No original members

Am I right? By Gazeuse (1978), they surely only had one orig.member: Didier Malherbe.

Perhaps they still have him: did they not release something this year?

(It's a big old synchronistic BB at the moment, y'know: Strawbs, Gong, Santana (tarden dissed him just after I'd decided not to send a post w.an actually mighty dull me+Manzanera+Sanata anecdote, a self-censoring impulse I shd respect more often perhaps)

Fairport Convention, by the mid 70s, though nowadays they have Simon Nicol back on the roster.

Renaissance- In between the second album ("Illusion") and the third album ("Prologue"), the entire personnel of the band changed. Though strangely, their sound remained pretty much intact.

Art Zoyd started out with a completely different line-up (and different sound) than they are known for nowadays.

Hmmm, haven't the Temptations made records in later years with, at best, only one original member, maybe even none? Some of these 60s groups like the Searchers, Fortunes et al who still play nostalgia tours come to mind, and I think Gareth's right about the Drifters.

And, of course, after the Yardbirds lost all their original members, a guitarist who'd joined shortly before the end booked a tour as the New Yardbirds. But then they changed their name to Led Zeppelin.

The Supremes are still touring, aren't they?

Obviously, there is no Florence Ballard in the lineup. Neither is there a Diana Ross. And I am pretty sure Mary Wilson isn't in the band either.

Ain't there also some sorta Yardbirds doin' nostalgic rounds somewhere still?
Well they were a few years ago at least, right?
What's the personnel, though...

I think the current Yardbirds have Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty, and Mary Wilson tours as "The Supremes featuring Mary Wilson."

Did Pink Floyd record anything in the 80's or 90's with only Gilmour and session men?

a momentary lapse of reason was gilmour and session folks, with wright not playing anything at all on the record (he wasn't reinstated to full band member status until during or possibly after the ensuing tour), and nick mason only playing tom-toms on one track. so yeah, that counts. as "no original members," i mean. it certainly doesn't count as pink floyd.

I was about to say Moody Blues, but Graeme Edge was in the original lineup, so they don't apply.

Glen Miller's Orchestra still exists, doesn't it?

Indeed it does!

Sensational Alex Harvey Band still tour

The Pipettes now have no original members.

http://www.labnews.co.uk/cms_images/Image/Feb_pics/58-DEC.gif

Could there ever be a Fall album without MES?

Probably not...

The Pipettes now have no original members

except for the musicians, amirite?

The current incarnation of The Sweet has no original members, but one of them was in the early 70s line-up.

OK, the prize here goes to :

"Les Gray's Mud"

Which has no original members of Mud, not even Les Gray.

Chris Squire better beware gardening mishaps too.

OK, the prize here goes to :

"Les Gray's Mud"

Which has no original members of Mud, not even Les Gray.

Haha, that's magnificent.

Surely it's only a matter of time before Keisha goes solo and the Sugababes get another new girl in?

Les Gray's dead, so he's not working much these days. Les Gray's Mud is a bit like Taggart then.

I think The Poets (as in the 60s Scottish band) put out several records with completely different line-ups

They did. I think they changed completely between 64/65 (I am So Blue, Thats The Way It's Got To Be-era) and Wooden Spoon in 1967. Then there might have been another early 70's version with a new set of members IIRC. They were a great band, whatever!

Surely it's only a matter of time before Keisha goes solo and the Sugababes get another new girl in?
― Chris in Belfast, Thursday, 26 February 2009 13:31 (6 months ago)

EERIE PRESCIENCE.

i don't think it was that eerie, considering their history! "inevitable", maybe.

The only acts I can think of who have charted in the UK with completely different line-ups: Brotherhood Of Man and Tight Fit. Such illustrious company!

England World Cup Squad - Back Home (1970), This Time (1986)

hoping that Ralf will leave Kraftwerk and be replaced

Still waiting for Wolfgang Flur's Kraftwerk to start doing the rounds

how the fuck is taht even possible? i mean, ffs, keisha was the last original member and they edged HER out?!? i think they (the ex members) should hook up and form another band

Napalm Death is kind of like the Ship of Theseus - none of the current members were in the original line-up, but it's still fundamentally the same band, is it not?

^not if you ask certain of the original Napalm Death guys, especially Nic Bullen

Edison Lighthouse had a completely different line-up between "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Grows" and the lesser-known, but still charting follow-up "It's Up To You Petula".

P.M. Dawn - now a solo act featuring no original members of the duo

Not long ago, there was a fake Frankie Goes to Hollywood touring sports bars across the U.S. Not only were none of the original members involved, but none of the faux-Frankies had anything whatsoever to do with the original band - they just hijacked the name and ran with it. They disappeared shortly after _Spin_ ran an expose.
― mike a, Thursday, March 18, 2004 5:35 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is fascinating! I just read the SPIN article. choice quote:

."New Frankie manager Harris, whose other clients include "The Great Regurgitator", and a man who can fart to the tune of "How Much is that Doggy in the Window?", had the chutzpah to send Nash a "cease and decessit (sic)" email, demanding he stop saying slanderous, malicious, or harmful remarks."

mormon tabernacle choir

The current lineup of Dr. Feelgood has no original members...despite the fact that three of the original four are still alive.

No founding members of Judas Priest remained by the time the band recorded its first single.

