10 bands made worse by firing members
The stories of bands being made better by firing a member are numerous, whether this be The Rolling Stones founder member Brian Jones being kicked out due to his addiction and spiralling mental health issues or The Beatles taking it to the next level by firing drummer Pete Best and replacing him with Ringo Starr, a revolving door of band members is a story well trodden in music.
This is a trend as old as popular music itself. We’re all familiar with tales of changes faces, but what about when groups are made worse by firing a member?
Examples of this are harder to come by. Given that it seems counterintuitive to remove a member who brings something favourable to an act, there are still plenty of notable instances. Whether this is because of infighting, addiction issues, or other reasons, over the years, many bands have seen themselves worse off for firing an incumbent.
Ironically, this might make the day-to-day proceedings easier, but the fact it diminishes the quality of their output is fascinating, as the music is what everything hinges on. However, some things are not meant to be. From prominent acts to more niche outfits, it is part and parcel of the music industry and a natural byproduct of having numerous individuals as a creative collective.
So, without further ado, check our list of ten bands made worse by firing a member below.
10 bands made worse by firing members:
10. Alice in Chains – Mike Starr
A great bassist cannot be replaced. This is a point that the story of grunge legends Alice in Chains affirms. Their original bassist, Mike Starr, played on the EPs We Die Young and Sap and their widely influential first two albums, Facelift and Dirt. Bringing heavy grooves to the band, Starr’s work on the four-string is some of the most distinctive of 1990s rock, with his musical muscle perfect for Alice in Chains when they were at their peak.
However, Starr left Alice in Chains just as they had reached the summit of their career and were enjoying their greatest commercial success while touring Dirt in 1993. According to frontman Layne Staley, during a 1994 Rolling Stone discussion, Starr left because of “a difference in priorities. We wanted to continue intense touring and press, Mike was ready to go home”.
However, Starr would later contradict this, claiming on Celebrity Rehab that he was fired due to his intensifying drug use. The quartet were never the same after his departure, with his thick bass tone irreplaceable. Tragically, Starr would die of a prescription drug overdose in 2011, aged 44.
9. Queens of the Stone Age – Nick Oliveri
Playing on the second and third albums by desert rock masters Queens of the Stone Age, bassist and backing vocalist Nick Oliveri was an instrumental force. Not only did he help the group refine their blueprint, but his aggressive playing provided a perfect bridge between the pulsating drums and frontman Josh Homme’s girthy guitar sound.
It reflects Oliveri’s impact on the band that he plays on their second-best album, 2000’s Rated R, and its 2002 follow-up, their masterpiece, Songs for the Deaf. However, after a string of Australian dates in 2004, the bassist was dismissed from the group. Initial reports claimed it was because of his aggressive attitude towards the band’s fans. Not long after, though, it emerged that Homme had taken the decision because of rumours that Oliveri had been physically abusive to his girlfriend.
“A couple years ago, I spoke to Nick about a rumour I heard. I said, ‘If I ever find out that this is true, I can’t know you, man,'” Homme later explained. He would even reveal that he considered breaking up Queens of the Stone Age after firing Oliveri but elected to continue in the face of this immense sea change. Whilst it was a significant move, and the band have continued to be one of the most consistent out there, you can’t help but think they’d have been a little bit better with the elemental musicianship of Oliveri. It says everything that it took them until 2007 to find his full-time replacement, Michael Shuman.
8. Placebo – Steve Hewitt
It indicates a musician’s positive impact on a band that their peak coincides with their tenure. Such is the case with the second drummer of Placebo, Steve Hewitt, who joined in 1996. While Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal’s original sticksman Robert Schultzberg was fantastic, with his raw flair instilling their debut with a compelling edge, Hewitt’s rhythmic refinement allowed the band to expand their sound.
Hewitt’s first album with Placebo was 1998’s Without You I’m Nothing, and his final was 2006’s Meds. This eight-year period was undoubtedly their finest, producing most of their classic songs. Yes, the 2022 album Never Let Me Go signalled a return to form, but Placebo, at their peak, remain unmatched. ‘Nancy Boy’, ‘Pure Morning’, ‘Special K’, ‘The Bitter End’, Hewitt played on all these moments. Alas, as bands develop, so do their interpersonal relationships, and it’s not always cheerful.
After Hewitt’s departure was announced in 2007, frontman Brian Molko said: “Being in a band is very much like being in a marriage, and in couples—in this case a triple—people can grow apart over the years. To say that you don’t love your partner anymore is inaccurate, considering all that you’ve been through and achieved together. There simply comes a point when you realise that you want different things from your relationship and that you can no longer live under the same roof, so to speak.”
