Van Halen with David Lee Roth
Sammy Hagar BAND WRECKERS
Gary Cherone of Van Halen
INXS with Michael Hutchence
JD Fortune of INXS
Journey with Steve Perry
Steve Augeri of Journey
Jeff Scott Soto of Journey
Arnel Pineda of Journey
Queen
Paul Rodgers of Queen
Boston
Tommy DeCarlo BAND WRECKERS
Michael Sweet of Boston
The Doors with Jim Morrison
Ian Astbury of Riders on the Storm
Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne
Ronnie James Dio of Black Sabbath
UB40, 1990
Duncan Campbell of UB40
Blind Melon BAND WRECKERS
Travis Warren of Blind MelonBand Wreckers | 4 of 22
Paul Natkin/WireImage/Getty Images
INXS with Michael Hutchence
Band Wreckers
Band wreckers are the worst kind of singers. They are those dudes who take advantage of an unstable group relationship and insert themselves in the middle. They break into a band and destroy their happy home. And who suffers? The children do. The children always suffer. All of those fans whose childhood memories of beloved bands are forever dashed by seeing step-singers replace their favorite vocalists.
Here's our FlipBook of the Biggest Band Wreckers Ever. They all have a special place in rock hell reserved for them. A place where hack tribute bands play all day and Barry Manilow plays all night.
See Comments
INXS
INXS hailed from the pubs of Australia, which is part of the reason
they...
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Jim Morrison R.I.P.
Jim Morrison R.I.P.
Remember the '80s When Madonna Had Big Eyebrows and Wasn't So Angry?
This FlipBook will remind you of a simpler time when the Material Girl was...
The Doors
It all started when two casual acquaintances, Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek,...
Van Halen
It wasn’t all about the hair, although the hair was fantastic. At their...
Music Rivalries
We live in historic times as some of the most bitter divisions in this...
Biggest Trouble Makers in Music
Rock ’n’ roll is not polite. It’s rude, full of bad taste, questionable...
UB40
The name UB40 came from the forms filled out for UK unemployment
...
GetBack Rock 'Stache Awards
Moustaches are to rock what Stetsons are to country, and sporting one is a...
Rock Muses
Rock muses are ground zero for some of the best rock songs ever. Every great...
GetBack Top 10 Musicians: 1984
Funny thing about Top 10 lists: they always bring back forgotten memories....
Gone Too Soon
We live in an age when people should know when enough is enough.
There's way...
Journey
Journey began in the early ’70s when Neal Schon and Gregg Rollie left...
Rock Star Indulgences Gallery
'Brain Itch' Songs
Scientists call them "brain-itch songs." They are the tunes ...
Cheesy Love Songs
There's a place for cheesy love songs. It's right alongside Lifetime movies,...
Rock Brothers: Winners & Losers
There's always a black sheep in every family. It's inevitable, a law of...
Misunderstood Lyrics
Band Battles
Here are some of the most dysfunctional, volatile band relationships in rock...
Concert Screw-Ups
Chopergirl said "I have always loved her. She has been a very good part of entertainment - I remember when she was in Roots. AND then CHEERS, and then the talking babies with John Travolta. My gosh, we all have problems, and with those come stress eating at times...She is beautiful regardless of what she weighs, and not only physically beautiful, but also beautiful inside. She has had her heart broke just like the rest of us, and struggles like the rest of us....to bad people expect her to be perfect as that is what imperfect people like to see - someone perfect to make them feel better. Projecting their OWN disappointment onto others, in some sick way, makes them feel a little better. That is a terrible post about her. I will watch her show."
Sardonica said "How is she anymore a train wreck than ANY body else, celebrity or not? We all have our issues. She is at least trying to better herself, not trash those around her, or laugh at the misfortunes of others. You're as bad as Perez. YOU are the one that needs to get a life, not her. "
ratt said "Don't the people who read this crap have anything at all better to worry about? Is it REALLY any of your concern what this movie star or that musician is up to in their personal lives? Did any of you useless tabloid bottom feeding twats notice that I used the word PERSONAL? Not likely, because the people that read this stuff don't think anyone has a life that they can't have access to. A word for those who have nothing better to do than concern themselves about others in the spotlight... pathetic."
jesslisby said "rynn phillips needs to get over his self...he is the one whom made his own problems. mabye if he kept his pants on and didn't treat his wife at the time with such disregaurd, he might still have full custody of his children, and a wonderful wife..look what you traded down for. but bravo to reese...look who she traded up for."

