8 Rock Bands With Only One Member

8. Rainbow

Making it on your own after being in a huge rock band is one of the most daunting undertakings any rock star can go through. Not only do you have to reestablish yourself as a creative force all your own...you also have to make sure what you're doing sounds significantly different than your previous outfit. For as much as something like Rainbow should have failed, Ritchie Blackmore unpacked his guitar and set out for quests unknown.

Throughout Rainbow's tenure, Blackmore has always been the one constant in the group, going so far as to call the first album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow to hammer the point home. It's not like the rest of the instruments were in shaky hands or anything, with such acolytes as Ronnie James Dio, Joe Lynn Turner, and even old Deep Purple alumnus Roger Glover finding their way into the lineup over the years.

No matter which version you find them in though, Blackmore is always the overseer of what the band does, going from Renaissance style music in their heyday with Stargazer to more pop centric hard rock on songs like Stone Cold and Street of Dreams. While Blackmore may have moved out to the countryside to play more medieval music these days, Rainbow is still an institution that demands respect from rock fans...a man starting from zero again and building an empire.