In his account, Hewitt claimed: “Alex Weston, our manager, […] called me into the office and said I was not in the band anymore. And that’s it. I was thrown out”. He would also describe being let go in this fashion as “very hurtful”, as he’d been in Placebo for over a decade. Furthermore, as Hewitt was fired in 2007, and all of the group’s output was of a much worse grade until 15 years later, his claim on this list could not be more robust. They’re yet to produce a beat as iconic as that on ‘Pure Morning’.
7. The Smashing Pumpkins – D’Arcy Wretzky
Although The Smashing Pumpkins have managed to dodge every interpersonal impediment thrown their way, from heroin addictions to romances ending, there’s a sense that they never quite recovered from firing original bassist D’arcy Wretzky. She is credited on their first six studio albums, including their two masterpieces, Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Wretzky, however, was fired in 1999.
Once described by frontman and band leader Billy Corgan as the “moral authority” and “moral conscience” of the quartet, Wretzky was important in more than just a musical sense. However, following the success of 1995’s Mellon Collie, her drug abuse would start to take its toll, becoming increasingly absent from the creative process to the extent that Corgan played most of the bass parts on her final album with the group, 2000’s Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music. Then, shortly after being dismissed, she was arrested for possessing crack cocaine.
Later, in an inversion of his historic comments about Wretzky’s moral significance to The Smashing Pumpkins, he maintained that she was “fired for being a mean-spirited drug addict who refused to get help”. Mean-spirited or not, they’ve always missed her musical style despite the competence of her replacement, Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.
6. Fleetwood Mac – Lindsey Buckingham
Fleetwood Mac understand inter-band drama better than any other. They’ve had such an oscillating career that the history of the band reads like a medieval clan’s, just without the murder. Mental health, drug abuse and romance have all played their part in the transatlantic group’s tale, and to create such an artistic legacy in the face of such obstacles exemplifies their musical genius.
One man who had a tremendous impact on saving Fleetwood Mac was Lindsey Buckingham, who joined the group in 1975 alongside romantic and musical partner Stevie Nicks. At the time, the group needed a new guitarist, so their leader and namesake, Mick Fleetwood, invited the guitar whizz Buckingham to enter the fold. However, he would only accept the job if Nicks could join him too. The rest is history; the pair helped The Mac pen their eponymous album later that year, which paved the way for their chef d’oeuvre, Rumours, in 1977.
Famously, though, the creation of Rumours was marred by drama. This included the breakup of Buckingham and Nicks as a couple, something the pair never truly put to bed. Regardless of their well-publicised tension, it was still surprising in 2018 when it was announced that Buckingham was dismissed after over 40 years.
The vocalist and guitar hero claimed that Nicks brought about this end. He said it was “an ultimatum: Either you go or she’s gonna go”. Although Fleetwood Mac hasn’t released an album since 2003’s Say You Will, their performances without Buckingham’s distinctive style seriously lacked his star power. Tragically, following the death of central member Christine McVie in 2022, it looks as if Fleetwood Mac might well be over for good, with the chances of Buckingham rejoining almost nil.
5. Dinosaur Jr – Lou Barlow
Whilst alternative rock pioneers Dinosaur Jr have maintained a remarkable consistency throughout their career, they have been the best when the original lineup is featured. Whilst original drummer Murph played with the group until leaving in 1993, the departure of bassist and sometimes lead vocalist Lou Barlow in 1989 was the most significant miss.
Notably, after forming out of the ashes of their hardcore outfit, Deep Wound, in 1984, Dinosaur – who later became Dinosaur Jr due to a legal issue surrounding the name – quickly rose as masters of the burgeoning alternative rock movement. Their 1987 sophomore effort, You’re Living All Over Me, remains a cornerstone of the genre, yet by the time the trio were recording their third effort, 1988’s Bug, the tension between old friends frontman J Mascis and Barlow had become too pronounced to ignore.
The friction between Mascis and Barlow was so great that it hurt Dinosaur Jr’s productivity, so in 1989, Barlow was kicked out after touring Bug – a successful record. He now focused on Sebadoh, an outfit he used to vent his frustration about what happened with Dinosaur Jr. On ‘The Freed Pig’ from 1991’s Sebadoh III, Barlow outlines his feelings about being treated poorly in his old group.
Of course, the band were still excellent without Barlow, as Green Mind, Where You Been and Without a Sound attest. However, it wasn’t the same without Barlow’s dynamism and natural musical understanding of Mascis.
Things would eventually be patched up, and Barlow rejoined the group alongside Murph in 2005. They picked up where they left off, and all five of their subsequent records have been stellar.
4. Yes – Jon Anderson
Vocalist Jon Anderson co-founded prog-rock heroes Yes alongside bassist Chris Squire in 1968 before leaving in 1980. He also had stints in 1983 to 1988 and from 1990 to 2004. He was a defining component of the group’s classic sound. For all of the other members’ brilliance, they lack the emotive potency that made them such a highlight of the era without Anderson.
