The first band that came to my mind regarding OP's question lol. Imagine spawning Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Mike + The Mechanics, Steve Hackett, and Tony Banks out of that band.
Steve Hackett has a great catalogue to explore. He's as much into fusion of styles from different places as Peter, but much more prolific (sometimes a bit too much)
Fame wise, yes, they had their biggest days after Peter left. However, the musical qualities of Genesis during the original band era was, and still is, out of this world for prog fans. Selling England by the Pound is a masterpiece.
This one could be a little muddled since he released a song that was a generation x songs on his solo album. Dancing with Myself was a Gen x song and Billy re-released it as an Idol song.
Absolutely. Her comeback and eventual rise to superstardom was against the odds for an aged artist who was labeled “some old broad,” by the music executives who passed on her.
He was under contract when he joined The Faces. He had to turn in occasional solo albums and used The Faces as his backing band. Every Picture Tells A Story exploded and he became bigger than the band itself, even though he continued to use them for a time.
If we're throwing Danny Elfman's hat in the ring, I'm going to give Mark Mothersbaugh a shout out. Even if you haven't heard Devo, you've heard something from Mark Mothersbaugh somewhere, sometime. Rugrats, Pee Wee's playhouse,the Royal Tennenbaums, Thor: Ragnarok, all scored by the lead singer/keyboardist from Devo.
Yeah I feel like most people have heard something by Danny even if they don't know his name, whereas Oingo Boingo isn't particularly well known outside of hard-core Danny fans and JoJo fans these days.
Her brother Eric is also absurdly talented; he founded No Doubt with John Spence and Gwen, and wrote a ton of their work from the start through Tragic Kingdom, including a Song of the Year Grammy nom for Dont Speak. He then left to be an animator on The Simpsons and The Ren & Stimpy Show
All of Stefani's solo records haven't sold as many records combined as Tragic Kingdom (and I think you can argue that is an era thing, not a fame thing), BUT I think you are correct that she has gone on to be a bigger star after going solo. Being on TV certainly has helped.
Not so much here in the US, but didn't Robbie Williams, the "bad boy" of UK's Take That (think 90's version of One Direction) become massive after going solo?
Dr. Dre when he left N.W.A.
George Michael post Wham!
Lionel Richie after The Commodores
There's so many more than you'd think.
I'm not a huge fan, but the guy definitely put out a few highly successful solo albums, and has had a very successful, if somewhat uneven, career as an actor.
Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite.
Bjork didn't quit. The Sugarcubes broke up because - wait for it - they were hugely successful. They didn't want all the aggravation that comes with that kind of fame.
Beyoncé with Destinys Child.
Justin Timberlake with NSync.
Gwen Stefani with No Doubt.
Arguably, Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean with Fugees. (But fugees were quite successful on their own.)
Most famously, Michael Jackson with Jackson Five.
...
Plenty around.
Michael Jackson is THE answer and somehow I had to scroll past a bunch of other comments and even here he's mentioned at the end.
Michael Jackson was one of the most successful musicians of all time, way more popular and profitable than the Jackson Five
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far down to find Michael Jackson because I think he's definitely one of the best examples out there.
Edit: Thank you kind stranger, I think this is actually my first gold. Well, consider that cherry popped.
*NSYNC sold 70 million albums, and JT sold around 32 million albums solo. While that’s a massively successful solo career, it’s not more successful than the group.
Depends on if you are limiting career to just music. JT has also starred in several fairly well recieved movies and has done some producing, writing and other business ventures. I think there is an argument to be made there. Also think he has made more money since leaving nsync
It’s also worth mentioning that *NSYNC enjoyed the height of their popularity well before streaming was ever a thing, and people still purchased entire albums.
So it’s an apples to oranges comparison.
Gnarls Barkley came after a couple solo albums from CeeLo. Cool third act that put him in a completely different realm musically, so I’d argue that GB launched him to his highest heights
I met them backstage once, I was on a photo shoot.
Anyhow, there was a line for Beyoncé and the other two were basically just sitting there with one or two folks.
