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"How come the Chili Peppers, like, have a new guitar player, like, every couple weeks?"
Butt-Head, Beavis and Butt-Head

This is when a band becomes notable for a constantly changing lineup, with musicians coming, staying for only a few years (or sometimes even less than a year) and then leaving. Essentially, the musical Sub-Trope of Revolving Door Casting.

The musicians' time spent with the band is important; just because most (or even all) of a band's lineup has changed doesn't automatically qualify it for this trope.

Here's a clarifying non-example: The original lineup of the Four Tops was Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton. All but one (Fakir) either died or became too ill to stay with the band and were replaced (they were even a trio for a while); one of the replacements (Theo Peoples) left in 2011 and was himself replaced. But these changes were few and far between: they were Stubbs, Benson, and Fakir from 1997 to 1998 (when Peoples joined); Stubbs, Benson, Fakir, and Peoples from 1998 to 2000 (when Stubbs suffered a stroke and was replaced by Ronnie McNeir), McNeir, Benson, Fakir, and Peoples from 2000-2005 (when Benson died and was replaced by Roquel Peyton, Lawrence's son), McNeir, Peyton Jr., Fakir, and Peoples from 2005-2011 (when Peoples left and was replaced by Harold "Spike" Bonhart), and McNeir, Peyton Jr., Fakir, and Bonhart from 2011-2019 when Bonhart was replaced by Alexander Morris.

It can be anything from a single position having a different musician from time to time, to the second type of I Am the Band, to its Logical Extreme: the very nature of the group ensuring it goes through lineups on a regular basis. In short, it's a band that makes the phrase Musical Musicians not redundant. For when this happens to the cast of a Long Runner series or a series of films, see Long-Runner Cast Turnover. A good hint is whether a whole article on band members is needed.

This is sometimes an artifact of which musicians are “the band” according to the record company contracts. Yes had many members rotating in and out, but the rights to the band name were owned to his dying day by Chris Squire. Paramore is a band because Hayley Williams insisted she didn’t want to be a solo artist, but the record contracts have always been signed by Williams alone. Not to be confused with I Am the Band, where the bandleader(s) will cheerfully tell you it’s just them and whatever musicians happen to be standing nearby at the time.

NOTE: It is not unheard of for a band to fit both this and Long-Runner Line-up.


Examples:

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    Alternative/Indie 
  • It's a running joke in Toronto that it would be faster to list the local musicians who haven't been a member of Broken Social Scene than the full set of members over the band's lifetime.
  • The Cure has had 12 members since 1976, but the only consistent member has been lead singer Robert Smith. The longest-serving member after Smith, bassist Simon Gallup, joined in 1979 and is still a member today, but even he was out of the band for three years in the mid-'80s.
    • This might not sound a lot, but pretty much all of their thirteen albums have an entirely different mix of members, past and present, performing on it. Additionally, there are multiple instances of former members returning to the lineup. Apart from Gallup, keyboardist Roger O'Donnell and co-founding guitarist Porl Thompson have returned to the band for long stretches after some time away.
  • Faith No More went through a flurry of lineup changes in the early to mid-'80s, then replaced the lead singer with a skinny kid from another band and stayed constant for a few years. Cue a quick series of guitarists before the breakup. Since the reformation in 2009, they've kept the same lineup from their last studio album in 1997.
  • The Fall were well known for line-up changes, the only constant being Mark E. Smith, who once said of the ever-changing line-up "if it's me and your granny on bongos, it's a Fall gig."
    • British journalist Dave Simpson wrote a book, The Fallen: Life In and Out of Britain's Most Insane Group, about trying to find all of the ex-members (there were fifty). That said, the dynamic duo of Craig Scanlon and Steve Hanley held down the fort from 1979 'til 1995, which is damn impressive. Not coincidentally, they're also the only members of the band that Smith ever regretted firing (he asked them both to come back at different points, and both declined).
    • For a band so famous for its lineup changes, The Fall's membership was relatively stable in its last decade. The band recorded five albums with the same lineup between 2008 and 2015, the most in its history. Until keyboardist Elena Poulou left the group in 2016, the band was on its longest unchanged lineup in its history.
