10 Rock Bands That Survived Key Members Leaving
Sometimes you have to keep on jamming.
Ever since the rise of John, Paul, George and Ringo in the early '60s, there's something about bands that we've all fallen in love with.
Music that comes from a group, as opposed to something produced by someone going solo, just has a different feel to it. There are dynamics and energies that come through in songs that could have only emerged because of the time a band as spent together, and the psychic-like understanding they carve out.
Personalities start to become more recognisable and we, as fans, come to know a band's lineup on a level that we usually reserve for family members or close friends.
However, the cut-throat world of music has shown time and time again that it rarely remains like that for as long as we would like. Being such a creative passion, ideas and feelings about styles or direction have constantly led to arguments among band members and broken up even the most successful of groups.
Sometimes, great rock bands lose a key member, but still manage to churn out the hits without them...
10. Glen Matlock - The Sex Pistols
The driving force behind Britain's punk movement in the 1970s, The Sex Pistols are one of the most influential bands in the history of music. Glen Matlock was an art student who worked in Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McClaren's clothing shop and was introduced to Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook in 1974.
He helped to write 10 of the 12 songs on the Pistols' only album, Never Mind The !*$%, and toured regularly with the group during their first year or so of their stint. Glen was generally seen as being something of an outcast in the group, clashing with Johnny Rotten over the Pistols' controversial lyrics and regularly being accused of not being punk enough for the band.
Glen was replaced by Sid Vicious in February 1977 and the band continued their upward trajectory to becoming the world's biggest punk band. They publicly signed with A&M records in front of Buckingham Palace in March, signed with Virgin Records in May and released God Save The Queen in the same month. The band were at the height of their power and commenced some seriously hyped tours of the UK, Netherlands and North America before eventually disbanding in 1978.