Nine bands who continued with new singers, including Kasabian, Pink Floyd and Van Halen

A new frontman can inject life into fading groups or unite warring members — but history reveals mixed results

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  Sergio 'Serge' Pizzorno is the new frontman of Kasabian after Tom Meighan was axed following his conviction for spousal abuse in 2020. Redferns

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  From left, Van Halen's 2004 line-up included bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and singer Sammy Hagar. Reuters

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  Todd Rundgren performs as part of The New Cars at the House of Blues, Hollywood, in 2006. AFP

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  Genesis members Mike Rutherford, Chester Thompson and Phil Collins perform at VH1 Rock Honors ceremony in 2007. Getty Images

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  Geezer Butler, Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath perform in 1984 in the UK — years after firing famed frontman Ozzy Osbourne. Photo: Chris Walter / WireImage

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  Singer Arnel Pineda was hired by Journey members after they saw his videos on YouTube. Getty Images

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  Brian Johnson belts out the vocals alongside AC/DC guitarists Malcolm and Angus Young at the Palais Omnisport, Paris, in 1984. AFP

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  Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley, left, and bass guitarist Steve Harris at Brixton Academy, London, in 1995. Getty Images

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  Dave Gilmore, left, and Roger Waters took over singing responsibilities when former frontman Syd Barrett left Pink Floyd. AFP

Kasabian have not only returned with a new album, but a new frontman, too.

After singer Tom Meighan was ousted because of his 2020 conviction for spousal abuse, guitarist Serge Pizzorno has stepped up and taken over all singing and songwriting duties.

The end result is the seventh album The Alchemist’s Euphoria, a stylistic left turn that sees the British rockers explore more psychedelic and esoteric sounds, as well as new subjects.

Despite the risks of replacing the charismatic figurehead, the personnel change has been well received. The Alchemist’s Euphoria has topped the UK charts and the group will soon embark on a European arena tour.

Beneath the band's trademark bluster, Kasabian would have probably breathed a sigh of relief as history hasn’t always been kind to popular rock groups who have ditched their lead singers for a new one.

More than losing the familiarity, a new singer brings their own interpretation, even if it's subconscious, to music, which fans often don’t want to be messed with.

As a result, rock music is full of replacement vocalists who have been unceremoniously and perhaps unfairly, shunned by fans, causing an early demise of the group in question.

There have also been a few cases of bands excelling with a new singer, owing to the creative fresh start offered.

Sometimes this is measured in commercial success, such as the case of Kasabian, while in other cases it is in the group simply continuing to go on.

Here are eight other rock groups, in alphabetical order, who changed their singers with various results.

1. AC/DC

AC/DC is the go-to example for how a band can succeed with a new frontman.

Emerging in 1973, the Australian rockers gained serious momentum with a brilliant set of blistering albums led by their archetypal rock 'n' roll rowdy frontman Bonn Scott.

However, when Scott suddenly died from acute alcohol poisoning in 1980, AC/DC wasted no time in enlisting singer Brian Johnson, whom Scott admired, to fill his shoes.

The new line-up's first release cemented their status as legends of the genre, as Back in Black, which came out six months after Scott's death, remains their biggest selling album and continues to pack stadiums with diehard fans four decades on.

2. Black Sabbath

The stars seemed to align when Ian Gillan joined Black Sabbath in 1982.

At the time, his previous band, hard rockers Deep Purple, called it quits and their peers, Black Sabbath, were looking for their third singer after Ozzy Osbourne was fired in 1979, and his replacement Ronnie James Dio left three years later.

Unfortunately, the chemistry just was not there and Gillan featured in only one album, 1983's Born Again.

The accompanying tour was a fiasco of such proportions it partly inspired the 1984 rock mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. Black Sabbath went on to perform with singer Tony Martin and reunited with Dio and Osbourne before disbanding in 2017.

