History Main / TheBandMinusTheFace

* Music/SHINee survived the suicide of main vocalist and songwriter Jonghyun in December 2017. His last recordings with the group were released posthumously in 2018. Although they went on hiatus for a while starting at the end of 2018, it was due to the surviving members being drafted into the military. 2021 comeback album ''Don't Call Me'' and 2023 follow-up ''Hard'' showed that the group is still capable of making hits in Korea and scoring multiple music show wins without Jonghyun.

[[quoteright:350:[[Music/TheDoors https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doors_other_voices_4.jpg]] ]]

The band, sometimes under a different name, partakes on side projects minus the face, while the latter is still an active member.

Bands that floundered without the face.

[[folder:Aversions]]
Bands that carried on without the face just fine or to greater success.

* The Russian band "Chorny Obelisk" (Black Obelisk) broke up after the untimely demise of their founder, lyricist, bass guitarist and main vocalist Anatoliy Krupnov in 1997. In 1999, three former members of the band started playing together again, and, after hearing people refer to them as "Black Obelisk", decided to revive the band. The first album they released (with guitarist Dmitriy Borisenkov providing lyrics and main vocals), was dedicated to Krupnov's memory. While Borisenkov has become the new face of the band, and the band itself has regained a lot of its former popularity, they still cite Krupnov as their biggest influence and hold annual concerts in his memory.

* UsefulNotes/{{Synthwave}} group Dead Astronauts lost their lead producer and vocalist Hayley Stewart when she went solo as Mecha Maiko in 2016, but they have since carried on with Florence Bullock(Glitbiter) in her place.

* German band Spliff got hit managed to avert this trope ''twice'': Formerly the Music/NinaHagen band, the remaining members formed Spliff after Hagen left to pursue a solo career. After working with another lead singer who lasted only one album, the rest of the band all took on vocal duties, released some of their biggest hits and arguably became even more successful than Hagen herself.

Bands that partake on side projects without the face, sometimes under different names, while the face is still an active member.

* After Alice Deejay's girl trio split up, the producers attempted to start anew as Candee Jay with vocalist Ilze Lankhaar. But like the aforementioned fellow Dutch act 2 Unlimited, the reformation only lasted for one album. In 2014, the project was rebooted again as Alice Dj with Ilona Vangelder as the new face, and in 2021, original face Judith Pronk returned to performing live after nearly two decades.

* In the world of GospelMusic, this happens pretty frequently, with a group forming around a person, or name, and trying to keep going after the founder/dominant personality is gone. When JD Sumner of JD Sumner and the Stamps Quartet died, Ed Enoch tried to keep the name and keep going but was forced for a few years to call the group Ed Enoch and Golden Covenant, which few knew or cared about. He finally got the rights to the name, but without JD, nobody thought of them as the Stamps. James Blackwood was the driving force behind the Blackwood Brothers, especially as his actual brothers eventually all left. When he left as well in 1980, leaving the group in the hands of his son and nephew, not many were thrilled with it and tried to pretend the group no longer existed. Several years after James's death, his son Jimmy started the group up again, eventually helping the group live up to its name when his brother Billy joined. Billy is the only Blackwood still with the group today, and their popularity is once again fading. Hovie Lister and the Statesman Quartet were gospel superstars, but after Lister's death, the other four members tried to keep going as the Happy Rhythm Quartet. No one remembers this happening. The Cathedrals officially ended their run with the death of Glen Payne, but several groups rose from their ashes, including the Legacy Five and Ernie Haase & Signature Sound. Both have repertoires that heavily draw from their years with the Cathedrals, but wisely, neither group has even tried to use that name.

* When original singer Edwin left I Mother Earth, they managed to put out two more albums with Brian Byrne before imploding, though admittedly there were [[ExecutiveMeddling other factors]]. On the other hand, four studio albums is an impressive catalogue for an early 90s Canadian alt-rock band, since most were lucky to get to three.