  • Dave Grohl admits that he was afraid the Foo Fighters were becoming this (all of the first four albums have different line-ups and two bandmembers didn't even play in any of those - William Goldsmith had his drum tracks on The Colour and the Shape replaced with Grohl's own, and guitarist Franz Stahl left after the tour for that album was finished). But since then, the only change has been an extra member, until drummer Taylor Hawkins' passing in 2022.
  • Gorillaz, partly due to the fact that they are an animated band, have taken advantage of this trope for its real-life line-up. Damon Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor to this group, due to him being the creator and musical director of the band.
  • James have had somewhat of a revolving door lineup; Glennie, Gilbertson, and Whelan were first up, then Booth came in, Gilbertson left, Gott came in, Whelan left, Baynton-Power came in, Davies, Diagram and Hunter came in, Diagram left, Gott left, Kulas and Oxxal came in, Booth left, Booth came back, Booth left, everyone left, Glennie and Gott restarted the band six years later, Booth came back, then finally Baynton-Power, Davies, Diagram and Hunter all came back (yes, that does make a lineup that already happened at one point). Jim Glennie—the bassist—is the only relatively constant member.
  • Despite only being together for five years, Power Pop band Jellyfish only retained lead singer/drummer Andy Sturmer and vocalist-keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., probably not coincidentally the sole creative forces in the band.
  • Nirvana went through several drummers (including Chad Channing) in the span of only a few years before Dave Grohl joined the band.
  • Nine Inch Nails, at least as a touring band. Trent Reznor employed 19 different musicians across eight major touring cycles, often as a four-piece band. (In the studio, Reznor composed and played nearly everything himself until he added his longtime collaborator Atticus Ross in 2016.)
  • Paramore's one consistent member is lead singer Hayley Williams; in total, 7 band members have either joined and/or exited the band. It took until 2023 for them to release two albums in a row (After Laughter, This is Why) that featured the same lineup - namely, Hayley Williams, drummer Zac Farro (who had previously left the band in 2010 before rejoining in 2016), and guitarist Taylor York (who joined in 2009).
  • Industrial rock group Pigface has had a total of 72 different members since its founding.
  • Primal Scream, apart from singer Bobby Gillespie. The band was formed by Gillespie and guitarist Jim Beattie, with a number of other members in their early years. Guitarist Andrew Innes arrived too late for the first two singles but has remained in the band ever since he joined it in 1987, and has been its principal songwriter with Gillespie over the course of the band's 11 albums (Beattie left after the unsuccessful first LP, for which he and Gillespie received sole songwriting credits). Keyboardist Martin Duffy joined the band from 1989 until his death in 2022. Aside from those three core members, however, the group has had more than 20 members, including bass guitarists Mani of The Stone Roses and Debbie Googe of My Bloody Valentine
  • The Red Hot Chili Peppers. 14 members in over 30 years, and only briefly did the band tour with more than 4 members. Although, in all fairness, two of the four members (Anthony Kiedis and Flea) were founding members who never leftnote . And current drummer Chad Smith has played with the band since 1989.
  • The Smashing Pumpkins. Not so much the first line-up, which only had a couple changes (drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was fired in 1996 and returned in 1999. The same year, bassist D'Arcy Wretzky left the band and was replaced by Melissa Auf der Maur). The second incarnation on the other hand? Upon the band's 2006 reunion, it had a completely different lineup from the original apart from Chamberlin and frontman Billy Corgan. And then by the time they released their next album Oceania in 2010, everyone but Corgan and guitarist Jeff Schroeder had been replaced. The entire band lineup had changed again by the time they released Monuments to an Elegy just two years later, with Corgan and Schroeder once again the only returnees. Currently, the band is comprised of Corgan, Schroeder, Chamberlain (who rejoined in 2015), and James Iha (another original member, who returned after an 18-year absence in 2018).
  • The Sisters of Mercy; Andrew Eldritch is notoriously hard to work with, and he's the only original member left. One other member, Doktor Avalanche, is credited on all of their albums, but it's actually a drum machine and not a human being (and Eldritch kept replacing that drum machine, too).