Comments
tinhorn
January 15, 2009 - 06:11 PM GMT
f you're going to step up to the plate and try to fill those inglorious shoes, you better bring something mighty rare to the party or sit back and collect your measly pittance from the first band you wrecked. I admire their wherewhithal to hit the road again, and most deals are made sans public discourse, so if you're going to tour again, make sure your homage is rightly placed. Most of these bands have inked indelible images on the minds of their listeners, and rarely, if ever is version 2.0 as good in the minds of devotees as the pivotal source. I would never pay 185 dollars to see a band build their retirement fund unless there was some Godly Harmonic Convergence of rock and roll royalty to stir the embryonic journey once again. I did like Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, that was some magic. Move on, and create something new instead of going for the Crapmaster tour of the Decade already. Aren't you artists, after all? where's the new inspiration coming from? Or are you all just shills to the management companies trying to Simon Cowell us into trying again? It will never be the same, just get some cats and an acoustic guitar and leave us o
Leesa
January 11, 2009 - 09:14 AM GMT
I just want to say I have always loved INXS and I think JD Fortune is an extremely talented guy. I loved the show and thought they made the right choice.
Leesa
January 11, 2009 - 09:09 AM GMT
jennyquatro
December 25, 2008 - 09:08 PM GMT
Besides The Doors and INXS, all these bands sucked anyway. Sorry, JMO!
Bart the Scion
November 30, 2008 - 10:16 AM GMT
How come they dont mention Ian Gillian from Deep Purple as Black Sabbaths front man?? Well maybe because he was actually really good. The Born Again cd was great.
pjb
November 26, 2008 - 07:28 PM GMT
1) Arnel Pineda may be a good singer; but it's not just the pipes, it's the personality.
2) Ronnie James Dio was much better solo than he was as Ozzy's replacement. To that end, he wasn't a sufficient replacement for J.O. (Ozzy's real initials)
3) Peter Cetera actually did sing really nice rock songs earlier with Chicago; but consider some of the songs that Terry Kath sang were FAR more lounge-lizard-y than even Cetera's solo stuff (e.g., Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?), so I think in that band's instance, it was just the evolution they all went through together.
4) My first point about personality? Goes for ALL of these bands, and Styx too.
It's not just, can this person sing, can they stand up and wear gaudy costumes and assume the same sort of temperament as the person they replace; it's also a matter of, can they bring the same sensibility about song creation to the band that the original person brought? And in everyone's case that has been mentioned so far (and I include Mr. Hagar in this), the answer is a resounding NO. Sammy was a great amalgamation of influences -- from Ronnie Montrose through Neal Schon to Eddie Van Halen and beyond -- but ultimately, he was far better at distilling to his own essence. As soon as he and Eddie teamed up, it was all too art-rock-y. Dave was a pain in the a$$, but he knew what Van Halen originally stood for: PARTY.
Skully
November 26, 2008 - 02:14 PM GMT
Y'know, it depends on the band. I'd say VH didn't suffer sales setbacks with Sammy, but if Jimmy and John Paul seriously think they'll have success w/o Robert... just look back to the success (or lack thereof) of the Page/Plant experiment.
Pineda's working for Journey, Tommy Shaw was instrumental in the success of Styx... let 'em rock! But Paul Rogers just isn't a good fit for Queen. Point here: make sure it works.
One word in defense of Michael Sweet; he's the only thing worth watching or listening to on that "Boston" stage.
And including UB40 and Blind Melon in this discussion?? Shouldn't a band have more than one hit in order to qualify for a frontman controversy??
Peace!
bobvilch
November 25, 2008 - 09:22 PM GMT
While all are mentioning Peter Cetera of Chicago (formerly CTA) as a great contributor to their fame, they are failing to mention one of the best guitarists of his time, Terry Kath. Chicago bought in different guitarists to try to replace him and always seemed to fail and never could get that same sound. Although he did not have the greatest voice, he sang and played guitar from his soul.
onespider
November 25, 2008 - 08:13 PM GMT
Michael McDonald wrecked the Doobies, why do you think they don,t use them anymore, and where is he by the way? Saw the Doobies a couple of years ago and EVERYONE who I talked to there said "THANK GOD THEY DID NOT BRING MICHAEL McDONALD" Nobody, but NOBODY who grew up with the Doobies could actually enjoy them with Michael. And what the heck happened to Skunk Baxter????
yeswolf
November 25, 2008 - 07:37 PM GMT
Ridiculous. Some of these guys did a good job, all things considered. Ian Astbury was very entertaining with the former Doors. And some of your facts are totally wrong. For example, the man in the YES photo you show is NOT Benoit David, the singer YES is touring with -- it is David Benoit, the jazz pianist -- a totally different person who has nothing to do with YES. And there was no mention whatsoever of producer Trevor Horn when he the lead singer of YES for 1980's DRAMA album and tour.