being in a band isn’t always easy
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
controversial band member replacements
in rock this list we’re including cases
where a band replaced a deceased member
but only if it really was a questionable
decision or led to a lot of contentious
debating among fans
number ten Doug Yule for Lou Reed The
Velvet Underground jackal goes to the
top of the hill
doing the things
that Jacko’s will as the Velvet
Underground’s co-founder Lou Reed was
the band’s main singer songwriter and
guitarist for almost a decade before he
called it quits and though Doug Ewell
had already been recruited as John
Cale’s replacement by this point
fans were caught unaware when he became
frontmen I’m with
to top things off the new version of the
band which included Deep Purple’s Ian
Paice and several session players
resulted in the less than stellar
squeeze which was essentially a you’ll
syllabi 9 Vivian Campbell for Steve
Clark Def Leppard
Def Leppard decided to replace Pete
Willis with Phil Collen in the early
1980s because of the guitarists drinking
however co-lead guitarist Steve Clark
was also plagued with drinking problems
so following his 1991 death Vivian
Campbell was brought in launching their
first US tour in four years and their
first with new guitars Vivian Campbell
who’s replaced the late Steve Clark but
this led to a change in musical
direction the cost fans to discount
Campbell’s Talent
and they continue to hold on to the
memory of Clark’s greatness
number eight
Ian Astbury for Jim Morrison The Doors
the death of a band member is always
tough for ac/dc Brian Johnson was chosen
to fill Bon Scott shoes following Jim
Morrison’s death The Doors use surviving
members on vocals but eventually
disbanded in 1973 almost three decades
later Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger
formed the doors of the 21st century
with the cult in aspirin no that would
be
not only did this caused an uproar among
fans it also led to legal battles with
The Doors John Densmore and Morrison’s
family due to the use of the band’s name
Oh baby
number seven blaze bayley for Bruce
Dickinson Iron Maiden
in the early 80s Iron Maiden replaced
coke addicted Paul Di’Anno with Bruce
Dickinson
which wasn’t welcomed by early fans and
diehard purists
over time however most came to love
appreciate and respect Dickinson
so by the time he quit to go solo blaze
bayley didn’t stand a chance his two
albums were the two lowest charting of
the Bands career
Dickenson eventually returned
number six Tim Ripper Owens for Rob
Halford
Judas Priest
Tim Ripper Owens went from being in a
Judas Priest tribute band to being Judas
Priest frontmen
after Rob Halford left the band
discovered Owens through a taped
performance of his time in British steel
we would open up as ourselves play an
hour minute two hours of Judas Priest I
thought you know it sounds pretty good
to me
but because fans couldn’t forget Halford
the replacement stirred up much public
outcry and mixed to poor reviews when I
saw it I thought wow that’s me this is a
true rub out the clown
after years of pushing for a reunion it
finally came to fruition in 2003
number five Arnel Pineda for Steve Perry
journey
he wasn’t journeys first singer but
Steve Perry is still linked to the
band’s most commercially successful
periods
he’s since had a string of replacements
starting with Stevo Gerry
Talisman’s Jeff Scott Soto and most
recently
Arnel Pineda
despite the natives obvious talent there
are those who don’t think he’s on par
with Perry
while others have made racist remarks
regarding his Filipino culture
number four multiple Metallica
after Metallica kicked out guitarist
Dave Mustaine for his drug abuse when we
would get drunk they would get chilly
and I would get really violent and
violent people and silly people don’t
mix when their period they replaced him
with Kirk Hammett I couldn’t believe
what I was seeing it was the most
original heaviest fastest thing I had
ever seen in my life which brought on
the Megadeth versus Metallica debate
next flotsam jetsam Jason Newsted was
hired to replace the late Cliff Burton
on bass
but many fans felt Newsted couldn’t fill
Burton’s shoes when Newsted left Robert
Trujillo was hired so many lineup
changes it’s not surprising Metallica
still triggers debate and discussion
number three Ronnie James Dio for ozzy
osbourne Black Sabbath
Ozzy Osbourne wasn’t the only Black
Sabbath member to have indulged in drugs
and alcohol
however his substance-abuse soon put him
in a league of his own
this combined with creative differences
with Tony Iommi led to Osborne’s
replacement with rainbows Ronnie James
Dio
no deals vocal prowess and musical
contributions are undeniable fans still
have trouble Greene who was the better
Sabbath frontman
you
number two everybody but Axl Rose for
somebody else guns and roses
me
along with Axl Rose / Izzy Stradlin Duff
McKagan and Steven Adler are considered
the classic Guns N’Roses lineup
however artistic differences and roses
inability to get along with pretty much
everyone granted the negative stuff
existed and might still exist or
whatever soon led to all members leaving
or being fired plus the band gets its
act together at least by his lights
there will be no more Guns and Roses
tours websites videos merchandise or
even a fan club since Axl had the rights
to the band’s name he continued making
music under Guns N’Roses
but the fact that he’s the only
remaining original member still gets
under the skin of most hardcore fans
today
when there’s no one
before we unveil our number one pick
here are a few honorable mentions
on this stranger you mentioned
number one Sammy Hagar for David Lee
Roth Van Halen
thanks to an unstable lineup of lead
singers Van Halen’s stirred up a hell of
a lot of controversy they rose to fame
with David Lee Roth
but he couldn’t get along with Eddie Van
Halen and Noah change of style was
accompanied by a change of frontman with
Sammy Hagar
the band briefly reunited with Ross
their problems continues following a
commercially disappointing stint with
extremes gary cherone
and separate reunions with Hagar and
Roth which succeeded to varying degrees
do you agree with our list what do you
think is the most contentious band
replacement
more entertaining top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