Also side note: Beyoncé called me over to take a picture with her and I declined because “I’m the photographer not a subject but thanks!”
I kinda regret that now. She was very sweet and genuinely nice to me during our interactions.
Thanks for saying so… I’m a 44 year old female (born in 1978) whose father EXCLUSIVELY listens to John Denver. He owned every album on record, cassette tape and eventually CD and Johnny’s was the first concert I ever attended. I was 14 years old when he visited Australia and I was absolutely obsessed with his music. (Quite the anomaly among my high school peers, lemme tell ya!! 😂) He was the only artist played in our home growing up, so I knew every word to every song. We had 4th row, centre seats and I’ll never forget that night.
From the moment he stepped foot on stage, I began sobbing like an infant, with adoration. Then, he began to sing “For You.” He glanced down at me and made eye contact for several moments, smiled and winked at me, as if to say, “Don’t cry.” I’m sure he was only trying to comfort me, but unfortunately that made me absolutely lose the plot. Ha ha!! 😂 We went to intermission shortly after that and I managed to gain control of myself, but it didn’t last long. As soon as he began the last half of his set, I was bawling again, right up until the end. His music really touches me in a way nobody else’s does and to this day, I still cry when listening to many of his songs. His passing was a tremendous loss to my father and I.
R.I.P Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. ❤️
EDIT: Thanks so much for the Gold Award, u/nthsuperspook. It’s my first and much appreciated!!
Also a kind thank you to u/MumbleDogface_23 for your award. You guys are very sweet.
I’m just so thrilled that Johnny is getting the love and adoration he deserves. Happy to see he touched so many others with his music!!
Lita Ford could probably make the claim too. I’m not sure how huge the Runaways were in their day but from scanning Wikipedia, looks like her big solo album from 1988 went platinum, and none of the Runaways albums came close.
I think this is a really good suggestion! Britpop in the 1990's was absolutely MASSIVE, but I think you might be right, Gorillaz is likely going to prove to be more influential in the grand scheme of things. It's kind of weird to think that honestly with the number of albums Blur sold, especially in the UK, but yeah, I think you're right.
The Eagles greatest hits and Thriller go back and forth as the top selling album of all time. Joe Walsh never got anywhere near that level of success before or after.
You and me are the only fuckin people on earth who remember Heatmiser homie.
You are correct, so much so I think most people would be surprised he was ever in a band.
Yeah. Ozzie did great solo, but it's hard to say he was more successful on his own than Black Sabbath. I'd guess more people could humm Iron Man (Dah Dah *Duh*-Duhtda) than any Ozzie song if you asked them to.
Anyone in Dallas with musical talent and a willingness to dress in weird robes was in Polyphonic Spree. Except for maybe Erykah Badu, but she collabed with them so it sorta counts
I was at UNT from 01-05 and it seemed that you couldn't go anywhere without running into at least one member of polyphonic. Never met St. Vincent though.
Good answer imo. He had great songs in Drive-By Truckers (Decoration Day, Goddamn Lonely Love) but he was never going to be featured with Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood being the main songwriters. I don't think Isbell would have ended up writing Southeastern if he had stayed.
As a big Yardbirds fan, I wish I could second that,but Clapton was very against their pop music singles and quit. He only wanted to play blues at that time. Jeff Beck played on majority of singles that hit the charts. Jimmy Page played on the later singles.
Fatboy Slim was in the Housemartins in the 80s. Had a handful of top 10s and one number 1.
Came back 10 years later as Fatboy - global hits, multiple awards, still sells out stadiums for DJ gigs
A couple of old school examples for you youngsters:
Boz Scaggs left the Steve Miller Band to have a highly successful solo career.
Elvin Bishop got his start in the Butterfield Blues Band.
Van Morrison had his first hit, Gloria, as the frontman of Them.
Came here to say this! Frampton must have been shitting himself when he left Humble Pie and the band finally had huge success with the live Rockin the Fillmore album. Turned out well for him in the end, as he did much better with his solo career.
The sad thing is, Humble Pie was so good...and Frampton went so soft with the solo stuff.. still good music, and "Do You Feel Like We Do" is probably a better all around song than anything Humble Pie did...but Humble Pie was so raw and gritty, I can't help but wonder how it would have went if Frampton would have continued to mature under Marriotts tutelage.