* When Lord Worm was fired from Cryptopsy, they continued with new vocalist Matt [=McGachy=]. Their first album with him, ''The Unspoken King'', was a gigantic misstep that very nearly destroyed their career, but their subsequent releases with him have been far better received.
** Lord Worm had actually left Cryptopsy once before, in 1997. They went through two lead singers, Mike [=DiSalvo=] and Martin Lacroix, before he returned in 2003.

** On the other hand, a number of fans have willingly accepted ''Devil's Rain'' as genuinely good, and have grown weary of a lot of Danzig's {{Jerkass}} behavior over the years. Examples include the incident with the Northside Kings (in which Glenn threw a sucker punch, only to get knocked out when the Kings' frontman punched back), the concert where Glenn tried to encourage his fans to physically assault a member of the audience for talking on a cell phone (which resulted in Danzig being booed off stage),and his repeated homophobic remarks aimed at Creator/HughJackman (Glenn has repeatedly claimed to have been in line to play the part of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} in the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'', despite Creator/BryanSinger's statements that Jackman was the only actor he ever considered for the part). Not to mention that while Jerry tried to C&D Creator/{{Hasbro}} from stealing the Misfits name for the rival band in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' franchise, Glenn apparently gave his blessing to Creator/{{Hasbro}}.

* In 1979, after a very successful and a not-so-successful album, Music/NinaHagen dumped her band, the Nina Hagen Band, in favor of a solo career. The next year, the band returned as Spliff and probably became even more successful than Hagen herself. Also [[InvertedTrope inverted]]: Before they became Nina Hagen's backing band, they were known as Lokomotive Kreuzberg.
** Spliff themselves suffered from this, for their lead singer only stayed for one album.

* Fourteen years after the death of Freddie Mercury, Music/{{Queen}} performed a reunion tour and three years later, recorded an album with Paul Rodgers of Music/BadCompany and Free as vocalist. Sensing that perhaps their fanbase wouldn't accept Rodgers as a replacement for Mercury, the album was listed as being by "Paul Rodgers and Queen" as if to suggest Rodgers was a collaborative artist rather than a band member. Many fans reacted less warmly to this new team than to their solo work. Queen has since done a number of such performances and singles, credited as ''Queen + [artist]''.

* The Music/SexPistols recorded a few songs after Johnny Rotten left.

* The Sneaker Pimps' face in their early stages was singer Kelli Ali. Part of the reason why they dropped her was that she was the face - but she only sang the songs. Despite the warnings of their record label and the fans, Kelli was ignored and eventually kicked out of the band. Chris Corner, who did write the songs, became the singer (and the face) after that, and they released two more albums (the latter of which didn't chart at all) that failed to reach the success of Becoming X before disbanding completely in 2004.

* Inverted in a sense by Music/{{Rush|Band}}. [[ThePeteBest Original drummer John Rutsey]] left after the band's rather formulaic debut album and was replaced by Music/NeilPeart, whose distinctive drumming and lyrics added significantly to the band's appeal.

* A variation: Music/XUSBand's first four albums (from ''Los Angeles'' to ''More Fun in the New World'') featured Billy Zoom on guitar and were produced by Ray Manzarek of Music/TheDoors. Afterwards, Zoom left and the band stopped working with Manzarek; fan consensus is that these changes led to an AudienceAlienatingEra for the group, and the two albums they recorded before going on hiatus (''Ain't Love Grand'' and ''See How We Are'') aren't quite as good as what came before, although there are some who appreciate this era of the band.

* {{Europop}} group Novaspace replaced frontwoman Jessica Boehrs with Jenny Marsala after the former left in 2006 to focus on her TV acting career, and re-recorded their prior singles "Dancing with Tears In My Eyes" (Music/{{Ultravox}} cover) and "Time After Time"(Music/CyndiLauper cover) with Marsala on vocals. Needless to say, their popularity and musical quality took a nosedive, and they disbanded altogether in 2011. (The Dutch Euro-trance group of the same name founded around this time is unrelated)
* Yankee Grey's lead singer quit after their first album due to vocal cord issues. The band's label closed around the same time, so they released one album independently with the keyboardist singing lead vocals instead and were never heard from again.
* In 1979, with [[ContractualObligationProject one more album due]], lead singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman confessed to each other that they were absolutely miserable in the band, and left Music/{{Yes}}[[note]]The latter for the second time[[/note]]. The other members, vital parts of the band in their own right over the years, wound up hiring both members of Music/TheBuggles when the latter approached them with a song they'd written, unaware at the time of Anderson and Wakeman's departure. Creator/TrevorHorn sang lead on the resulting album, ''Drama'', making it the only Yes album without Anderson's vocals.