  • Taking Back Sunday started off with Antonio Longo (vocals) John Nolan (vocals/guitar) Eddie Reyes (guitar) Jesse Lacey (bass) and Stephen DeJoseph (drums). By their first album, Lacey, Longo and DeJoseph had left and were replaced by Adam Lazzara (vocals), Shaun Cooper (bass) and Mark O'Connell (drums). After Tell All Your Friends (2002) Nolan and Cooper departed to form Straylight Run and were replaced by Fred Mascherino (vocals/guitar) and Matt Rubano (bass). This line up lasted a lengthy (by TBS standards) two albums before Mascherino left after Louder Now, eventually being replaced by Matt Fazzi for New Again. Following New Again. Fazzi and Rubano departed and Nolan and Cooper rejoined, restoring the band to its breakthrough line-up for its past three albums.
  • Wilco changed members several times in its first decade, with singer/guitarist/frontman Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt the only constants. Since 2004, the band's lineup has been relatively stable, and the current six-piece lineup now counts as a Long-Runner Line-up.
  • Emo group The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die defines themselves as having an "ever-changing, ever-evolving lineup" and that "Recording and live performance lineups vary".

    Country 
  • Asleep at the Wheel. Ray Benson is the only original member.
  • Blackhawk was founded by Henry Paul (lead vocal/mandolin), Van Stephenson (guitar) and Dave Robbins (keyboards). After Van Stephenson left due to skin cancer, he was replaced by Randy Threet (who was previously in their backing band), then Anthony Crawford, then Michael Randall. Robbins left and John Coleman replaced him. Threet rejoined. Coleman left. The backing band got assumed into the main lineup. Robbins rejoined. The backing band was made separate again, leaving just the duo of Paul and Robbins. Is your head spinning yet?
  • Dave & Sugar consisted of lead singer Dave Rowland and a revolving door of female backing vocalists, some of whom sometimes shared the lead vocal.
  • Exile's shift from pop-rock to country started in 1980, around the time original lead singer Jimmy Stokley was replaced by Les Taylor. Taylor and founding member J.P. Pennington both left for unsuccessful solo careers in 1990, with Paul Martin taking over as lead vocalist, and the group disbanded in 1993. Many of the 1980s members, including Taylor, rejoined in 1996. Meanwhile, many of the backing musicians shifted as well, with a few even breaking out on their own. Most notably, Mark Gray had four Top 10 country hits in the mid-'80s and wrote number-one hits for Alabama, Janie Fricke, and Gary Morris.
  • Highway 101 also had a hard time sticking to one lineup. The lead singer post alone went from Paulette Carlson to Nikki Nelson, back to Carlson, then Chrislynn Lee for a short time — and then back to Nelson again.
  • Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Jimmie Fadden and Jeff Hanna are the only remaining original members. They've had 25 over their long career.
  • The Oak Ridge Boys originally played this straight. The group formed all the way back in 1947 and had had several members pass through their ranks from there until the most familiar lineup (lead singer Duane Allen, tenor Joe Bonsall, baritone William Lee Golden, and Basso Profundo Richard Sterban) came to be in 1973. That's long enough into their existence that one of those members (Bonsall) wasn't even alive when the band originally formed. Golden was replaced by Steve Sanders from 1987 to 1995 when he returned.
  • The only consistent members of 1990s country band Ricochet have been lead singer Heath Wright and bassist Greg Cook.
  • Shenandoah had a hard time keeping its members together after Marty Raybon left. They disbanded for a while and came back with a couple original members and Brent Lamb as lead vocalist. After him, it was Curtis Wright, Jimmy Yeary, and ultimately Doug Stokes before Raybon rejoined in The New '10s.
  • Vince Vance & the Valiants. There have been literally dozens of Valiants, including the aforementioned Chrislynn Lee. Amusingly, one of said Valiants (Lisa Layne) got the lead on their most well-known song, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (not to be confused with the Mariah Carey song).