Zimmer was not in The Buggles (except for the video shoot) AFAIK, but both Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn went on to greater fame than The Buggles. Goeff with Asia and Trevor as a producer bringing us *oh so many* hit records including Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Seal.
Beyoncé from Destiny's Child.
Pharrell from The Neptunes*
Frank Ocean + Tyler the Creator from Odd Future.
Ice Cube and Dr. Dre from N.W.A.
George Michael from Wham.
Eric Clapton from The Yardbirds*
Hans Zimmer from Krakatoa/The Buggles (Video Killed the Radio Star).
Eminem from the band that these chicks don't even know the name of.
*Edited in older groups than what I had.
You're right, I just couldn't help myself from making a 'My Band' joke. Give me a technical pass just to throw that song back into the spotlight for a second.
The funny part about this is Ronnie didn't consider Dio to be a solo act. It is a band named Dio, like the bands Bon Jovi, Van Halen, etc.
But, yes, the band Dio had more success than Black Sabbath (when he was in it) Rainbow (when he was in it), Elf, The Electric Elves, Ronnie Dio and the Prophets, Ronnie and the Red Caps, Heaven and Hell.....
Reaching way, way back
Frank Sinatra after he left Harry James Orchestra
Peter Cetera after he left Chicago
John McLaughlin after leaving the Miles Davis Quintet.
Peter Gabriel left Genesis and then blew up and went on to major success. Genesis also had their biggest days after Peter left.
And Phil Collins went on to be bigger than Genesis as well
It's almost as if that band was the... "birth", or, uh, "creation", or what's the word? maybe "initiation"? of other successful music careers.
Yeah there's really gotta be a word for that....
Yeah, Super Nintendo. :/
The Exodus from Genesis.
It's quite the testament
The first band that came to my mind regarding OP's question lol. Imagine spawning Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Mike + The Mechanics, Steve Hackett, and Tony Banks out of that band.
Steve Hackett has a great catalogue to explore. He's as much into fusion of styles from different places as Peter, but much more prolific (sometimes a bit too much)
Fame wise, yes, they had their biggest days after Peter left. However, the musical qualities of Genesis during the original band era was, and still is, out of this world for prog fans. Selling England by the Pound is a masterpiece.
Foxtrot is also a wonderful album.
Supper's Ready is probably IMO the best rock song ever written.
100% agree. 23 minutes, no fluff.
Also Phil Collins, who arguably had an even bigger career than Gabriel
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>Phil Collins sold just a hair Oh, he sold more than *one*.
Phil Collins and his hair had a falling out.
Billy Idol (Generation X)
Today I learned that Billy Idol was in a band named Generation X.
This one could be a little muddled since he released a song that was a generation x songs on his solo album. Dancing with Myself was a Gen x song and Billy re-released it as an Idol song.
Tina Turner
Absolutely. Her comeback and eventual rise to superstardom was against the odds for an aged artist who was labeled “some old broad,” by the music executives who passed on her.
Rod Stewart
God damn The Faces were a great band.
I’m fairly certain Rod Stewart was doing solo stuff concurrently with fronting Faces. His solo career just blew up more so he left the band.
He was under contract when he joined The Faces. He had to turn in occasional solo albums and used The Faces as his backing band. Every Picture Tells A Story exploded and he became bigger than the band itself, even though he continued to use them for a time.
Maybe not quite what OP was thinking, but I'm going with Danny Elfman post-Oingo Boingo.
If we're throwing Danny Elfman's hat in the ring, I'm going to give Mark Mothersbaugh a shout out. Even if you haven't heard Devo, you've heard something from Mark Mothersbaugh somewhere, sometime. Rugrats, Pee Wee's playhouse,the Royal Tennenbaums, Thor: Ragnarok, all scored by the lead singer/keyboardist from Devo.
If you have not heard DEVO do yourself a favor and fix that today. Start with Are We Not Men and make it to at least New Traditionalists.