* It even happened to Music/TheBeatles: [[ThePeteBest Pete Best]] may be a relative unknown in this day and age, but when the band replaced him with Music/RingoStarr, it led to a fan uprising in UsefulNotes/{{Liverpool}}. Of course, you know the rest of the story already...

* Back in the '20s, there was this jazz band called The Washingtonians, and their leader was the banjoist Elmer Snowden. In early 1924, the rest of the band accused Snowden of keeping too much of the band's earnings for himself, and they fired him. Their piano player ''Music/DukeEllington'' took the reins of the band--and turned them into one of the greatest bands in jazz history.
* Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer disbanded in 1978 after the disappointing contractual obligation album ''Love Beach'' flopped. The three of them went their separate ways, Keith Emerson mainly to do film scores, Greg Lake working as a solo artist, Carl Palmer as a member of another supergroup, Music/{{Asia}}. In 1986, Emerson and Lake formed Emerson, Lake & ''Powell'' with ex-Music/BlackSabbath and Music/{{Rainbow}} drummer Cozy Powell, released one SelfTitledAlbum before disbanding. Moderate sales and financial problems led to the original ELP trying to reunite, but after Lake opted out, Emerson and Palmer formed 3 with American singer/guitarist/bassist Robert Berry (who replaced Music/SteveHackett in GTR for one ill-fated attempt at a second album), but 1988's ''Three To The Power Of Three'', their only album together, also stalled. ELP finally reunited in 1992.

* Exile went both ways with this. In their original incarnation in The70s, with Jimmy Stokley on lead vocals, they scored only one major hit with "Kiss You All Over". Many failed albums later, J. P. Pennington and Sonny [=LeMaire=] became the frontmen, and the group reinvented itself as a country band which scored ten #1 hits in The80s. Then in 1989, Pennington and several other members quit, leaving [=LeMaire=] and new member Paul Martin to carry only a couple minor hits before their success tapered off entirely.

* When Music/BruceDickinson left Music/IronMaiden in 1993, he was replaced by a relative unknown, Wolfsbane singer Blaze Bayley, who also had a different singing style from the iconic Dickinson. Sales of Maiden albums were disappointing with Bayley as vocalist, and during this period, the band was on CMC International Records, a label that was to hard rock and metal in the grunge/alt era as Branson, MO is to '50s and '60s pop and country stars. Dickinson would return to the band in 1999, and pretty soon Maiden was back to its old glory, releasing the well-received and successful ''Brave New World'' in 2000.

* Music/LinkinPark is still around despite the tragic suicide of Chester Bennington their lead singer. However they are on hiatus and are trying to shape the band's future.
* Music/{{Lydia}} is most associated with female vocals done by Maria Sais De Sicilia (the debut album) or Mindy White (the second and third albums). In 2010, the band temporarily broke up after Mindy left, but they got back together in 2011 with Leighton Antelman on vocals. They've since released several albums and have released ''more'' albums then when Maria and Mindy were in the band.

* A weird version: The Real Music/MilliVanilli started performing under that name after it was revealed that the Faces had never actually been involved in the music at all. However, in addition to the actual original singers, this new incarnation also included new members Ray Horton and Gina Mohammed - two young pretty faces who were shown off more prominently in marketing material than the actual veteran members. The stigma following the band's lip-synching scandal sank the new album anyway, and Mohammed and Horton were shuffled off into the new group Try 'N' B. The old "faces", Rob & Fab, also recorded an album, but it too went nowhere despite being better received than Try 'N' B and The Real Milli Vanilli's work.