Scroll through the gallery below for images of Black Sabbath's 2014 concert in Abu Dhabi

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  Their showmanship was very much in evidence, however, as a curtain rolled up to reveal the quartet — Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), the touring drummer Tommy Clufetos and the loon-eyed vocalist Ozzy Osbourne himself. Lee Hoagland / The National

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  The black-clad Osbourne initially appeared a trifle confused — something of a trademark look nowadays — and let the crowd fill in a clutch of lyrical blanks. But that was the only real moment where his performance teetered nearer to his doddering reality-television persona than his status as one of rock’s finest frontmen. Lee Hoagland / The National

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  Though Osbourne’s voice wobbled a few times, he sounded stronger than ever on the classics. Lee Hoagland / The National

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  he most pertinent case in point arrived after he announced that Sabbath were about to “Take you back … ” – right to the very beginning, to the title track of the debut album Black Sabbath, heralded by a cascade of haunting church bells and a riff heavier than an overladen 16-wheeler lorry. Lee Hoagland / The National

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  As Ozzy introduced Under the Sun, he made the understatement of a sweaty night when he joked: “It gets hot around here”. Lee Hoagland / The National

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  “This is a song called Paranoid,” Osbourne hollered. “Go … crazy!” And the crowd were only too happy to follow his command. Lee Hoagland / The National

3. Genesis

When Peter Gabriel decided to leave the group and go solo, Phil Collins emerged from the back, literally, to take on vocal responsibilities.

As the group’s drummer, Collins contributions were then limited to backing vocals. As the new frontman, Genesis gradually moved from the eccentric and progressive rock of the Gabriel-era towards a polished and mainstream sound.

For all the gnashing of teeth from early supporters horrified by the commercially savvy hits, such as Invisible Touch and No Son of Mine, Genesis went from cult favourites to selling more than 100 million albums.

4. Iron Maiden

Let's face it, this was never going to work.

When Blaze Bayley replaced Bruce Dickinson in 1994, the next five years were rocky at best, with Iron Maiden's devoted fans giving the new guy the proverbial cold shoulder.

Who could blame them? Dickinson's soaring vocals were so synonymous with the band’s success that many forgot he was, in fact, the third lead singer hired since forming in 1975.

Bayley released two albums with Iron Maiden, 1995's The X Factor and 1998 Virtual XI, before Dickinson regained his senses, ditched that ill-fated solo career and returned in 1999.

5. Journey

It is the stuff of dreams.

Journey were in flux after replacing original lead singer Steve Perry with Steve Augeri, who would depart the band in 2006, leaving the rockers to search for potential replacements.

However, after coming across singer Arnel Pineda singing startling Journey covers on YouTube, the group invited the Filipino singer to the US for auditions and months later he became the new frontman.

Pineda continues to tour with the group and has recorded two well-received albums, 2011's Eclipse and 2022's Freedom.

6. Pink Floyd

Sometimes you don't have to look too far for talent.

With his fraying mental state forcing Syd Barrett to leave the band, it was bassist Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour who stepped up to share singing and songwriting responsibilities.

While the move resulted in Pink Floyd’s most successful creative and commercial period, it exacerbated internal tensions within the group and Waters acrimoniously left in 1985.

Pink Floyd continues with Gilmour at the helm, releasing a number of respectable albums, including 2014's largely instrumental work The Endless River.

7. Van Halen

Van Halen is a story in three parts.

The first is the hard-rocking period that featured David Lee Roth as the frontman from 1972 to 1985.

The group maintained their appeal when Roth was replaced with Sammy Hagar, whose grittier vocal style resulted in further hits Right Now and Get Up.

However, it wasn't a case of third time's a charm when Hagar made way for Gary Cherone in 1996.

While a perfectly capable singer, Van Halen's fervent fan base rarely warmed to him and Cherone left the group two years later.

Van Halen occasionally reunited with Hagar before reverting to the original line-up with Roth in 2007.

8. The Cars

You can only have so much patience as a band member.

Sick of their frontman Ric Ocasek refusing opportunities to reform the band, the remaining members of The Cars went on to reunite without him in 2005 and recruited a new singer, the well-respected Todd Rundgren.

Calling themselves The New Cars and releasing a live album under the line-up, the group never found its lane with fans and crashed within two years.

Ironically, the move reportedly inspired Ocasek to eventually reunite with the original group for an excellent album, 2011's Move Like This, and a tour before his death in 2019.

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