In 2008, Anderson planned to reunite with Yes once again, but sadly, a mesh of health problems forced him to pull out of a tour before it had even commenced. The run of dates were then cancelled, but the rest of the group eventually decided to resume performing despite Anderson’s availability.
Accordingly, they announced a stint on the road with the new lead singer, Benoît David, the Canadian musician who had played with Mystery and the Yes tribute outfit, Close to the Edge.
It must be a real kick in the teeth being told when you’re sick that a cover artist is replacing you. However, in his typically measured manner, whilst Anderson said he regretted that his old friends had not waited for his improvement or handled things “in a more gentlemanly fashion”, he wished them well. He also had a trick up his sleeve. As the co-owner of the Yes trademark, he referred to their endeavours as “solo work”, emphasising that their band “is not Yes”. Duly, they agreed not to tour with the Yes name. Later, in a gravely ironic twist, the tour was cut short in February 2009 when Chris Squire needed emergency surgery on a leg aneurysm.
3. Sex Pistols – Glen Matlock
The truth is murky on this one, but we’re going to go with the argument that Glen Matlock was fired from first-wave punk legends Sex Pistols. Not only was Matlock their original bass player, but he also wrote most of their best songs, credited as co-writer on ten of the 12 tracks on their 1977 album, Never Mind the Bollocks.
Whilst his overall contribution to the album has been disputed over the years, it’s clear that the quartet were much better off with him than with his destructive and famously unmusical replacement, Sid Vicious. Whilst guitarist Steve Jones said in a 2011 interview that he was “tired of Matlock’s claims” that he’d co-written some of their most essential tunes, Matlock has always maintained his side of the story.
Regardless, Matlock left Sex Pistols in February 1977. A contemporary report in the NME claimed that he was “thrown out…because he went on too long about Paul McCartney….The Beatles was too much.” On the other hand, Matlock asserted that he left of his own volition because he was “sick of all the bullshit”. Steve Jones later inferred that he had been kicked out, saying: “He was a good writer, but he didn’t look like a Sex Pistol, and he was always washing his feet. His mum didn’t like the songs.”
Sex Pistols were without their most accomplished musician when Matlock left and imploded the following year. It begs the question of what the future might have looked like for them if he’d stayed.
2. The Clash – Mick Jones
One band that greatly suffered from firing a member was The Clash. An integral member since their formation, the lead guitarist co-wrote numbers and sang on some of their classic offerings, including ‘Train in Vain’. However, he was fired in 1983, as the group’s disintegration was in full swing. His final album with the group was 1982’s Combat Rock, which showed that the writing was on the wall for the quartet, as drummer Topper Headon was asked to leave after the album arrived due to his spiralling heroin addiction.
It has been claimed that Jones’ punctuality was a significant motivation for his dismissal, but nevertheless, they would last only one album without him before they called it a day. Their final offering, 1985’s aptly named Cut the Crap, was risible and marred by chaotic recording sessions. Frontman Joe Strummer knew the new-look band could not continue and disowned the record before dissolving the group only weeks after its release.
Luckily, though, the classic lineup of The Clash did become friends again in the following years and, according to Jones, even planned to reunite. However, the book was shut for good following Strummer’s death in 2002.
1. Pink Floyd – Richard Wright
Pink Floyd co-founder and keyboardist Richard Wright was a vital cog in their machine. Present for the whimsical psychedelia of the Syd Barrett-led years and a crucial part of their metamorphosis into the cerebral outfit that produced era-defining albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, things gradually fell apart for him and the group.
Wright’s contributions diminished over the late 1970s until he was pushed into an exit after touring The Wall in 1981. Reflecting this trajectory, 1977’s Animals was the first album by the band without songwriting credits for him. Then, by the time they recorded 1979’s The Wall, Roger Waters, who now had a dictatorial grip on the creative process, became frustrated that Wright was not contributing but still earning equal production royalties.
Wright didn’t help himself. He refused to catch up on the recording backlog as his marriage was falling apart and rued not seeing his children enough. He later explained: “Both myself and Dave (Gilmour)… had little to offer, through laziness or whatever. Looking back, although I didn’t realise it, I was depressed.”
Waters even considered suing Wright but decided it would be easier for all involved if he left when the project ended. The keyboardist then spoke with guitarist David Gilmour, who told him he would support him staying in the group but caveated this by expressing that he felt he had contributed little to The Wall. Backed into a corner, Wright agreed to leave, but only after finishing the album and tour.
To say Pink Floyd suffered without Wright would be an understatement. 1983’s The Final Cut, a record helmed mainly by Waters, misses his panache and well-thought-out arrangement, with it one of the worst in their oeuvre. This was something the band were aware of, and after Waters quit following The Final Cut, they hired Wright as a session player for 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason and then as a full-time member for 1994’s The Division Bell. Wright passed away in 2008, but in a show of his importance to the group, sessions using him were released on their final album, The Endless River.