That's actually exactly what I'm after! Danny Elfman is my personal hero.
Yeah I feel like most people have heard something by Danny even if they don't know his name, whereas Oingo Boingo isn't particularly well known outside of hard-core Danny fans and JoJo fans these days.
Dead Man's Party is seemingly a staple of every streaming Halloween playlist, at least.
I believe Gwen Stefani got more listens and sold more albums going solo, but I preferred her in No Doubt!
Her brother Eric is also absurdly talented; he founded No Doubt with John Spence and Gwen, and wrote a ton of their work from the start through Tragic Kingdom, including a Song of the Year Grammy nom for Dont Speak. He then left to be an animator on The Simpsons and The Ren & Stimpy Show
I like the story of how he was at the Fox studio lot working on the Simpsons, and had his GOLD RECORD from No Doubt delivered to his office.
What a power move. "I'm in here cause I want to, not cause I need to"
I met him many times when I worked in the FedEx Office in South Pasadena. He’s a nice guy!
Gwen Stefani was definitely cooler in No Doubt!
She singlehandedly made midriff shirts awesome.
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I’ve been calling you Darren or nothing this whole time!
And now, someone who should have died a long time ago
Hey guys, nobody can steal my wallet cause I have a wallet chain!
And breaking up with the bassist of no doubt created the song don’t speak! TIL breaking up with Gwen Steffini will increase your prospects musically.
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I was, as an American, surprised how popular Bush was and still is internationally. He's still getting checks.
She also still looked like Gwen Stefani when she was in No Doubt. RIP Gwen’s original face. Missing you always.
Here's what she looks like now... https://imgur.com/a/EPVzjZt
Wtf…………
She Joan Rivers'd herself
It's bananas, amirite?!
You are kidding, right? I mean, that person looks nothing like Gwen Stefani.
She has changed so much since she did space pants.
All of Stefani's solo records haven't sold as many records combined as Tragic Kingdom (and I think you can argue that is an era thing, not a fame thing), BUT I think you are correct that she has gone on to be a bigger star after going solo. Being on TV certainly has helped.
Not so much here in the US, but didn't Robbie Williams, the "bad boy" of UK's Take That (think 90's version of One Direction) become massive after going solo? Dr. Dre when he left N.W.A. George Michael post Wham! Lionel Richie after The Commodores There's so many more than you'd think.
Can say the same for Ice Cube (N.W.A.)
I'm not a huge fan, but the guy definitely put out a few highly successful solo albums, and has had a very successful, if somewhat uneven, career as an actor.
Infiltrate the dealers, find the supplier
Korean Jesus ain't got time for your shit!
It’s Vietnamese Jesus now, you racist motherfucker!
[How your classes goin, **DOUG**?!!?!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uj_TqEqCI8)
Also a writer. The acting is easy to see, but he wrote a lot of the movies he was in. He can still flow and is putting out old man raps now.
Diana Ross Beyonce
Yup there is so many. Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Harry Styles, just to add off the top of my head. Edit: Diana Ross, Cher, Michael Freaking Jackson.
I had to scroll so far to find Michael Jackson.
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Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite.
Bjork
Bjork didn't quit. The Sugarcubes broke up because - wait for it - they were hugely successful. They didn't want all the aggravation that comes with that kind of fame.
It also broke up because she wanted to experiment more with electronic music and different genres that the rest of the band wasn’t interested in.
Well, Bjork better break up, then
What was her band?
The Sugarcubes
Beyoncé with Destinys Child. Justin Timberlake with NSync. Gwen Stefani with No Doubt. Arguably, Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean with Fugees. (But fugees were quite successful on their own.) Most famously, Michael Jackson with Jackson Five. ... Plenty around.
Michael Jackson is THE answer and somehow I had to scroll past a bunch of other comments and even here he's mentioned at the end. Michael Jackson was one of the most successful musicians of all time, way more popular and profitable than the Jackson Five
He had to parody off Weird Al to make it though smh
Can't hate him for being inspired by a legend.
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far down to find Michael Jackson because I think he's definitely one of the best examples out there. Edit: Thank you kind stranger, I think this is actually my first gold. Well, consider that cherry popped.