    Electronic 
  • Over its 28+ years of activity, Ronny Moorings has been Clan of Xymox's only constant member.
  • The Cruxshadows. Except for lead singer/frontman Rogue, nobody's been around since the beginning.
  • Front Line Assembly: Bill Leeb has been the centerpiece of the band since the beginning, while Rhys Fulber has left and returned a few times, and other musicians have only stayed for a year or two.
  • Kraftwerk started out as this, with various musicians joining as required, before settling into a fairly established lineup.
  • Lords of Acid has turned into this as of its most recent (2012) lineup — Praga Khan is the only member of the original left (he's credited as "Head Perv"), and DJ Mea is something like the band's fifth female lead singer.
  • 29 people have been members of Tangerine Dream since their founding in 1967. Their sole constant member was founder Edgar Froese until his passing in 2015. Their most notable former members are drummer Klaus Schulze, who left the band due to creative differences and started a solo career, keyboardist and drummer Christopher Franke, the second longest lasting member from 1970 to 1987, Froese's son Jerome, the third longest lasting member from 1990 to 2006, and Peter Baumann and Johannes Schmoelling, keyboardists who served during diffrent parts of the Virgin Years. The current lineup is a consists of guitarist, keyboardist and drummer Thorsten Quaeschning, a member since 2005 and the current bandleader after Froese's death, violinist and cellist Hoshiko Yamane, a member since 2011, keyboardist Ulrich Schnauss, a member since 2014, and keyboardist Paul Frick, a member since 2020.
  • Wedlock, apart from Paul Allgood, has featured a different line up on each of its releases. For a band called Wedlock, there's a lot of musical divorce (10 member changes and counting?) going around.

    Folk 
  • The Association went through well over three dozen lineup changes since they formed in 1965. Their longest-lasting lineup was Russ Giguere, Larry Ramos, Bruce Pictor, Donni Gougeon, and Bob Werner (1999 - 2007); In that lineup, Giguere was the only remaining original member and Ramos was the only other member who had been part of their classic 1960s lineups. Not one member has stayed during the band's full duration. As of 2017, the band currently has two classic members in its lineup and they're a completely different duo: Jim Yester and Jules Alexander.
  • Battlefield Band has had at least two dozen members over its fifty-year history, many of whom such as Brian McNeill and Karine Polwart have gone on to solo careers. Current fiddler Alasdair White grew up listening to the group before joining at eighteen.
  • Fairport Convention has had almost 30 members, earning the nickname "Fairport Confusion." Starting recording in 1967, by 1972 they'd been through so much membership upheaval that they had no original members left (though some would come back). No-one has been with the band for its entire 50-plus-year career, and only a couple have been members for more than half of its existence. For example, the band's two most famous members, singer Sandy Denny and guitarist Richard Thompson, were both gone by 1971. note  Several musicians were Fairport members for less than a year. Even the band's only more-or-less constant member, guitarist Simon Nicol, left the band for a period (1971 to 1976) before returning. Bassist Dave Pegg has remained with the band since he joined it in 1969, but unlike Nicol, he wasn't an original member. Their occasional reunions tend to be advertised with a complete list of the musicians participating, so people can't complain about being cheated.
  • The New Christy Minstrels had a more-or-less constant turnover in membership during their '60s heyday. Among the musicians who did time in the group were Kenny Rogers, Gene Clark (later a founding member of The Byrds), Barry McGuire (known for his 1965 solo hit "Eve of Destruction"), and Kim Carnes (known for her 1981 solo hit "Bette Davis Eyes").
  • Steeleye Span has gone through sixteen different lineups since 1970, involving 16 individual musicians, most of whom have left and returned at least once over the course of the group's existence. Lead singer Maddy Prior was the group's only constant member until she left in 1997, leaving the band with no original members until she returned in 2002.
    • Prior has compared the band to a bus, with people getting on and off.