* Following the firing of vocalist Vince Neil in 1992, Music/MotleyCrue replaced him with Scream vocalist John Corabi, who sang for the band in their self-titled 1994 album. With grunge and alternative dominating the rock scene, the album was a comparative flop to its predecessors, and diehard Crue fans had a hard time getting used to the guttural, deeper-voiced Corabi replacing the nasal, high-pitched Neil on lead vocals. The shift to a harder-edged sound also didn't sit too well with longtime fans. Neil eventually returned to the band in 1997, and while the Crue never sold as well as they did in their 1980s hair metal heyday, they at least did better than with Corabi. Subsequent albums with Neil were more faithful to the band's classic sound, bar 1997's alternative-ish ''Generation Swine''.

* After Music/RedHotChiliPeppers' guitarist, Hillel Slovak, died in 1988, the band went through a lot of effort to replace him. The eventual replacement, John Frusciante, helped turn the band into mainstream success and is currently regarded as one of the 20 best guitarists of all time. The band held on well with Josh Klinghoffer for 12 years, with a return of Frusciante.

* The Shadows were Music/CliffRichard's backing band, but also wrote and performed instrumental numbers without him, and were extremely successful. They carried on doing this after he no longer required their services, and eventually followed Richard into the British record books: Cliff has scored a total of 16 UK No.1 singles, the 2nd highest total after Music/ElvisPresley, while The Shadows, had 12 UK No.1 singles, the sixth highest total.

* Music/{{Supertramp}} was formed in 1969 by keyboardist/vocalist Rick Davies (the bluesy, lower-pitched singer) and guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist (and at the time, bassist) Roger Hodgson (high tenor vocals), with a [[RevolvingDoorBand revolving-door lineup]]. The "classic" lineup (Hodgson, Davies, woodwind player John Halliwell, Scottish bassist Dougie Thomson, and American drummer Bob Siebenberg) formed in 1973. Hodgson and Davies [[VocalTagTeam rotated or shared roles as lead singers]], and (for the most part) wrote Supertramp's material individually, though in [[Music/TheBeatles Lennon/McCartney style]] credited the songs as Hodgson/Davies; Hodgson wrote and sang the majority of the band's hits. By 1983, Hodgson left, and Davies became the band's sole leader and main writer since, to lesser success.
* Dave Bickler was the lead singer on Survivor's biggest hit, "Eye of the Tiger", but that was the only top ten hit for the band during Bickler's tenure. They had four top ten singles with Bickler's replacement, Jimi Jamison, none of which are nearly as famous as "Eye of the Tiger."
* After parting ways with lead singer David Ruffin in 1968, The Temptations kept on racking up hits well into the 70s while Ruffin's solo career floundered (his brother Jimmy had a slightly bigger career), who wasn't. That said, The Temptations were established R&B stars before he joined the group, and remained so afterwards.

* Music/ThreeDaysGrace was one of the biggest rock bands out there with Adam Gontier on vocals. He then left for unexplained reasons and formed Saint Asonia. The band continued with Matt Walst of My Darkest Days. Though highly controversial to say the least, and they aren't as successful as they were before, they've managed to remain a big name in the rock scene despite losing their most prominent member. The new Three Days Grace have had no problems scoring hit-after-hit on rock radio, just like they did before. Although Saint Asonia also scored some rock hits, they weren't as big as the Three Days Grace hits; many old fans do, however, prefer Saint Asonia to the Walst-fronted Three Days Grace. This all changed with the release of Outsider, widely considered one of their best albums with 3 #1 singles.

* When original singer and cofounder John Foxx left Music/{{Ultravox}}, critics predicted great success for him as a solo artist and doom for the rest of the band. However, once Midge Ure replaced him, the band enjoyed its greatest success ever, while Foxx's career never got anywhere near the heights imagined for it.

* The CreatorCouple behind Future Perfect, Simon Owen and Rebecca Morgan, separated in the fall of 2019 due to the latter's ongoing health problems, with Simon going solo until May 2023, when Rachel Arnison from his prior project Beats Per Minute stepped in as co-vocalist.

