List of pre-fame band departures

While many notable bands go through several lineup changes throughout their careers, this list of artists who left right before their bands became famous only lists members who quit or were fired from a band shortly before the band achieved mainstream commercial success.

Artists who were only meant to be temporary stand-ins in their bands should not be included in this list. The bands the listed artists left must be notable, can be from any genre of music, and include vocal groups whose members do not play instruments. Because these artists left before their former bands' mainstream breakthrough, they should not be considered part of their former bands' "classic" lineups.

Notable examples
Ex-Beatles drummer Pete Best in 2006. Best was fired from the Beatles a year before "Beatlemania" started.

Of these "nearly-men",[1] drummer Pete Best, who was fired from the Beatles in 1962,[2] just a year before "Beatlemania" started, has been cited as the best-known archetype.[3][4][5][6] Best has since become "famous for not being famous".[7]

Jason Everman is notable for having left two bands that went on to become famous: he was fired from Nirvana in 1989 and Soundgarden in 1990. According to The New York Times, Everman "wasn't just Pete Best ... He was Pete Best twice."[8]

Some of these artists eventually went on to find mainstream success in another band or as a soloist. For example, Metallica's original lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine, formed his own thrash metal band Megadeth in 1983 after he was fired from his former band. While Metallica went on to achieve massive commercial success, Mustaine's Megadeth also enjoyed commercial success,[9][10] selling 50 million records worldwide.[11]

Alphabetic list
Dave Mustaine in 2010. Mustaine formed the successful Megadeth after being fired from Metallica.
Mark Wahlberg in 2012. Wahlberg became a famous actor, singer and model after he quit New Kids on the Block.
Heidi Range in 2006. Range quit Atomic Kitten shortly before the release of their debut single and later joined another girl group, the Sugababes.

Artists are listed alphabetically by their surname, followed by the band they left, their former role in the band, the year they left, and the year their former band achieved mainstream success. Additional comments on the way the artist left (fired or quit) and their replacement, if any, may be added at the end. All entries are referenced with reliable sources.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Artist Band
the artist left		 Role Year
the artist left		 Year
of band's commercial breakthrough		 Notes Ref
George Baldi Boyz II Men Vocalist 1988 1991 Quit
Pete Best The Beatles Drummer 1962 1963 Fired and replaced by Ringo Starr [2]:2
[5]
Elbridge Bryant The Temptations Vocalist 1963 1964 Fired and replaced by David Ruffin [12]:12
Chad Channing Nirvana Drummer 1990 1991 Quit and replaced by Dave Grohl [9][3]
Tony Chapman The Rolling Stones Drummer 1962 1963 Quit and replaced by Charlie Watts [2]:4
[5]
Simon Colley Duran Duran Bassist 1979 1981 Quit and replaced by John Taylor, who was already a member of the band, switching from guitar to bass guitar
Jason Cropper Weezer Guitarist 1993 1994 Fired and replaced by Brian Bell [13]
Alan Curtis Duran Duran Guitarist 1980 1981 Quit and replaced by Andy Taylor
John Curulewski Styx Guitarist 1975 1975 Left and replaced by Tommy Shaw
Stephen Duffy Duran Duran Vocalist/bassist/
drummer		 1979 1981 Quit and replaced by Andy Wickett [3][5]
Jason Everman Nirvana Guitarist 1989 1991 Fired [8]
Soundgarden Bassist 1990 1992 Fired and replaced by Ben Shepherd
Frank Farrell Supertramp Bassist 1970 1972 Left and replaced by Dougie Thompson
Jason Galasso NSYNC Vocalist 1995 1997 Quit and replaced by Lance Bass [14]
Pete Garner The Stone Roses Bassist 1987 1989 Quit and replaced by Mani [5]
Terry Glaze Pantera Vocalist 1986 1990 Quit and replaced by Phil Anselmo
Peter Griesar Dave Matthews Band Keyboardist 1993 1994 Quit [15]
Tracii Guns Guns N' Roses Guitarist 1985 1987 Quit and replaced by Slash [5]
[12]:5
Doug Hopkins Gin Blossoms Guitarist 1992 1993 Fired and replaced by Scott Johnson [2]:2
[16]
Crystal Jones TLC Vocalist 1991 1992 Fired and replaced by Rozonda Thomas [17]
John Kiffmeyer Green Day Drummer 1990 1994 Replaced while at college by Tré Cool
Bob Klose Pink Floyd Guitarist 1965 1967 Quit [18]
James Lilja The Offspring Drummer 1987 1994 Quit and replaced by Ron Welty
Robin Lynn Macy Dixie Chicks Guitarist 1992 1995 Quit [19]
Barbara Martin The Supremes Vocalist 1962 1964 Quit [20]:2
Ron McGovney Metallica Bassist 1982 1986 Quit and replaced by Cliff Burton [21]
Dave Mustaine Guitarist 1983 1986 Fired and replaced by Kirk Hammett [5]
[12]:4
Marc Nelson Boyz II Men Vocalist 1989 1991 Quit [12]:13
Henry Padovani The Police Guitarist 1977 1979 Fired and replaced by Andy Summers [22][23]
Matt Pelissier My Chemical Romance Drummer 2004 2004 Fired and replaced by Bob Bryar
Anthony Phillips Genesis Guitarist 1970 1972 Quit and replaced by Steve Hackett [2]:6
Justin Quinn Another Level Vocalist 1997 1998 Left and became solo UK garage singer known as JJ, appearing on two top 10 hits by DJ Luck & MC Neat in 2000 [24]
Niall Quinn The Cranberries Vocalist 1990 1993 Quit and replaced by Dolores O'Riordan [23]
Heidi Range Atomic Kitten Vocalist 1999 1999 Quit and replaced by Natasha Hamilton [25]
Doug Sandom The Who Drummer 1964 1965 Fired and replaced by Keith Moon [26]
Kate Schellenbach Beastie Boys Drummer 1984 1986 [27]
Jon Shoats Boyz II Men Vocalist 1988 1991 Quit
Eric Stefani No Doubt Keyboardist 1994 1995 Quit [2]:7
[22]
Michelle Stephenson Spice Girls Vocalist 1994 1996 Quit and replaced by Emma Bunton [28][29]
Ian Stewart The Rolling Stones Keyboardist 1963 1963 Fired, but retained as studio and touring member [23]
Stuart Sutcliffe The Beatles Bassist, vocalist 1961 1963 Quit to pursue a career as a painter
Jeff Thomas Duran Duran Vocalist 1980 1981 Quit and replaced by Simon Le Bon
Mark Wahlberg New Kids on the Block Vocalist 1985 1988 Quit and replaced by Joey McIntyre [30]
Marguerite Walker Boyz II Men Vocalist 1988 1991 Quit
Andy Wickett Duran Duran Vocalist 1980 1981 Quit and replaced by Jeff Thomas, prior to Simon Le Bon [31]
Hiro Yamamoto Soundgarden Bassist 1989 1992 Quit and replaced by Jason Everman [32]