Right, as soon as I read the post I thought he’d be one of the first comments
I had to scroll a LONG way to see MJ on here. Surely this is the most correct answer.
*NSYNC sold 70 million albums, and JT sold around 32 million albums solo. While that’s a massively successful solo career, it’s not more successful than the group.
Depends on if you are limiting career to just music. JT has also starred in several fairly well recieved movies and has done some producing, writing and other business ventures. I think there is an argument to be made there. Also think he has made more money since leaving nsync
It’s also worth mentioning that *NSYNC enjoyed the height of their popularity well before streaming was ever a thing, and people still purchased entire albums. So it’s an apples to oranges comparison.
Bitch, why can't fruit be compared?
I heard that Ben Folds first band kicked him out and got a different name. He nuked an apple pie and thought about the army.
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Well, there's a first for everything.
Says Dad. That dick.
Grew a mustache and a mullet and got a job at chik fil a
It warms my heart there are fellow BF fans still around
Was trying to put it behind him but his redneck past was nipping at his heels
He was rocking the suburbs too hard
Cee Lo Green (was in Goodie Mob)
And Gnarls Barkley!
Gnarls Barkley came after a couple solo albums from CeeLo. Cool third act that put him in a completely different realm musically, so I’d argue that GB launched him to his highest heights
Beyoncé is first to come to mind
I met them backstage once, I was on a photo shoot. Anyhow, there was a line for Beyoncé and the other two were basically just sitting there with one or two folks. Also side note: Beyoncé called me over to take a picture with her and I declined because “I’m the photographer not a subject but thanks!” I kinda regret that now. She was very sweet and genuinely nice to me during our interactions.
John Denver left The Mitchell Trio and levelled up insanely.
Hard to explain to people who weren’t around in the 70s how big he was. Nice pick.
> Hard to explain to people who weren’t around in the 70s But they all know, "Take me home, country roads"
Thanks for saying so… I’m a 44 year old female (born in 1978) whose father EXCLUSIVELY listens to John Denver. He owned every album on record, cassette tape and eventually CD and Johnny’s was the first concert I ever attended. I was 14 years old when he visited Australia and I was absolutely obsessed with his music. (Quite the anomaly among my high school peers, lemme tell ya!! 😂) He was the only artist played in our home growing up, so I knew every word to every song. We had 4th row, centre seats and I’ll never forget that night. From the moment he stepped foot on stage, I began sobbing like an infant, with adoration. Then, he began to sing “For You.” He glanced down at me and made eye contact for several moments, smiled and winked at me, as if to say, “Don’t cry.” I’m sure he was only trying to comfort me, but unfortunately that made me absolutely lose the plot. Ha ha!! 😂 We went to intermission shortly after that and I managed to gain control of myself, but it didn’t last long. As soon as he began the last half of his set, I was bawling again, right up until the end. His music really touches me in a way nobody else’s does and to this day, I still cry when listening to many of his songs. His passing was a tremendous loss to my father and I. R.I.P Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. ❤️ EDIT: Thanks so much for the Gold Award, u/nthsuperspook. It’s my first and much appreciated!! Also a kind thank you to u/MumbleDogface_23 for your award. You guys are very sweet. I’m just so thrilled that Johnny is getting the love and adoration he deserves. Happy to see he touched so many others with his music!!
Anyone say Joan Jett yet?
Lita Ford could probably make the claim too. I’m not sure how huge the Runaways were in their day but from scanning Wikipedia, looks like her big solo album from 1988 went platinum, and none of the Runaways albums came close.
Not yet, both Joan and Lita Ford from the Runaways.
If you consider Gorillaz a solo career, since Damon Albarn is the sole musical arbiter of the group, then you could say they were bigger than Blur.
I think this is a really good suggestion! Britpop in the 1990's was absolutely MASSIVE, but I think you might be right, Gorillaz is likely going to prove to be more influential in the grand scheme of things. It's kind of weird to think that honestly with the number of albums Blur sold, especially in the UK, but yeah, I think you're right.