controversial band member replacements
in rock this list we’re including cases
where a band replaced a deceased member
but only if it really was a questionable
decision or led to a lot of contentious
debating among fans
number ten Doug Yule for Lou Reed The
Velvet Underground jackal goes to the
top of the hill
doing the things
that Jacko’s will as the Velvet
Underground’s co-founder Lou Reed was
the band’s main singer songwriter and
guitarist for almost a decade before he
called it quits and though Doug Ewell
had already been recruited as John
Cale’s replacement by this point
fans were caught unaware when he became
frontmen I’m with
to top things off the new version of the
band which included Deep Purple’s Ian
Paice and several session players
resulted in the less than stellar
squeeze which was essentially a you’ll
syllabi 9 Vivian Campbell for Steve
Clark Def Leppard
Def Leppard decided to replace Pete
Willis with Phil Collen in the early
1980s because of the guitarists drinking
however co-lead guitarist Steve Clark
was also plagued with drinking problems
so following his 1991 death Vivian
Campbell was brought in launching their
first US tour in four years and their
first with new guitars Vivian Campbell
who’s replaced the late Steve Clark but
this led to a change in musical
direction the cost fans to discount
Campbell’s Talent
and they continue to hold on to the
memory of Clark’s greatness
number eight
Ian Astbury for Jim Morrison The Doors
the death of a band member is always
tough for ac/dc Brian Johnson was chosen
to fill Bon Scott shoes following Jim
Morrison’s death The Doors use surviving
members on vocals but eventually
disbanded in 1973 almost three decades
later Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger
formed the doors of the 21st century
with the cult in aspirin no that would
be
not only did this caused an uproar among
fans it also led to legal battles with
The Doors John Densmore and Morrison’s
family due to the use of the band’s name
Oh baby
number seven blaze bayley for Bruce
Dickinson Iron Maiden
in the early 80s Iron Maiden replaced
coke addicted Paul Di’Anno with Bruce
Dickinson
which wasn’t welcomed by early fans and
diehard purists
over time however most came to love
appreciate and respect Dickinson
so by the time he quit to go solo blaze
bayley didn’t stand a chance his two
albums were the two lowest charting of
the Bands career
Dickenson eventually returned
number six Tim Ripper Owens for Rob
Halford
Judas Priest
Tim Ripper Owens went from being in a
Judas Priest tribute band to being Judas
Priest frontmen
after Rob Halford left the band
discovered Owens through a taped
performance of his time in British steel
we would open up as ourselves play an
hour minute two hours of Judas Priest I
thought you know it sounds pretty good
to me
but because fans couldn’t forget Halford
the replacement stirred up much public
outcry and mixed to poor reviews when I
saw it I thought wow that’s me this is a
true rub out the clown
after years of pushing for a reunion it
finally came to fruition in 2003
number five Arnel Pineda for Steve Perry
journey
he wasn’t journeys first singer but
Steve Perry is still linked to the
band’s most commercially successful
periods
he’s since had a string of replacements
starting with Stevo Gerry
Talisman’s Jeff Scott Soto and most
recently
Arnel Pineda
despite the natives obvious talent there
are those who don’t think he’s on par
with Perry
while others have made racist remarks
regarding his Filipino culture
number four multiple Metallica
after Metallica kicked out guitarist
Dave Mustaine for his drug abuse when we
would get drunk they would get chilly
and I would get really violent and
violent people and silly people don’t
mix when their period they replaced him
with Kirk Hammett I couldn’t believe
what I was seeing it was the most
original heaviest fastest thing I had
ever seen in my life which brought on
the Megadeth versus Metallica debate
next flotsam jetsam Jason Newsted was
hired to replace the late Cliff Burton
on bass
but many fans felt Newsted couldn’t fill
Burton’s shoes when Newsted left Robert
Trujillo was hired so many lineup
changes it’s not surprising Metallica
still triggers debate and discussion
number three Ronnie James Dio for ozzy
osbourne Black Sabbath
Ozzy Osbourne wasn’t the only Black
Sabbath member to have indulged in drugs
and alcohol
however his substance-abuse soon put him
in a league of his own
this combined with creative differences
with Tony Iommi led to Osborne’s
replacement with rainbows Ronnie James
Dio
no deals vocal prowess and musical
contributions are undeniable fans still
have trouble Greene who was the better
Sabbath frontman
you
number two everybody but Axl Rose for
somebody else guns and roses
me
along with Axl Rose / Izzy Stradlin Duff
McKagan and Steven Adler are considered
the classic Guns N’Roses lineup
however artistic differences and roses
inability to get along with pretty much
everyone granted the negative stuff
existed and might still exist or
whatever soon led to all members leaving
or being fired plus the band gets its
act together at least by his lights
there will be no more Guns and Roses
tours websites videos merchandise or
even a fan club since Axl had the rights
to the band’s name he continued making
music under Guns N’Roses
but the fact that he’s the only
remaining original member still gets
under the skin of most hardcore fans
today
when there’s no one
before we unveil our number one pick
here are a few honorable mentions
on this stranger you mentioned
number one Sammy Hagar for David Lee
Roth Van Halen
thanks to an unstable lineup of lead
singers Van Halen’s stirred up a hell of
a lot of controversy they rose to fame
with David Lee Roth
but he couldn’t get along with Eddie Van
Halen and Noah change of style was
accompanied by a change of frontman with
Sammy Hagar
the band briefly reunited with Ross
their problems continues following a
commercially disappointing stint with
extremes gary cherone
and separate reunions with Hagar and
Roth which succeeded to varying degrees
do you agree with our list what do you
think is the most contentious band
replacement
more entertaining top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
Please follow and like us: