History Main / ThebandMinusTheFace

* 4 Strings' supposed FaceOfTheBand and lead singer, Vanessa van Hemert, left the group in 2005 shortly before the release of their third album, ''Mainline''. [[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]].

* By the time of 4 Strings' third album, ''Mainline'', Vanessa van Hemert had completely left the group, although the album included her swan song single "Sunrise". They subsequently faded into obscurity.

* ''Series/OddSquad'': In "Soundcheck", Danny T., the leader of the eponymous band, decides to quit the band after refusing to change the lyrics of the song "Take Away Four" so it becomes "Gonna Add One" instead. It's explicitly stated from Johnny J.'s comment of "not again!" that this isn't the first time this has happened, but luckily for them, Otto is an apt and very willing substitute for Danny, becoming an Ascended Fanboy and recording the new song with them as well as helping them a music video for it.

* Music/BadReligion lost their lead guitarist and co-songwriter, Brett Gurewitz, twice. The first was for a single EP that most fans have never even heard (the OldShame that preceded it reluctantly included Gurewitz). The second was for several years on a major label, spanning three albums. While ''The New America'' is considered a reasonable album, the other two are a DorkAge, mostly from Greg Graffin not being able to come up with enough album-worthy material by himself in a just a year or two. Worth noting is that Guerwitz appears as a guest guitarist on ''The New America'' and returned to the band full-time for their next album.

* 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 a DorkAge 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.

* Music/VanHalen achieved its greatest commercial success ''after'' Music/DavidLeeRoth quit the band and was replaced by Sammy Hagar, though the change has always caused great division among fans, with many Roth purists disdainfully referring to the latter group as "Van Hagar". After Hagar quit, they tried it again with Gary Cherone (which didn't take at ''[[DorkAge all]]''). In their two reunion tours since then, they've toured once with Hagar and once with Roth, who was with the band until its breakup when its other face, Eddie Van Halen, died in 2020.

** Following the departure of frontman Music/SydBarrett at the beginning of 1968, the group appeared to play this trope straight for a while as they continued to perform Barrett's songs live, with David Gilmour often filling in for Barrett's vocals. Many fans agree that ''Music/{{More}}'', ''Music/{{Ummagumma}}'', and the songs on ''Music/ASaucerfulofSecrets'' that don't feature Barrett to be of lesser quality, due to his absence leaving the group directionless. However, Music/RogerWaters was eventually able to rise to become the new leader of the group, and by the release of ''Music/AtomHeartMother'' it was clear that Pink Floyd could thrive without Barrett's leadership.

* Speaking of Bad Company and Paul Rodgers, the band reunited in 1986 minus Rodgers, hiring Brian Howe as his replacement and taking on a more contemporary hard rock sound. (To be fair, they only used the name "Bad Company" at [[ExecutiveMeddling the insistence]] of Creator/AtlanticRecords.) While Howe-era Bad Company didn't do too badly on the charts, hitting the Top 40 thrice, fan and critical reception were nowhere near that of the classic Bad Company with Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, bassist Boz Burrell, and drummer Simon Kirke. Eventually, Howe himself was replaced by Robert Hart. The classic lineup would briefly reunite in the late 1990s, recording four new songs for a GreatestHits compilation before Burrell left. (He died in 2006, ending further reunions of the classic lineup.) Since then, Rodgers and Kirke (joined by Ralphs when his health permits) have toured sporadically, although there have been no studio recordings since 2002 when two new songs were included on a LiveAlbum.

* Sixteen years after the death of Freddie Mercury, Music/{{Queen}} performed a reunion tour and 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]''.