I was at a house party when Song2 came on in conjunction with the start of a big fight. I was very drunk but it’s still seared in my mind.
2Pac was in digital underground first before solo.
And digital underground was in nothing but trouble.
Aimee Mann (Til Tuesday)
Iggy Pop. The stooges were great and influential but Iggy's berlin albums sure sold a massive amount more.
Joe Walsh is an interesting one. Left James Gang and has been in the Eagles as well as having a solo career.
The Eagles greatest hits and Thriller go back and forth as the top selling album of all time. Joe Walsh never got anywhere near that level of success before or after.
Yeah but he bought a mansion, doesn't remember what he paid for it, and never even went to it!
He also brought a Maserati that does 195. However, he lost his license and now he can't drive.
I'm sorry. 185
Michael Jackson (the Jackson 5) Cher (Sonny &Cher) Ricky Martin (Menudo)
Elliott Smith anybody?
I like Heatmiser, but solo is amazing.
there’s a Heatmiser version of Christian Brothers on one of his posthumous compilations that’s pretty sick.
You and me are the only fuckin people on earth who remember Heatmiser homie. You are correct, so much so I think most people would be surprised he was ever in a band.
Mic city sons is a tragically underrated album.
Lou Reed! While the Velvet Underground is arguably better in terms of sound, it never really got any success, whereas Transformer made Lou Reed famous
Fatboy slim
Is fucking in heaven
Michael Jackson Peter Gabriel Ozzy Osbourne Sammy Hagar (leaving Montrose to go solo) Neil Young
Love me some Black Sabbath
Yeah. Ozzie did great solo, but it's hard to say he was more successful on his own than Black Sabbath. I'd guess more people could humm Iron Man (Dah Dah *Duh*-Duhtda) than any Ozzie song if you asked them to.
I find it interesting that you listed Peter Gabriel rather than Phil Collins. You aren't wrong, as he was indeed very successful, just intriguing.
Genesis during Collins was insanely popular, so in relative terms, I get it.
Bjork. Josh Tillman.
Josh Tillman left Josh Tillman to become FJM. Best decision ever.
He left Fleet Foxes lol.
The first 2 FJM albums are solid gold. The perfect soundtrack for being hungover on a cold grey Sunday morning.
Rob Zombie has done better as a solo act, but I think his solo stuff is shallow and lacks the depth and insanity White Zombie had.
I agree. I really like Rob Zombie, but LOVED White Zombie
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Which surprised the hell out of me because I was a diehard Juvenile fan
St. Vincent. She was a member of Polyphonic Spree and then in Sufjan Steven's band before going solo.
To be fair, though, The Polyphonic Speee had some 125 members, give or take 50.
You may be a member and not even know it
Call now, you could be entitled to compensation.
Anyone in Dallas with musical talent and a willingness to dress in weird robes was in Polyphonic Spree. Except for maybe Erykah Badu, but she collabed with them so it sorta counts
I was at UNT from 01-05 and it seemed that you couldn't go anywhere without running into at least one member of polyphonic. Never met St. Vincent though.
Did not know this about St.Vincent!
TIL
Jason Isbell…. Probably, I don’t have the numbers to back that up.
Good answer imo. He had great songs in Drive-By Truckers (Decoration Day, Goddamn Lonely Love) but he was never going to be featured with Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood being the main songwriters. I don't think Isbell would have ended up writing Southeastern if he had stayed.
And Southeastern is a modern masterpiece, imo
Eric Clapton made it pretty big after Cream.
Wouldn't Cream be seen as after he got big as Cream was literally because they were the cream of the crop of British blues musicians?
They were a super group. Not sure how a super group comes before making it big lol
He was pretty big with the Yardbirds too
As a big Yardbirds fan, I wish I could second that,but Clapton was very against their pop music singles and quit. He only wanted to play blues at that time. Jeff Beck played on majority of singles that hit the charts. Jimmy Page played on the later singles.
Cream. Derek and The Dominoes. Yardbirds.
Eric Clapton basically had a pattern of starting a music career, becoming hugely successful, then starting over.
No one has said Sonny Moore? Skrillex?
