AS TREY ANASTASIO told us recently, keeping a rock band together is an extraordinarily difficult task. “Picture who your best friends were when you were 18,” he said. “And imagine you got trapped in a van with them for 40 years…. It just builds up, and personalities clash. I’m talking real loathing, like, ‘Don’t put a gun in the room.’ It’s really crazy.”
One of the few bands in rock history to maintain their iconic lineup for a decade at a time is Anastasio’s Phish. Due to a variety of circumstances, including retirement, illness, death, personality problems, or protracted legal disputes, most groups experience at least one significant absence. Due to Larry Mullen Jr.’s back issue, even the usually unbeatable U2 just concluded their Las Vegas engagement at Sphere with a replacement drummer. Three halves of their lineup are still active. The Who are at 2/4, the Eagles at 3/5 (or 1/5 if we’re just counting OGs), the Rolling Stones at 3/5 (or 2/5 if Ronnie Wood is still the new person to you), Journey at 2/5, and so on and so forth.
However, what occurs when the final authentic band member leaves? While some groups just dissolve, many continue with new members and act as though they are something more than approved tribute bands. After Abdul “Duke” Fakir passed away, the Four Tops are the most recent example, but they’re not the only ones. This is our list of bands that are still on the road without a single member from the legendary era. (Although there is no one definition of the “classic era,” we decided to take into account members who were involved in the band’s hit-making throughout that time.)
