Playing in a band is a tricky proposition. In addition to sounding good together, all the band members have to like each other, or at least be able to tolerate one another. Sadly, in the rock and roll game, many bands that started as friends don’t stay that way, and eventually, someone got kicked out.
This is not limited to the garage band down the street playing tunes as a hobby. Bands at the highest levels of fame regularly get sidelined by this stuff, and eventually, there will be casualties. Here’s our list of once-beloved band members given the old heave-ho by people who used to be their friends.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Hannu Lindroos / Lehtikuva.
Dave Mustaine (Metallica)
Dave Mustaine was an original member of Metallica, joining in 1981 as lead guitarist. All four members enjoyed alcoholic beverages, but Mustaine reportedly became “volatile and unhinged” after having one too many. This led to his firing in 1983 and the formation of his own band, Megadeth.
Image Credit: Dave Mustaine by Mario (CC BY).
Pete Best (The Beatles)
Pete Best is the most famous fired drummer of all time. An original member of the Beatles, producer George Martin felt that the drummer simply wasn’t good enough. Best was dismissed, Ringo Starr was brought in, and that was that. Decades later, the Beatles’ Anthology compilation was released, and it featured several tracks on which Best had performed, which meant he could finally earn royalty payments on his work with the group.
Image Credit: Pete Best by Leslie Spear (CC BY).
Brian Jones (The Rolling Stones)
Brian Jones was originally the leader of the Rolling Stones, founding and naming the group and setting its blues-influenced musical course. It eventually became the group known best for Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and Jones became increasingly alienated from the band he had formed. He withdrew into substance abuse, which affected his ability to play, and he was fired from the group in June 1969. He fatally drowned in a swimming pool one month later.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Dennis DeYoung (Styx)
Dennis DeYoung was one of the founding members of Styx, who are best remembered for radio hits like “Come Sail Away” and the execrable “Mr. Roboto.” They broke up in 1984 but reunited twice in the next decade, the second time in 1998. DeYoung began to suffer from light sensitivity and extreme fatigue, which made him ask his bandmates if they could postpone their upcoming tour for six months so he could recover. They declined, replaced him, and have been battling in the press about it ever since.
Image Credit: Dennis DeYoung by Jessie Pearl (CC BY).
Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)
Ozzy Osbourne was the original lead singer for Black Sabbath, a band he fronted for an entire decade. The reason for his ouster was his runaway substance abuse, which was neat considering everyone in the band was guilty of runaway drug abuse. In his 2010 memoir, “I Am Ozzy,” he said that he was fired in April 1979, but ultimately he went on to be more successful than anyone affiliated with Black Sabbath, a band that has seen countless members pass through its ranks since they fired him.
Image Credit: Wikipedia.
Steven Adler (Guns N’ Roses)
Steven Adler was the original drummer of Guns N’ Roses, a band that was legendary for its intake of drugs and alcohol. He played on their debut album, 1987’s “Appetite for Destruction,” which went on to sell 18 million copies in the United States alone, but his substance abuse was affecting his ability to play and caused him to miss performances. He was given an ultimatum – clean up or get out. We don’t want to ruin the suspense, but let’s say he did not clean up.
Image Credit: Steve Adler by Angela George (CC BY-SA).
Michael Anthony (Van Halen)
Michael Anthony is the original bassist for Van Halen, and his tenure with the group dates back to 1974. In 2006, Eddie Van Halen announced on the internet that his son Wolfgang would be the band’s bassist from now on, and that’s how Anthony found out he was out of the band. “If I was dead and they needed someone to play, that’s one thing, but to me this is not a reunion,” he said. Eddie Van Halen passed away in 2020 and Anthony said that the two of them had never resolved all the issues stemming from the firing.
Image Credit: Michael Anthony by KRISTY FOX (CC BY).
Jimi Hendrix (The Upsetters)
It’s hard to believe that anyone would have an issue with Jimi Hendrix being in their band since he’s widely acknowledged as the greatest guitar player who ever lived. However, if what you wanted out of him was to stay in the background and strum as instructed, he probably wasn’t your guy. Little Richard discovered this when he added Hendrix to the ranks of his backing band, the Upsetters, and the guitarist kept upstaging him. He was relieved of duty and went on to try his luck as a solo act. It worked out.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Hannu Lindroos / Lehtikuva.
Lemmy Kilmister (Hawkwind)
Hawkwind is a British psychedelic band that formed in 1969 and has stayed together in one form or another since then. In 1971, Lemmy Kilmister joined their ranks as bassist, a role he would keep until a 1975 North American tour, when he was nabbed at the Canadian border for possession of speed. He said he was “sacked” after that, but it turned out okay. He ended up forming the legendary heavy metal band Motorhead, and he stayed with it until his death from cancer in 2015, exactly four days after his band’s final tour date.
Image Credit: Lemmy Kilmister (Hawkwind) by Mark Marek (CC BY-SA).
Phil Lynott (Skid Row)
No, not that Skid Row. This Skid Row was an Irish blues band formed in 1967, and Phil Lynott was their original singer. Brendan “Brush” Shiels, who founded the band and played bass, decided that things would be a lot simpler if he got rid of this Lynott guy. And wouldn’t you know it? That allowed him to be Skid Row’s lead singer, too! For his part, Lynott didn’t miss a beat, and he strapped on a bass guitar and founded Thin Lizzy, who would go on to be one of the most popular hard rock bands of the 1970s.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
Image Credit: Chris Hakkens / Flickr.
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