* Mark Chavez, the lead singer of Music/{{Adema}}, left the band after their second album in 2004. Luke Caraccioli replaced him on the third album then Bobby Reeves on the fourth. Chavez returned in 2010, left again the following year and he came back again in 2017... only to leave ''again'' in 2019 and be replaced by Ryan Shuck from Music/JulienK.
* Music/{{Alabama}} has pretty much been in semi-retirement since their last major single in 2002. Lead singer Randy Owen recorded one solo album in 2008, but not to distance himself from the band. They did some more projects since.

* Music/BigAndRich went on hiatus after their third album. Both members (Big Kenny and John Rich) recorded solo albums with each other's blessings, but have since officially started touring again as Big & Rich.

* When Mark Farner left Music/GrandFunkRailroad in 1976, the remaining members continued on under the name Flint (after the city in UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}} where the band was formed), until Farner came back five years later.
* Sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison of the Music/DixieChicks recorded one album as the Court Yard Hounds because lead singer Natalie Maines didn't feel like recording another Dixie Chicks album.
* Dune singer Verena von Strenge took a vacation from the group between 1997 and 1999, during which time they used a vocalist named Vanessa.
* Music/{{Eiffel 65}}'s Gabry Ponte went solo in 2005, and the rest of the band split with Bliss Corporation, changing their name to Bloom 06 due to said company holding onto the rights to their former name. In 2010, Ponte regrouped with the other members and they changed their name back to Eiffel 65.
* Music/{{ETHS}}'s most prominent member was the original lead singer Candice Clot, who left the band in 2012 and got replaced by Rachel Aspe. They only released an EP and a studio album before ETHS disbanded. Rachel left in 2016 and Candice (with other members of the original line-up) came back for the final tour in 2017.

* Music/InformationSociety reformed in 2006 with Christopher Anton replacing Kurt Harland on vocals, aside from a guest appearance by the latter on "The Seeds of Pain". Harland contributed to a few live performances following the release of ''Synthesizer'', and properly rejoined the band for ''_Hello World'' in 2014. Ironically, Harland previously [[InvertedTrope inverted this trope]] by [[IAmTheBand recording solo under the Information Society name]], whilst founder Paul Robb went solo as Think Tank.
* Music/{{Kraftwerk}} founding member Ralf Hütter [[TenMinuteRetirement briefly retired]] from the band in 1971, deciding that he "couldn't play anymore". During Hütter's sabbatical, Florian Schneider toured with Eberhard Kranemann, Klaus Dinger, and Michael Rother, though this lineup never released any recordings. After Dinger and Rother left to found Music/{{Neu}}, Hütter rejoined the band at Schneider's request, and they recorded ''Kraftwerk 2'' in the fall of that year.
* Music/MorbidAngel vocalist/bassist David Vincent left in 1996 and returned in 2004. The band recorded three albums with replacement Steve Tucker which had mixed-to-positive reviews. After 7 years, finally, an album was recorded with Vincent. It was not received well at all.

* Shiny Toy Guns' female lead, Carah Faye, had a falling-out with the band shortly after the release of 2006's ''We Are Pilots'', and moved to UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}, where she married former STG sound engineer Daniel Johanson, being replaced by Sisely Treasure for the band's 2008 second album, ''Season of Poison'', which adopted a more guitar-based sound. In 2010, keyboardist Jeremy Dawson and drummer Mikey Martin traveled to Sweden to reconcile with Faye, who subsequently divorced Johanson and rejoined STG for ''III''.
* Difficult as it is to imagine the Strawbs without Dave Cousins fronting them, he did take a break at the end of the '70s. Roy Hill took over as frontman, deploying his unique variety of [[MindScrew mind screwiness]] in the role, until Dave felt ready to return.