    Gospel 
  • This is actually a staple of pretty much any gospel quartet, and most trios. It even affects family groups, though not to the same extent. In fact, it's more surprising to encounter a gospel group that has never changed its line-up (really the Triumphant Quartet was about the only one that has literally never had a member change, and even they lost their pianist) is more noteworthy than the many who have. It's incredible for a long-running group to hold on to any of its founding members, but those who do usually end up being defined by those members to the point that if they leave (or die), fans decide the band has ended its run, even if the other members decide to keep going.
  • The Blackwood Brothers. While it's no surprise that the entire original lineup has been replaced after 76 years, no single lineup seems to have lasted more than a few years.
  • The Haven of Rest Quartet (later Haven Quartet, then finally just Haven) has lasted from 1934 to shortly after the turn of the new millennium. Ernie Payne, the last of the original line-up, finally left the quartet during by 1975 - to be replaced with Glenn Shoemaker. Soon afterward, Walt Harrah (who would remain with the quartet for the rest of its duration, with occasional haituses) joined. The style has changed, too. After only two pipe organists from its inception, by 1984, the electric keyboard became the principle instrument - often with musicians on other instruments, including percussion.
  • The Imperialsnote  began in 1964 as "Jake Hess and the Imperials"; with the group's bass singer, Armond Morales, being the one original member to stay on throughout the many lineup and stylenote  changes; with notable members including Gary McSpadden; Russ Taff and Paul Smithnote  along with Sherman Andrusnote  and Terry Blackwoodnote ; who upon their 1976 departure (which opened spots for Taff and longtime baritone David Will) started the group Andrus, Blackwood and Company. A full list can be seen here.
  • The Oak Ridge Boys (see above) definitely fit this during their gospel years.

    Jazz 
  • There have been over 100 members of the Grammy-winning jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat and Tears since their formation in 1968. Seven of the "original eight" members (including famed former Bob Dylan sideman Al Kooper) were gone by 1974. The eighth, drummer Bobby Colomby, stopped playing with the band in 1977. He still maintains ownership of the name and acts as the band's musical director. The band's only relatively consistent member, lead singer David Clayton-Thomas, joined the band during the recording of their second album and was in and out of the band a few times before leaving for good in 2004.
  • The Four Freshmen have had 25 musicians in 24 different lineups since their inception in 1948.
  • This was the entire point of the hard bop combo The Jazz Messengers after drummer Art Blakey took over leadership. Blakey would recruit promising young musicians into the Messengers—then after a few years, they'd leave to start their own solo careers, and Blakey would find more youngsters to replace them. The Messengers were active from 1954 to 1990, with over 60 different members across that time, Art Blakey being the only constant.
  • The Sun Ra Arkestra. Sun Ra would fire a musician by gathering the band together — minus the fired musician — and skip town, leaving the offending musician behind. He would even do this on international tours, which made him a major headache for the U.S. State Department — they finally demanded that if he fired a musician, he had to bring or send said musician back to the United States instead of leaving him stranded in a foreign country.
  • Throughout its 15-year history, Weather Report went through 4 bassists and at least 20 drummers and percussionists. The only constants were keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter.

    Metal 
  • Black Metal bands are well-known for constantly switching line-ups.
    • Controversial group Mayhem went through so many line-up changes in its first almost-decade of existence that by 1993, when Euronymous was stabbed to death by Count Grishnakh during the recording of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, the former was the only founding member still in the band and the latter was the third bassist; Attila Csihar, the fifth vocalist, would only return to the band a decade later. Mayhem's line-ups have been relatively stable since it reformed in 1995, though it has had five different guitarists since Euronymous.
    • Gorgoroth are also an example.
    • Although Nachtmystium is usually described as a band, the project is in reality just founding member Blake Judd and whatever additional members he has managed to recruit to provide additional instrumentation at any given line. The band's lineup from one album to the next is hardly ever the same. It has been rumored over the years that this is due to Judd being difficult to work with and perhaps a contemptible person in general (as many ex-members of Nachtmystium have indeed claimed; Charlie Fell even stated that the best thing that he ever did in his time with that band was smashing Judd's head through a tour bus window). In light of recent drug, theft, and fraud scandals surrounding Judd, this is not difficult to believe.
