose life was tragically cut short in
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1980
acute alcohol poisoning and pulmonary
aspiration were the official causes of
scott's death
and it was up to ac dc to try and find a
replacement for the unique and
powerful lead singer
they found one in the form of brian
johnson from the band
jordy
johnson wasn't a bonscott clone however
and his
paint-peeling screech gained ac dc a new
lease on life
clearing the path for worldwide
domination with the album
back in black
[Applause]
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