* Keyboardist Music/RickWakeman took a vacation from Music/{{Yes}} for the second time in 1979, and lead singer Jon Anderson followed suit. Their replacements were Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, AKA the new wave pop duo Music/TheBuggles of "Video Killed the Radio Star" fame. The resulting album, 1980's ''Drama'', was met with mixed reviews.
* D12:
** D12's ''Devil's Night Mixtape'', at first, didn't feature their iconic member Music/{{Eminem}} due to scheduling issues (though he'd wanted to be on it). Due to a negative reaction from D12 fans, a couple of hours after release, the band updated the tracklist to add a two-minute intro of Eminem freestyling, clearly recorded by him in a hurry... not least that it's completely a capella.
** Music/{{Eminem}} also took breaks from the group while he was filming ''Film/EightMile'', leaving them to tour their material without their most beloved member.
** D12 feature on Music/{{Gorillaz}}'s "911" without Eminem, after [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror the 9/11 attacks]] left the rest of the group stranded in UsefulNotes/{{London}} with Damon Albarn. After meeting, they decided to get together for a project, with Albarn rapping as replacement for the more notorious TokenWhite.

* Msuic/TheSupremes managed to last several years after Diana Ross left (and even had a few minor hits), but were tremendously overshadowed by Ross's solo career. Most Supremes best-of albums barely acknowledge the Ross-less years (when Mary Wilson remained throughout), if at all. For this reason, they are sometimes called The70s Supremes.

* Inverted in a sense by Music/{{Rush}}. [[ThePeteBest Original drummer John Rutsey]] left after the band's rather formulaic debut album and was replaced by Music/NeilPeart, whose distinctive drumming and lyrics added significantly to the band's appeal.

* Music/{{Chrome}} became known in the early '80s when the band was a collaboration between Damon Edge and Helios Creed. Therefore, they've gone through this trope twice: first when Helios left and Damon took full control, and second when Damon {{died|during production}} and Helios took the name back.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':

** STP reunited in 2008, but fell into this trope once again when Scott Weiland was fired for unknown reasons and subsequently replaced with [[Music/LinkinPark Chester Bennington]]. With 2015 marking both Bennington’s departure and Weiland’s death, followed by Bennington's suicide in 2017, the band has carried on with former ''Series/TheXFactorUS'' contestant Jeff Gutt.

* Msuic/TheSupremes managed to last several years after Diana Ross left (and even had a few minor hits), but were tremendously overshadowed by Ross's solo career. Most Supremes best-of albums barely acknowledge the Ross-less years (when Mary Wilson remained throughout), if at all. For this reason, they are sometimes called TheSeventies Supremes.
* Music/TalkingHeads broke up because of tension between singer/guitarist Music/DavidByrne and the rest of the band. In 1996, the group (under the shortened name The Heads) recorded ''No Talking, Just Head'', an album on which Byrne was replaced by a new guitarist and a variety of guest singers, including [[Music/{{Blondie}} Debbie Harry]], Music/IggyPop, [[Music/{{INXS}} Michael Hutchence]], [[Music/{{XTC}} Andy Partridge]] and Johnette Napolitano (who sang lead on the accompanying tour). The album was not well received, and that was the end for any version of Talking Heads (except for a one-shot 2002 reunion gig celebrating the band's induction into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame).

** After the Animals split up again, Burdon went on to lead the {{Funk}} ensemble Eric Burdon and War, which he left after a year and a half. Music/{{War|Band}} continued without him, becoming one of the major acts of TheSeventies in their own right.

* Exile went both ways with this. In their original incarnation in TheSeventies, with Jimmy Stokley on lead vocals, they scored only one major hit with "Kiss You All Over". Many failed albums later, J. P. Pennington and Sonny [=LeMaire=] became the frontmen, and the group reinvented itself as a country band which scored ten #1 hits in TheEighties. Then in 1989, Pennington and several other members quit, leaving [=LeMaire=] and new member Paul Martin to carry only a couple minor hits before their success tapered off entirely.

* Music/{{Genesis|Band}}...for a while. When Music/PeterGabriel left, the band's unlikely replacement was Music/PhilCollins, the group's drummer. It turned out that not only did Collins have a singing voice similar to Gabriel's, but his sensibilities were also far more mainstream, which meshed well with the similarly pop sensibilities Banks and especially Rutherford always secretly harbored. Under Collins' leadership, Genesis went from cult heroes to one of the biggest-selling bands of TheEighties. While this was happening, Collins maintained an equally, eventually more successful solo career...so successful that he eventually left as well. This time the replacement, a new member named Ray Wilson (former singer with UK [[OneHitWonder One Hit Wonders]] Stiltskin), only lasted one album.