  • Aborted is essentially the Sven de Caluwé Band, having 19 former members (24 if you count session members and live fill-ins) and Sven as the only consistent figure.
  • As of 2019, Abigail Williams has gone through 26 former members and has had about as many live members. Outside of Ken Sorceron (who wound up being the only non-session member on 2019's Walk Beyond the Dark), Ian Jekelis and Jeff Wilson were the only members who stuck around for more than two uninterrupted years. Because of their unstable lineups, it is also almost guaranteed that at least one member on a tour will be a fill-in.
  • The Acacia Strain's Vincent Bennett is the only original member left. Since its inception in 2001, they've gone through 3 guitarists, one drummer, and no fewer than 4 bass players, 3 of which in 3 years' time.
  • Alcatrazz - lead singer Graham Bonnett has been the only consistent member throughout the band's career, both before and after the band's name was brought back in 2006.
  • Annihilator. Since their beginning, they have had a whopping 24 former members, and that's excluding the ones who left and came back. Guitarist Jeff Waters is the only constant member, though they've had Dave Padden as their singer for almost 9 years.
  • Before 2013, Anthrax had trouble keeping a lead vocalist (Joey Belladonna is currently on his third stint) and lead guitarist.
    • When their first album was released, Anthrax was already on their fourth lead singer, third drummer, and third lead guitarist. Founding bassist Dan Lilker left soon afterwards.
  • Black Sabbath had a pretty stable lineup (Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass, and Bill Ward on drums) until Ozzy left the band in 1979. Since then, they have gone through nine vocalistsnote , seven bassistsnote  and nine drummersnote . Guitarist Iommi is the only constant band member.
    • Ozzy Osbourne's backing band has gone through nine guitarists, eleven bassists, nine drummers, and eight keyboardists. Some of whom were tour or temporary replacements.
      • Guitarist Zakk Wylde is on his fourth stint, having first joined the band in 1987.
    • Ronnie James Dio's solo band, Dio, went through seven guitarists, six bassists, two drummers, and three keyboardists.
  • Chelsea Grin had this issue early on in their life, due to the band not being financially stable. They've had at least six guitarists, three bassists, and two drummers go through their ranks. From 2007 until 2018, Alex Koehler was the only consistent member until he left due to his alcoholism. Bassist David Flinn has been in the band the longest, joining in 2009.
  • Civil War, formed by ex-members of Sabaton (with their own entry below), with Nils Patrik Johannson as lead vocalist. They added a third guitarist in 2014, but then one of the ex-Sabaton guitarists and the bassist quit in 2014, and they fired Johannson due to personal problems in 2016 and replaced him with Kelly Sundown Carpenter. And then they fired guitarist Rikard Sundén in 2021 over a sex crimes conviction, replacing him with his own previous replacement in Sabaton, Thobbe Englund. At present the only remaining founding members are drummer Daniel Mullback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr.
  • Cradle of Filth, from 1991 until 2014. Dani Filth is the only constant member.
  • Few bands were as unstable as the aptly-named death metal band Death. Founder Chuck Schuldiner being the only constant member, the band couldn't keep the same lineup for more than one album. In fact, of every Death member besides Chuck, only bassist Terry Butler, drummer Bill Andrews, and bassist Steve DiGiorgio would feature on two different records. Including members who came and left prior to the recording of the band's debut album, Death had a grand total of 23 members. It became less of a band and more like Schuldiner's solo project.
  • All-female Japanese metal band Destrose went through 23 members in its 9 years of existence. Within the first year all the original members of the band except the founder, guitarist Mina, quit the band and formed Mary's Blood - the first descendant band from Destrose. In fact, Destrose is important to all-female music in Japan because of how much talent the band bled off who then go on to start new, more successful bands. Fate Gear, Mina's follow-up band to Destrose, has likewise seen a constant change in membership with much of the talent being a supporting guest for a song or 2.