* When Music/LouReed left The Music/VelvetUnderground in 1970, guitarist Doug Yule (whom Reed had brought in to replace Music/JohnCale) kept what was left of the band touring for two years, then recorded the album ''Music/{{Squeeze 1973}}'' with session musicians (including Music/DeepPurple drummer Ian Paice). According to the Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeeze_(Velvet_Underground_album) article]], ''Squeeze'' "could justifiably be regarded as a Doug Yule solo album in all but name", and the only reason it was issued as a VU album was [[invoked]]ExecutiveMeddling from the group's manager. While the album has [[https://web.archive.org/web/20141218203842/http://bobchaos.com/squeeze/squeeze1.html its defenders]], rock critic David Fricke sums up the general consensus when he describes it as [[FanonDiscontinuity "an embarrassment to the VU discography."]]

* Alanna [=McArdle=], lead singer of Welsh indie rock band Joanna Gruesoem, departed the group in 2015 just weeks after they released their second album ''Peanut Butter''. The band replaced her with two new singers for their ensuing tour, but they never released another album or single, and eventually split into other projects.

** James Swan, the VictimOfTheWeek in ''[[Recap/CastleS5E7SwanSong Swan Song]]'', is the lead guitarist of a band called Holy Shemp and the focus of most of the positive reviews about their music. A man making a documentary about the band expresses belief that without Swan, the others are yesterday's news and that no one will care about his documentary unless he gets some good footage about the hunt for Swan's killer. When it looks like Swan was planning to launch a solo career, Castle suggests that the others killed Swan due to fear that he'd steal away all of their fans and reduce them to obscure footnotes in his career. Ultimately, things end on an optimistic note for the band, [[spoiler:minus the bassist, who is arrested for Swan's murder. They hire replacements for their lost members, including Swan's childhood friend (who taught him to play the guitar so well in the first place), suggesting he'll be able to replicate Swan's popularity.]]

* 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. Whether or not RHCP will continue this trend with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer remains to be seen.

* The English rock band Music/{{Faces}}. The group (originally known as Music/TheSmallFaces) lost their original lead singer, Steve Marriott, when he left to form Humble Pie. The group renamed itself and then picked up two new members - Ronnie Wood and Music/RodStewart (both of which led the band to drop the "Small" from the name[[labelnote:explanation]]They were called "''Small'' Faces" because all members of the band were short; Wood and Stewart were significantly taller, so they weren't all "Small" Faces anymore[[/labelnote]]). Their subsequent output included four successful studio albums and a series of major hits like "Stay With Me" and "Ooh La La". After the release of their fourth album, though, Ronnie Lane left and Stewart focused far too much on his solo career. Finally, Wood's work (and popularity) with Music/TheRollingStones caused the band to disintegrate.

** Following the departure of frontman Music/SydBarrett at the beginning of 1968, the group appeared to play this trope straight for a while as they continued to perform Barrett's songs live, with David Gilmour often filling in for Barrett's vocals. Many fans agree that ''Music/{More}'', ''Music/{Ummagumma}'', and the songs on ''Music/ASaucerfulofSecrets'' that don't feature Barrett to be of lesser quality, due to his absence leaving the group directionless. However, Music/RogerWaters was eventually able to rise to become the new leader of the group, and by the release of ''Music/AtomHeartMother'' it was clear that Pink Floyd could thrive without Barrett's leadership.

* Music/PinkFloyd averted this trope twice. Rick Wright initially took over from the departing Music/SydBarrett and was quickly overshadowed by Music/RogerWaters, and David Gilmour took over from Waters when he left in 1985, but the band's records have just kept on selling. Waters attempted to invoke this trope. When he left the band, he infamously declared Pink Floyd disbanded, and then tried to sue them when they quite rightly said: "No, we're not finished yet". He failed and admitted later that he was wrong.

* Music/TheWurzels lost their founder, lead singer and principal songwriter Adge Cutler when he died in a car crash in 1974. Although devastated, the three surviving members decided to carry on -- with banjo/guitar player Pete Budd [[StepUpToTheMicrophone taking on the singing duties]] and a [[GenreShift shift towards doing parody songs]] to make up for the lack of new material. Within two years, they were experiencing mainstream success with ''two'' top ten hits.