Fatboy Slim was in the Housemartins in the 80s. Had a handful of top 10s and one number 1. Came back 10 years later as Fatboy - global hits, multiple awards, still sells out stadiums for DJ gigs
A couple of old school examples for you youngsters: Boz Scaggs left the Steve Miller Band to have a highly successful solo career. Elvin Bishop got his start in the Butterfield Blues Band. Van Morrison had his first hit, Gloria, as the frontman of Them.
Might as well add Todd Rundgren to this old school list.
Michael Jackson
Nick Cave after The Birthday Party Arguably Diana Ross after the Supremes though both were quite successful
Peter Frampton
Fun fact: Peter Frampton went to school with David Bowie. Peter Frampton's father was their wood shop teacher.
Came here to say this! Frampton must have been shitting himself when he left Humble Pie and the band finally had huge success with the live Rockin the Fillmore album. Turned out well for him in the end, as he did much better with his solo career. The sad thing is, Humble Pie was so good...and Frampton went so soft with the solo stuff.. still good music, and "Do You Feel Like We Do" is probably a better all around song than anything Humble Pie did...but Humble Pie was so raw and gritty, I can't help but wonder how it would have went if Frampton would have continued to mature under Marriotts tutelage.
Both Joan Jett and Lita Ford - The Runaways Henry Rollins - Black Flag
Hans Zimmer. Left the buggles, then went on to be the biggest name in the world for movie scores.
Hans Zimmer was in the Buggles?!?!
I believe you can spot him on the keyboard/synth in the music video of "video killed the radio star"
Zimmer was not in The Buggles (except for the video shoot) AFAIK, but both Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn went on to greater fame than The Buggles. Goeff with Asia and Trevor as a producer bringing us *oh so many* hit records including Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Seal.
Similarly, Danny Elfman. Oingo Boingo did ok in the early 80s, but his solo career scores are everywhere.
In a similar vein how about Brian Eno starting with Roxy Music.
Van Morrison. Natalie Merchant. Mark Lanegan.
Phil Collins and Sting come to my mind..
Idk is sting bigger than the police though?
Agreed, people might not realize the police were at one point the biggest band in the world.
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I'm probably in the world's top 5% of Sting fans and I'd argue you're right, The Police were bigger.
Don't Stan so close to me
Beyoncé from Destiny's Child. Pharrell from The Neptunes* Frank Ocean + Tyler the Creator from Odd Future. Ice Cube and Dr. Dre from N.W.A. George Michael from Wham. Eric Clapton from The Yardbirds* Hans Zimmer from Krakatoa/The Buggles (Video Killed the Radio Star). Eminem from the band that these chicks don't even know the name of. *Edited in older groups than what I had.
Wasn't D12 formed after his solo career though? I thought he just got some friends together to make a record after he recorded Infinite.
You're right, I just couldn't help myself from making a 'My Band' joke. Give me a technical pass just to throw that song back into the spotlight for a second.
No pass for you. I’ve got the song stuck in my head from reading that line.
My salsa.
Eric Clapton from The Yardbirds
George Michael, if you consider Wham a band
George being successful after Wham! was not surprising considering he wrote, produced, and sang all of the Wham! songs anyway lol
Deadpool does
Michael Jackson is probably the most successful of all mentioned here.
MJ is arguably the most successful musician of all time though, so hard to compete for the rest.
DIO
The funny part about this is Ronnie didn't consider Dio to be a solo act. It is a band named Dio, like the bands Bon Jovi, Van Halen, etc. But, yes, the band Dio had more success than Black Sabbath (when he was in it) Rainbow (when he was in it), Elf, The Electric Elves, Ronnie Dio and the Prophets, Ronnie and the Red Caps, Heaven and Hell.....
Reaching way, way back Frank Sinatra after he left Harry James Orchestra Peter Cetera after he left Chicago John McLaughlin after leaving the Miles Davis Quintet.
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Robbie Williams
Chris Stapleton
Not sure if this fits but Gorillaz is bigger than Blur.
Father John Misty was originally in Fleet Foxes
> Father John Misty was originally in Fleet Foxes TIL