  • The Dillinger Escape Plan usually worked as a five-piece, and prior to their break-up have had five rhythm guitarists, one vocalistnote , one bassist and two drummers leave over their roughly 20 year career. Lead guitarist Ben Weiman was the only consistent member from start to finish, and even he very briefly quit once. In two separate cases, members have been forced to leave due to medical injuries rendering them unable to play their instruments: Original bassist Adam Doll was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident, while guitarist Brian Benoit suffered nerve damage in his left hand. Benoit ended up not returning to the band - he's able to play guitar again, but wasn't able to play at the technically-demanding level required by most of the band's material. Their final shows in December 2017 ended up being a Continuity Cavalcade, with former members Benoit, Doll, first singer Dimitri Minakakis, and Mike Patton joining the band one more time.
  • Mild example with Dismember. While the vocals and drum slots remain almost constant throughout the years, the band went through a number of bassists and guitarists.
  • Since DragonForce formed in 1999, they’ve had 4 bassists, 4 drummers, 2 keyboardists, and 2 vocalists, they can hardly go one album without suffering a lineup change. The only members still left from their founding are guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman.
  • Emmure has become the Frankie Palmeri band over the years, culminating in the entire band and its last two original members besides Palmeri up and leaving in late 2015 and being replaced only days later.
  • ETHS lasted from 1999 to 2017 and the sum of all members of the various line-ups is eight different members (usually four or five at the same time). The only one who remains for the whole duration was the guitarist Staif. In a more literal example than most of the other ones, most of the initial line-up came back to perform during the band's final tour in 2017. The band's frontman (Candice Clot, the initial main vocalist) herself only played from 1999 to 2012 (and then again during the final tour).
  • Exhumed is up there with Napalm Death and Incantation as far as the sheer amount of former personnel goes; thanks to their hard-touring nature, members come and go often and with little warning, necessitating frequent live fill-ins. It's kind of telling when a band that just got back together a couple years ago has already had a near-total lineup change in just a little over a year.
  • The Faceless. Only person who has been on all the albums is guitarist and clean vocalist Michael Keene. From their origin in 2004, they are on their third bassist, second rhythm guitarist, second harsh vocalist, and sixth drummer, and they're now looking for their third rhythm guitarist due to Wes Hauch's departure. As of 2014, this reached its logical extreme when everyone save for Keene left within the span of a couple months. Then it happened again in 2018 where everyone save Keene left the band, leading to another member search.
  • For the Fallen Dreams might be the kings of this trope as far as metalcore is concerned. Just look at this chart! Surprisingly enough, albums and tours still happen with guitarist Jim Hocking being the glue that holds the band together.
  • Friggan Otep. Otep herself is the only remaining member, and only once have they had two albums with the same lineup (2016's "Generation Doom" and 2018's "Kult 45").
  • Green Jellÿ is Bill Manspeaker and a parade of others. The lineup that recorded the band's Top 40 hit "Three Little Pigs" included Maynard James Keenan and Danny Carey, the two of whom later formed tool. In fact, the current lineup is comprised of so-called "franchise bands", a concept which allows Manspeaker to fly to a state one weekend, meet his franchise band at the airport, play three shows, and fly home before starting the process all over again the next weekend in a new state with a new franchise band.
  • GWAR have had 3 vocalists, 15 guitarists (two at a time), 5 bassists (a couple of whom have been in-and-outs), 5 drummers, 2 keyboardists, plus many miscellaneous performers (though, surprisingly, there hasn't been nearly as much turnover among the Slaves) over the last 29 years. Following the 2014 death of frontman Dave Brockie, the group has soldiered on with no remaining original members, although rhythm guitarist Mike "Balzac the Jaws of Death" Derks has been with the band since 1988.
  • Ice Nine Kills have had 17 different members in their 20-year run, with frontman Spencer Charnas the only consistent member of the band.