* After Noel Gallagher left Music/{{Oasis}}, Liam and the other three guys renamed themselves Beady Eye. Their debut album sold decently, but nowhere near as well as an Oasis album would have. They broke up after their follow-up ''Be'' flopped (in sales; it received significantly better reviews than ''Different Gear, Still Speeding'') and drummer Chris Sharrock wound up joining Noel's considerably more successful band, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

* Music/{{Journey}}. Steve Perry had to step away from the band when he developed a degenerative bone disease and couldn't join a planned reunion tour, and they went through several lead singers to try and replace him. They eventually settled on Arnel Pineda, who did much for Journey financially. With Pineda at the helm, Journey had one of the most successful tours of 2008, and the first album with him as lead vocalist, ''Revelation'', was certified platinum. Also, it seems that he has brought appeal to a generation two decades younger than Journey's initial fanbase and in territories outside their normal North American base. (Pineda is Filipino and the band's popularity has skyrocketed in the Asian area). It probably helps that Pineda's voice is practically indistinguishable from Perry's.

* The New Cars was a touring group in the mid-2000s consisting of the original guitarist and keyboardist of Music/TheCars, fronted by Music/ToddRundgren, accompanied by the bassist from Rundgren's solo band and the founding drummer of Music/{{Journey}}. A few years later, original singer Ric Ocasek rejoined the band and they released a new album.

* Music/{{Nightwish}} managed to stay in business after the female lead Tarja Turunen got fired. Their first album with their new singer Annette Olzon was their most successful to date. Annette later left the band, and she was replaced by [[Music/AfterForever Floor Jansen]]. Their subsequent album, ''Endless Forms Most Beautiful'', received very positive reviews.

* Music/{{Genesis}}...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.

* After Music/BuddyHolly parted ways with them the Crickets continued to perform for years without him, and they even backed up Music/EddieCochran in the recording studio on "Three Steps to Heaven."

* After the Gangsta Rap pioneering group N.W.A. released their influential debut album they lost Ice Cube, the group's third rapper and (most importantly) another member's ghostwriter. Despite this, they released a successful EP and a great LP after his departure even though they were one member short. Ice Cube's departure actually worked in everyone's favour because Ice Cube met huge success as a solo artist, N.W.A. had something else to be angry about and producer Dr. Dre was forced to become a rapper which is probably the reason that the Dr. was able to have a highly successful and influential solo career.

* Mother Love Bone became popular ''after'' their singer's death in 1990. After Andrew Wood's heroin overdose, they found their unlikely replacement in a surfer from San Diego named Eddie Vedder and changed their sound from a glam punk-ish style of grunge to more of a more classic hard rock sound. They went on to become Music/PearlJam, one of the most successful bands of the '90s.

** When Paul Kantner left, leaving the band with none of the original Airplane founders, the rest of the band hired Mickey Thomas and continued simply as Music/{{Starship}}. With Thomas as lead singer, the band went a more mainstream pop-ish direction, gaining three major hits with "We Built This City", "Sara," and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now." By 1990, Thomas was the only one left, as the rest of the Jefferson members felt going pop was the wrong direction for them creatively. The others found their way to Jefferson revivals, and Slick retired from music altogether.

* 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 Steve Hackett 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.

* The Commodores had one final big hit, "Nightshift", several years after Lionel Richie left.

** 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. War continued without him, becoming one of the major acts of TheSeventies in their own right.

* Music/{{Bauhaus}}, a notable British {{goth}} band from the late '70s, disbanded in 1983. Singer Peter Murphy went on to a reasonably successful solo career while the three remaining musicians reformed as Love & Rockets. L&R achieved greater commercial success than Bauhaus over the course of several albums and tours until 1998. In 1998, Peter Murphy and Love & Rockets reformed Bauhaus. In 2008, Bauhaus recorded a new album but imploded after recording it. The band is now back to being splintered between Love & Rockets and Peter Murphy.