* Music/TheYardbirds wound down in 1968, with falling sales and band members jumping ship to pursue new projects, leaving relative newcomer Jimmy Page as the sole member. He recruited a new band of unknowns and carried on under the Yardbirds name (reusing the old songs when needed). Following questions over ownership of the name, they switched to calling themselves "The New Yardbirds". Then [[Music/TheWho Keith Moon and John Entwistle]] made their historic remark about them going down "like a lead balloon" and... [[Music/LedZeppelin you know the rest]]. ''Another'' new version of the Yardbirds have also been active since TheNineties. Following Chris Dreja's departure due to a series of strokes in 2013, Jim [=McCarty=] has been the group's [[RevolvingDoorBand only consistent member]].

* Music/AlterBridge is Music/{{Creed}} without Scott Stapp. While not as commercially successful as its predecessor, Alter Bridge has earned significantly more respect from critics and rock fans to the point where some have held up Creed (as compared to Alter Bridge) as a textbook example of how a bad vocalist can drag down the work of good instrumentalists. Myles Kennedy, Alter Bridge's frontman, is now additionally lead vocalist for Slash's solo band, producing an interesting cross-pollination of minus-the-face groups.

* The CreatorCouple behind Future Perfect, Simon Owen and Rebecca Morgan, separated in the fall of 2019 due to the latter's ongoing health problems, with Simon continuing the project as a solo act.

* Music/{{Genesis|Band}}...for a while. When Music/PeterGabriel left, the band's unlikely replacement was Music/PhilCollins, the group's drummer. It turned out that not only did Collins have a singing voice similar to Gabriel's, but his sensibilities were also far more mainstream. Under Collins' leadership, Genesis went from cult heroes to one of the biggest-selling bands of TheEighties. While this was happening, Collins maintained an equally, eventually more successful solo career...so successful that he eventually left as well. This time the replacement, a new member named Ray Wilson (former singer with UK [[OneHitWonder One Hit Wonders]] Stiltskin), only lasted one album.

* ''Webcite/TheHardTimes'' article "[[https://thehardtimes.net/lists/rules-for-replacing-a-lead-singer/ Rules for Replacing a Lead Singer]]" instructs band members on how to deal with the situation as gracefully as possible... sort of. For example: "Pack up all their stuff in the practice space beforehand--And be thorough. You don’t want them wandering back to your next rehearsal claiming they forgot their Music/{{Nirvana}} poster."

When a musical group loses one (or more) of its key members, such as the lead singer or a similar FaceOfTheBand figure, it usually breaks up -- but not always. Occasionally, a band tries to continue without its "face", sometimes because [[ContractualObligationProject it is legally obligated to]].

* 4 Strings' supposed FaceOfTheBand and lead singer, Vanessa van Hemert, left the group in 2005 shortly before the release of their third album, ''Mainline'', with "Sunrise" being passed off as her farewell single. [[SubvertedTrope However]], similar to Milli Vanilli, it was later revealed that she did not actually perform the vocals on the songs credited to her, [[TheInvisibleBand those instead being sung by Susanne Teutenberg]].

* After Alice Deejay's girl trio split up, the producers attempted to start anew as Candee Jay with vocalist Ilze Lankhaar. But like the aforementioned fellow Dutch act 2 Unlimited, the reformation only lasted for one album. In 2014, the project was rebooted again as Alice Dj with Ilona Vangelder as the new FaceOfTheBand, and in 2021, original face Judith Pronk returned to performing live after nearly two decades.

* Exposé's original lineup disbanded in 1985 after their first two singles, "Exposed to Love" and "Point of No Return", with two of the members pursuing solo careers, and producer Lewis Martineé reformed the group with [[FaceOfTheBand Gioia Bruno]], Ann Curless, and Jeanette Jurado for their third single "Come Go With Me" and the albums ''Exposure'' and ''What You Don't Know''. In 1992, Bruno lost her voice due to surgery for a benign throat tumor and was replaced by Kelly Moneymaker for their self-titled final album, which performed rather poorly.