Was just looking at the wiki for The Grass Roots, and almost everyone in their current lineup joined in the '80s. The sole exception, their singer/bassist, joined in 2008.

Tangerine Dream

Thin Lizzy, I think.

― steampig67, Saturday, 17 November 2007 14:37 (fourteen years ago)

Yup, Brian Downey subsequently rejoined them but left in 2013.

Gong update: the longest-serving member of the current line-up joined in 2007, and rejoined in 2012. The longest continually serving member joined in 2009.

Tangerine Dream and Gong are both unusual in that the founder member of each gave their blessing / encouraged them to continue after they had died and both are also pretty good live entities despite having no original members. Steve Hillage also sometimes still plays with Gong.

Yes haven’t been mentioned on this thread yet; they haven’t had any permanent original members since Chris Squire died in 2015, although Tony Kaye did some guest live dates with them in 2018-19.

Yes at least have members who played on their best-known albums, even if they weren't there from the start. Some of these others are more like official tribute acts.

yeah, there's a difference between having no original members and having nobody from the classic lineup. for example, some people decry Morbid Angel's current incarnation as being a sham. It's not because it only has one original member (that was the case by the time their first album came out). but because it only has one of the three members of the classic lineup of Vincent/Sandoval/Azagthoth.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/04/meet-the-bands-with-no-original-members-left-yes-soft-machine-odyssey-molly-hatchet

#onethread

After the group undertook a promotional tour to support the album Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, Ferguson and Andes left the group, forming Jo Jo Gunne. California had accused them of plotting to take over the group. Their final gig with Spirit occurred on January 30, 1971, which almost ended with a fist-fight.

John Arliss initially took Andes' place. California was still in the lineup, but he had suffered a head injury from a horse riding accident and was unable to tour. Shortly thereafter, bassist and recent University of Texas School of Law graduate Al Staehely was recruited by Locke and Cassidy to replace Arliss. The trio toured briefly before deciding that they had to add a guitarist to do the music justice. Al's brother, John Christian (Chris) Staehely, auditioned for the band and was quickly brought on board, departing the Texas rock group Krackerjack.

The Staehelys, Cassidy and Locke recorded the 1972 album Feedback in Columbia/Epic's Hollywood studios. It was a different turn for the group, showing more of a country rock influence pervading their jazzier tendencies, but it only met with a mild commercial response, also reaching No. 63 in the charts. While the tour for Feedback proceeded very well for much of that year, Cassidy and Locke lacked an affinity for roots-based music and soon left the lineup. The Staehely brothers completed the critically successful tour with drummer Stu Perry before dissolving the group in mid-1973 and releasing their own album, Sta-Hay-Lee.

Imagine being stoked to see Spirit in 1973, and then getting pissed at the show because the bald guy wasn't on stage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fit_for_a_King_(band)#Band_members

https://bestclassicbands.com/happy-together-2026-tour-lineup-12-21-25/

Bringing this up here because the Turtles have just announced they're retiring their name after Volman's passing (Ron Dante has been filling in for Howard Kaylan for almost a decade, toured as 'The Turtles' this year without Volman, and is carrying on next year on this tour under his own name doing Archies & Turtles material).

The Troggs are all ringers with Chris Britton only appearing at occasional shows.

The Fortunes current earliest serving member joined in 1983.

The Vogues current earliest t serving member joined in 1991.

Jason Scheff, ex of Chicago, will be presenting Chicago songs from before he joined in 1985.

The Association have two of the original guys; the Cowsills have three of the surviving four members (with the fourth occasionally guesting); and--at last report--Gary Puckett is still Gary Puckett.

Seen a few posters around town for this: Sixties Gold "The Premier 60's Tour"

https://tremeloes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/60s-Gold-Facbeook.png

The Tremeloes - No original members

Spencer James of The Searchers - "Lead singer of The Searchers since 1986"

Gerry's Pacemakers - earliest serving member joined in 2022

Love Affair's Steve Ellis - an original member

The Animals and Friends - one actual original member

The Fourmost - no original members

The Fourleast

Is it the original Dean Park?

La Sonora Matancera from Cuba has existed since 1924 so it has changed the complete lineup several times in their existence. Also Sonora Santanera founded in 1955 and modelled after the former doesn’t have any of its original members left but they could very well keep going for another century with the same band name… sort of like a musical ship of theseus.

Quiet Riot by 1988 had no original members either.

They released five more albums with the original singer back in after the 1988 one.

Quiet Riot's new singer is their eighth, and was four years old when the original singer died from a cocaine overdose.

The current lineup includes one member who played on their last album; the new singer was not yet one year old when that guitarist joined.

The current bassist joined the band in 2021. And 1997. And 1987, for a week or two. And 1983. And 1978. He has recorded four of the band's fourteen studio albums, during two of those stints.

"The Animals and Friends - one actual original member"

Technically this should be in the 'people you are surprised to find are still alive' thread, but I was surprised to find that Eric Burdon is still alive. He's 85.

It seems that The Animals' drummer, John Steel, owns or co-owns the band's name.

From what I remember War, the band, was in a kind of inverse position towards the end of their career - all the bandmembers were still there, but their manager owned the rights to the name, so they had to call themselves The Music Band.

Yellow Magic Orchestra similarly did not own their name, so for their reformation they became YMO or Not YMO.

My previous post brought to you by my learning the name of any member of Quiet Riot for the first time.