References
  1. Lister, David (8 April 2011). "David Lister: The lucrative business of being a nearly-man of rock music". The Independent. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  2. Pous, Terri (22 August 2012). "Gone Too Soon? Artists Who Left Bands Before their Prime". TIME. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. "The nearly men of pop music: I'm (not) with the band". The Independent. 9 August 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  4. Runtagh, Jordan (9 August 2013). "Pete Best Syndrome: 10 Dudes Who Left Big Bands To Wallow In Obscurity". VH1. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  5. Horton, Matthew (29 July 2015). "Bad Timing – 31 Musicians Who Quit Bands Right Before They Became Famous". NME. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  6. Perry, Andrew (28 September 2006). "Beatles behaving badly: what John and I got up to, by the drummer who was booted out". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  7. Dover, Robert M. Cook (10 May 2008). "Ex-Beatles drummer Pete Best rocks on". fosters.com. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  8. Tarver, Clay (2 July 2013). "The Rock 'n' Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  9. Alexandra, Rae (17 January 2013). "Almost Famous: Five Musicians Who Left Before Their Bands Blew Up". SF Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  10. WIllman, Chris (10 July 2013). "Almost Famous: Musicians Who Just Missed Their Shot". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  11. McPhate, Christian (July 11, 2013). "Megadeth Bassist Dave Ellefson on the Metal Aging Process". Dallas Observer. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
  12. Porter, Joseph (21 August 2015). "People Who Left a Band Right Before Fame Hit". guff.com. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  13. Valania, Johnathan (7 May 2016). "PHAWKER.COM – Curated News, Gossip, Concert Reviews, Fearless Political Commentary, Interviews….Plus, the Usual Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll » Blog Archive » EXCERPT: The Complete Oral History Of Weezer". Magnet Magazine. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  14. "A History Of *NSYNC's Breakup, According To Bandmates Not Named Justin Timberlake". HuffPost. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  15. "Interview with Peter Griesar". Nancies. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  16. "6 Musicians Who Left Bands Right Before They Got Famous". CollegeHumor. 5 August 2009.
  17. "39 Things You Didn't Know About TLC". Capital XTRA. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  18. "Pink Floyd: Official Facebook site". Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  19. "Big Twang". 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-03-09.
  20. Keppler, Nick (12 January 2017). "10 Musicians Who Left Famous Bands (Before They Got Famous)". Myspace. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  21. "Ron McGovney Interview 1997". 15 January 1997.
  22. Bignell, Paul (7 July 2012). "Almost famous: Other members of bands who fell by the wayside". The Independent. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  23. Power, Ed (11 June 2007). "I coulda been a contender". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  24. "Asino & Laurent Wery feat. Justin Quinn releases Embrace | FrontView Magazine".
  25. Earp, Catherine (22 February 2013). "Ten Things About... Atomic Kitten". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  26. Marsh, Dave; Bernard, James (1 November 1994). "Expelled: 25 People Who Quit or Were Fired Before Their Groups Became Famous". New Book of Rock Lists. Simon and Schuster. p. 265. ISBN 978-0671787004.
  27. Zwickel, Jonathan A. (4 January 2011). Beastie Boys: A Musical Biography. ABC-CLIO. p. 19. ISBN 978-0313365584.
  28. Silverman, Stephen M. (24 April 1998). "Meet the 'Raw' Spice Girl". People.com. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  29. Adams, Cameron (11 June 2016). "Twenty years ago this month the Spice Girls were weeks away from stardom — where are they now?". News.com.au. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  30. "5 Things You Didn't Know About Mark Wahlberg". Glamour. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  31. Jackson, Lorne (25 May 2009). "Andy Wickett: the Duran Duran star who never was". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  32. "Hiro Yamamoto: Founding Member of Soundgarden & Original Bass Player". feelnumb.com. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
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