* Music/AskingAlexandria became one of the biggest {{Metalcore}} bands in the United States ([[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff despite being British]]) with frontman Danny Worsnop on lead, and was the definite FaceOfTheBand for many listeners (though guitarist and original founder [[TheManBehindTheMan Ben Bruce]] is a close second). However, overtime Danny became disaffected with metalcore, and (combined with his troubles with [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll drug addiction]]), eventually left the band. He moved to Los Angeles to form the '80s HardRock throwback band We Are Harlot. For most bands, this would've been the end. But they were able to continue with Ukrainian singer Denis Stoff (formally of the short-lived band Make Me Famous), and still remain popular in the mainstream metal scene (albeit not without a massive BrokenBase over which vocalist is better). The fact that they have ''another'' face with guitarist and founder Ben Bruce likely helped them transition from one vocalist to another easier.

* Music/FunkerVogt's longtime FaceOfTheBand, Jens Kastel, quit in 2013 following the release of ''Companion in Crime'', being replaced by Sacha Korn on the ill-received single "Sick Man". Luckily, they found a better replacement in the form of Chris L. from Agonoize for their 2017 album ''Code of Conduct''.

** D12 feature on Music/{{Gorillaz}}'s "911" without Eminem, due to a plane booking mishap that had left the rest of the group stranded in UsefulNotes/{{London}} with Damon Albarn. After meeting, they decided to get together for a project, with Albarn rapping as replacement for the more notorious TokenWhite.

* Many people thought La Oreja de Van Gogh's time was up when lead singer Amaia Montero departed the group in 2007 to pursue a solo career. They have been proved wrong: as of 2016, the band is still running fine with ''[[Series/TheXFactor Factor X]]'' alumnus Leire Martínez as their new lead vocalist, while Montero enjoys moderate success as a solo act.

* Secret Chiefs 3 gradually turned from this variety of band minus the face project to IAmTheBand: Their first two albums were essentially Music/MrBungle being led by guitarist Trey Spruance rather than Music/MikePatton. Once Mr. Bungle broke up, they were largely Spruance and a rotating cast of collaborators (albeit with former Mr. Bungle members sometimes among them). Long after they stopped being considered a Mr. Bungle side project, Patton made a one-time guest appearance with [=SC3=] for a single A-Side, namely a CoverVersion of Jacque Brel's "La Chanson de Jacky".

* Music/LynyrdSkynyrd is probably the most extreme example in popular music. In 1977, a plane crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines (who had performed on the band's just-released ''Street Survivors'' album), his sister Cassie (a member of the band's backup singers, The Honkettes), and several members of the band's production staff. The crash also injured bassist Leon Wilkeson, who needed over two years of physical therapy to recover. The band disbanded after the tragedy but reformed ten years later with Ronnie's younger brother Johnny and a rotating cast of new blood. Of the original members, only guitarist Gary Rossington remains.

* Fourteen years after the death of Freddie Mercury, Music/{{Queen}} performed a reunion tour and three years later, recorded an album with Paul Rodgers of Music/BadCompany and Music/FreeBand as vocalist. Sensing that perhaps their fanbase wouldn't accept Rodgers as a replacement for Mercury, the album was listed as being by "Paul Rodgers and Queen" as if to suggest Rodgers was a collaborative artist rather than a band member. Many fans reacted less warmly to this new team than to their solo work. Queen has since done a number of such performances and singles, credited as ''Queen + [artist]''.

* Music/TheBand. In 1965, Music/BobDylan recruited an unknown group called Levon and the Hawks as his backing band for his first electric tour. After his 1966 motorcycle accident the following year led him to withdraw from the public eye for a time, the group changed its name to The Band and went into business for itself, with considerable success. They played this straight with some later reunions minus guitarist Robbie Robertson (depending on whether you view him or LeadDrummer Levon Helm as The Face). In the 80s the four other members did some tours of tiny clubs and theatres but halted after vocalist and keyboardist Richard Manuel was DrivenToSuicide. In the early '90s, the three remaining members reunited again with some success, but the death of Rick Danko (and later Helm) finally put a stop to The Band once and for all.