5 Bands That Found Fame When They Removed One Stinker of a Member
Making it in the music industry is hard. Almost infinitely so. For every band that achieves widespread success, there are thousands if not millions that are relegated to garage jam sessions for the rest of their lives. On top of getting incredibly, incredibly lucky, everything has to line up perfectly. Unfortunately for some musicians, the alignment of stars that rockets the band they’re in into the stratosphere is one with their specific light snuffed out.
Honestly, I feel bad saying that, since the fact is, it doesn’t always have to do with musical ability. Sometimes it’s just a vibe that, devastatingly, one member doesn’t fit.
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Here are five bands that got famous after dropping one dud member…
The Beatles: Pete Best/Ringo Starr
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Pete Best is probably the best-known jettisoned band member of all time, largely due to the fact that the band he was let loose from went on to become, arguably, bigger than Jesus. Best was the original drummer for the Beatles, but was replaced by the impossibly named Ringo Starr. Given that Ringo isn't particularly known for his skill on the kit either, it has to sting double.
According to the band, though, Best is somewhat to blame. They said he’d been hired out of necessity in the beginning, and that he was somewhat lazy and unreliable. He also was an absolute hunk, something that allegedly rankled Paul McCartney.
Pantera: Terry Glaze/Phil Anselmo
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Ah, Pantera, the glam metal band. A statement that seems massively incorrect, but was true for a couple years way back at the band’s inception. Led by singer Terry Glaze, who definitely had a name for glam, they were a long way from the thrash/groove metal they’re synonymous with now. When the band started to move in that direction, Glaze was having none of it. There was no way we’d ever see Terry Glaze barking out the lyrics to “Walk.” So they cut bait and brought in a new, teenage vocalist by the name of Phil Anselmo, who would carry the band to global stardom.
To Glaze's credit, he took the split remarkably well, and seems to have made peace with the fact that a guy named “Dimebag Darrell” isn’t going to play glam metal forever.
Blink 182: Scott Raynor/Travis Barker
Looking at the picture of Blink-182 above, you’d probably assume it’s Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge hanging backstage with a couple friends, lucky fans or openers. In fact, the entire band, at least an early iteration, is in this photo. On the right, looking notably less punk than his bandmates, is original drummer Scott Raynor.
Unfortunately, Raynor was in the midst of alcohol addiction, and it was impacting the band. Hoppus and DeLonge drew a line in the sand: rehab or you're out of the band. Raynor did seek treatment, but still ended up being replaced by one of the most recognizable drummers of all time — Travis Barker. I guess if you have to get replaced by anyone, at least it’s somebody you know damn well you can’t outdrum.
Raynor today is basically the opposite of a punk drummer: a policeman in San Diego.
Slipknot: Anders Colsefni/Corey Taylor
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Before they rocketed to wall-poster status in the bedroom of every clinically depressed kid in America, Slipknot released an album called Mate. Kill. Repeat. that didn’t feature frontman Corey Taylor. Their singer at the time was a guy named Anders Colsefni, while Taylor was fronting a different Des Moines band that he’s since revived called Stone Sour.
For the most extreme looking band on this list, the switch was by far the most businesslike. According to Taylor, Slipknot wanted a different sound, and with members like Shawn Crahan aka Clown being friends with Taylor already, they wanted to bring him in. Hard to argue their hunch was incorrect. It’s a feel-good ending for a feel-bad band, too, with Colsefni saying that he has “maintained an ongoing friendship” with Taylor, and that “there has only ever been a kinship between us. I consider Corey a true brother and he has always had my back, and I his.”
The band even brought Colsefni back to tour with them performing Mate. Kill. Repeat. as the original vocalist.
The Ramones: Dee Dee Stops Singing
The easiest switch on this list is one made by the Ramones, that didn’t result in anyone leaving the band at all. It was instead a reshuffling of responsibilities. In the early days, bassist Dee Dee Ramone also served as the vocalist. The Ramones have never been known as technical instrumentalists, and Dee Dee apparently found it too difficult to sing and play bass at the same time. In order to allow him a little more focus on his fretboard, singing duties were handed over to what would become one of the most iconic voices in punk: Joey Ramone.
From there on out? Well, they were the Ramones.
