What bands have done the worst at replacing a lead vocalist?

Question

Two quick ones... Iron Maiden replacing Bruce Dickinson with Blaze Bailey (yikes) and Van Halen replacing Hagar with Gary Cherone (even more yikes).

lovnrckets - Those wacky Van Halen brothers and all their silly antics! ... and I'll go on record as to having never heard anything from the Misfits without Danzig, but I can't imagine it would be an improvement.

James M - The Commodores had what, one semi-hit in the mid-80s after Richie left? They should've just called it a day.

Sookie - Yep, Paul Rodgers and Queen is their touring moniker. Rumor has it that an album is being recorded. About Velvet Revolver, two guys that I know of that audtioned that would have been a better fit than Weiland: Sebastian Bach and Michael Matijevic, the voice of Steelheart and the voice of Wahlberg in Rockstar.

huevo_ranchero - I think the only really bad move that Sabbath made was bringing in Glenn Hughes, and that was technically an Iommi solo album. Now, I love Hughes. His voice is impeccable, but it just didn't fit with the rest of the Sabbath catalog.

GrinGASTIC!! - To answer your question, I'll give you Deep Purple. They went from Gillian to the Coverdale / Hughes combo and released two of their best and highest regarded albums.

♫MuZiK GoDdE§§♫ - Little known fact, Quiet Riot actually replaced DuBrow with Paul Shortino in the late 80s, but we can obviously see how that worked out for them. I'd like to think that Frankie and the rest of the band will just move on to other projects.

Darth Maul - I think I'm among the dozen or so that actually preferred Corabi over Neil in Motley Crue. That one album was fantastic.

Answer 1

Genesis - They, like Van Halen are a repeat offender. First they replaced Gabriel with Collins. While I concur that Phil can sing, he lead a progressive and influential art band down the sugary sweet road to pop hell. It took about ten years, but by the time We Can't Dance came out, the transformation was complete.
Then, of course, Phil's head ran out of room to expand and he set out on his solo career. What do the two remaining members of Genesis do...they go and recruit some unknown guy to try and fill Phil's shoes... yeah... not so much.
Side note: I noticed they have a new live album out from this last tour. The setlist actually looks good... I just wish Gabriel was singing.
Alice in Chains - Simply because I feel Layne Staley is irreplacable.

Answer 2

Don't forget Deep Purple replacing Gillian with Joe Lynn Turner(Slave's and Masters) not a bad cd but still he was the voice of Rainbow.
I like Hagar in Van Halen he was a better front man.
Blaze Bailey just was plain horrible.

Answer 3

I am going with Black Sabbath, I love them..but I handled the Ronnie James Dio years and even went as far to check out the show with Ian Gillan and love the album Born Again, but I think they should have took a rest till Ozzy was ready to come back. And it was awesome when he did. Everyones answers are good ones.

Now that the lead singer for Quiet Riot has passed, I hope they let it rest as well.

Edit:
thought about this more and have one more band..

Judas Priest...nobody and I mean nobody in my opinion could ever fill Rob Halfords place...


Yes, my coworker here just informed me that QR did have another singer at one time. Man I'm old..lol

Answer 4

Definitely Van Halen.

Answer 5

yeah seriously...a just as relevant question might be: "when has an already successful band made a lead singer change that was for the better?"

frankly, with the stiff argument of Hagar (because VH did go on to have some very good success with him), I can't think of anything!

also, Mike...you took the two best answers away from us before we ever had a shot!! haha...leave us with something!

so to (not) answer your question I will give a band that made a switch of their lead guitarist that was nearly a disaster: Dave Navarro with the Chili Peppers. Very happily, John Fruscianti cleaned up and returned to the band and they are better than ever! You can't blame Navarro entirely, but he obviously was a bad fit...

Answer 6

I'd say the Iron Maiden move was good and I know now this move isn't good but back when they needed it it was a good move but replacing Bon Scott with Brian Johnson was good back in 1980 for AC/DC. I think I mostly give them credit on how fast they were able to turn around from that massive loss of Bon to make Back in Black. But honestly no other moves really come to my mind besides the those and the ones you listed.

Answer 7

Fleetwood Mac: replacing Stevie Nicks with Becca Bramlet, and Lindsey Buckingham with Billy Burnett / Rick Vitto / Dave Mason.

The Doors: replacing Jim Morrison with Ian Astbury.
I'm not actually a Doors fan, and I do like The Cult, but Ian sounded appalling live when he was in The Cult, so heaven only knows how he sounds now!

Answer 8

Van Halen - Stupid Sammy Hagar
Van Halen - Dumber Gary Cherone
Quiet Riot... forgot.
Black Sabbath - Whoever Replaced Ozzy.

Answer 9

It's definitely not the worst out there, but to me Black Sabbath has Ozzy at the helm. They could have done a lot worse than Ronnie James though. Same goes with AC/DC as well, not the worst but a step backwards.

I'll agree with Danzig and The Misfits but I found it to be a bad move both ways. I'm not too hip on his solo stuff either.

Answer 10

From The WTF Rock Files
Sammy Hagar In Van Halen
Gary Cherone In Van Halen
Blaze Bailey In Iron Maiden
Ripper Owens In Judas Priest
Paul Rogers In Queen
John Corabi In Motley Crue
The Doors without Jim Morrison
Seriously....WTF were they thinking?