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submitted 2 days ago by reef@lemmy.ca to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

Any that have come close?

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[-] Eggscellent@sh.itjust.works 63 points 2 days ago

The search results are interesting, but I haven't heard of half the bands:

Bands with No Original Members

  • Opeth: No original members remain, with the last, David Isberg, leaving in 1992.
  • Jinjer: All founding members from their 2008 formation have left.
  • Napalm Death: Formed in 1982, the band replaced its entire original lineup within the first five years.
  • Molly Hatchet: None of the members from the 1978 original lineup or first album are present.
  • Thin Lizzy: Still tours with no original members, including only two who played on earlier studio material.
  • Blood, Sweat & Tears: Has had nearly 200 members, with all original members leaving early in their career.
  • The Spinners: While they had long-term members, by 2010, the original lineup was gone.
  • In Flames: No original members from their 1990 inception remain.
  • Foreigner: Due to health issues, founding member Mick Jones ceased touring with them.
  • Judas Priest: No original members are in the current touring lineup.
  • Yes: Features no original members.

Bands with Only One Original Member Left (Often Considered "One-Member" Bands)

  • AC/DC: Angus Young is the sole remaining original member, as of 2024.
  • Iron Maiden: The only remaining original member is bassist Steve Harris.
[-] Maestro@fedia.io 33 points 2 days ago

Is this AI slop? Because it's certainly wrong.

Judas Priest: No original members are in the current touring lineup.

Rob Halfords left in the late 90s but returned in the 00s and is still the frontman.

[-] hobovision@mander.xyz 32 points 2 days ago

According to Wikipedia, the band formed in 69 and the earliest a current member joined was 70 (Ian Hill). Halfords didn't join until 73.

[-] Maestro@fedia.io 22 points 2 days ago

TIL. That all happened before their first album though. Not sure I'd count that.

[-] loutr@sh.itjust.works 27 points 2 days ago

Yeah, same for Opeth, Mikael is Opeth for all intents and purposes, him joining a few months after the band's inception is irrelevant.

[-] crank0271@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I'm so glad to find other people (besides at an Opeth show) who know Opeth.

[-] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Founding members are those who founded the band, who are (potentially) different from anyone on any record.

Although Judas Priest's case is special, according to a comment below.

[-] hobovision@mander.xyz 17 points 2 days ago

Opeth is a strange one and I don't think it really counts. The band was still forming when the current leader of the band joined. Yeah if you're super technical then the band that formed didn't include him, but it seems like the "original" group hadn't even played any showed before Akerfelt joined.

In a bio that Akerfelt wrote he says that basically the band died the day he showed up to a rehearsal and later he and the original founder "reformed" Opeth, so it's debatable if it's a ship of thesius situation or a new ship with the same name.

[-] Zos_Kia@jlai.lu 7 points 2 days ago

I don't know about other bands but the bit about iron maiden is really stretched.

I guess if you consider the first lineup to be the one for their first concert in a bar's basement, alright. But if you take the first album, Dave Murray was already in the band and still is.

[-] paultimate14@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

Some of these are real stretches involving band names getting swapped around.

The original band called "Judas Priest" broke up entirely. KK Downing, and Ian Hill were in a band called Freight together. Al Atkins of the now-defunct Judas Priest joined Freight, and they decided the now-available name of Judas Priest was cooler. It was not the same band. Furthermore, before their first album was recorded Atkins was replaced with Halford, and Tipton also joined. So I would count Ian Hill, Rob Halford, and Glenn Tipton all as founding members.

Opeth is similar. The first Opeth before Ackerfeldt broke up without recording any albums.

[-] Manticore@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Could add Steely Dan to the “one member remaining” list. Donald Fagen is the only original member left and still tours with a backing band as Steely Dan.

Yes: Features no original members.

This is technically true, but Yes does still have Steve Howe who was the guitarist on their first hit album ("The Yes Album" in 1971).

[-] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Napalm Death were formed in 1981, and were still developing their proper sound when drummer Mick Harris joined in late '85 and pushed their limits into what is now known as grindcore. That lineup recorded what became the side A of the first album, ‘Scum’. The last remaining original member, vocalist Nic Bullen, left after that, and the band cycled through several more changes, such that Harris is the only one present on the sides A and B of the album.

Harris was in the band for two more albums, leaving in '91 to form jazzcore band Painkiller with John Zorn and Bill Laswell. Napalm Death's lineup stabilized by that time and continues with the new drummer Danny Herrera to this day, with the exception of ditching the second guitarist and later adding another one.

Funny enough, Harris started a side-project Scorn with Nic Bullen right after leaving Napalm Death, and they originally played sort of industrial metal. Bullen again bailed in '95, whereupon Harris changed to industrial illbient, before releasing ‘Greetings from Birmingham’ in 2000, the sound of which might be familiar to everyone here. Except Londoners somehow reinvented basically the same sound a bit later, turning it into a genre of its own.

The same year '91, Harris was also a touring drummer for Godflesh, a project of Justin Broadrick who was the guitarist on the side A of ‘Scum’.

[-] DarkSideOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Wait. Judas Priest for sure has at least Raford

[-] whaleross@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Napalm Death was what popped up first in my mind. I remember it being a bit weird at the time with a band that swapped every single member.

[-] snoons@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago

Of the bands listed I've only ever listened to In Flames, and it makes a lot of sense. I liked Come Clarity and A Sense of Purpose, but the newer stuff is just mediocre.

this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
281 points (100.0% liked)

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