  • Iced Earth was formed in 1984 as "The Rose" by Jon Schaffer in his home state of Indiana. When Jon moved to Tampa, Florida a few months later, none of the other members could come with him, so the band broke up, but Schaffer retained the logo font and songs he had written. After moving to Tampa, Schaffer placed an ad for musicians there and met drummer Greg Seymour and vocalist Gene Adam who would remain for the next few years, calling the band "Purgatory". The rest of the band formed soon after, recording some demo tapes and playing many live shows. The band then changed their name to "Purgatory 60" to distinguish themselves from another band. In 1987, lead guitarist Randall Shawver joined and markedly changed the sound of the band from a horror thrash band to one with more distinct prog, NWOBHM, and gothic influences, which led them to drop most of their old songs. In 1988 the band changed their name to Iced Earth before getting a record deal. Seymour left after their first professionally recorded demo tape, Enter The Realm. Adam was fired after the first album and the band's second vocalist John Greely was only in the band for a year before they went on hiatus. There were numerous other lineup changes, however the band finally got a pretty solid lineup when they reformed in 1995 with Matt Barlow on vocals, which endured for the next few albums. There have been numerous other lineup changes over the years, and the current lineup of Iced Earth includes no original members apart from Schaffer. However, drummer Brent Smedley has been in the band on and off since 1997, and vocalist Stu Block was a regular fixture in the band until 2021, when he and two other members quit the band.
  • In Flames first album "Lunar Strain" was released in 1994. The "classic line-up" (1999–2011) only has the founding guitarist Jesper Strömblad in common with the founding line-up, until he left the band in 2011. Vocalist Anders Fridén and guitarist Bjorn Gelotte, however, joined right after the debut album and are still currently in the line-up.
  • Incantation is basically John McEntee and anyone who shows up; thanks to their incredibly prolific live appearances, they have had a truly staggering amount of former members in the form of live fill-ins and studio session enlistees, ranging from established figures to one-shots who never did anything else. The amount is so large that no one has ever bothered to list them all.
  • Iron Maiden, as the documentary The Early Days, Part 1 has shown. There were many line-up changes before the first album in a 5-years span. After their first album, the band began to slowly stabilize - their first four records all have different line-ups, but the addition of Nicko McBrain in Piece Of Mind solidified the band's classic lineup of Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Steve Harris and McBrain, and though Smith left between 1990-1999 and Dickinson from 1993-1999, the lineup reformed in 1999 for Brave New World, retaining Smith's replacement Janick Gers as third guitarist. This six-man lineup remains as of 2021.
  • Judas Priest started with Al Atkins, John Perry (who died shortly after their formation and was replaced by Ernie Chataway), Bruno Stapenhill and John Partridge. Atkins later joined Freight with K.K. Downing, Ian Hill and John Ellis, taking the "Judas Priest" name with him. Atkins and Ellis left soon afterwards, with Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton and a number of different drummers (eventually settling on Dave Holland and then Scott Travis) replacing them. To put it in perspective: None of the members who originally formed Judas Priest were present on their debut album.
  • Kittie aren't as extreme an example as others in this section, as they've had two consistent members of the band for their entire tenure — sisters Morgan and Mercedes Lander (guitar/vocals, and drums, respectively). Meanwhile, the lead guitar and bass spots have undergone changes between every album, stemming from a combination of label conflicts, financial struggles, and other, more tragic reasons. As a nod to this, the Lander sisters performed with three different lineups at Kittie's 20th anniversary concert.
  • L.A.Guns is a case more extreme than most. The band had an extremely unstable lineup from the beginning, and the "classic" lineup (Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis, Kelly Nickels Mick Cripps, and Steve Riley), which lasted during their period of greatest success from 1987-1992, was the eighth incarnation. For several years, there were TWO, COMPETING versions of the L.A. Guns, one fronted by Phil Lewis and the other fronted by Tracii Guns. There's been about three dozen members of one or the other incarnations of L.A. Guns since 1983.
  • Symphonic Viking metal group Leaves' Eyes has a longer list of ex-members than of current and live members combined. Only has two of its original members remain as of 2018's Sign of the Dragonhead. It was formed out of the romance between Theatre of Tragedy singer Liv Kristine and Atrocity growler Alexander Krull, but they divorced in 2016 and she left the band to be replaced by Elina Siirala from Angel Nation. The other remaining founder is Thorsten Bauer.
  • Lordy, Lordy, Lordi, especially between 1997 and 2012.
  • Malevolent Creation has an absolutely ludicrous amount of lineup changes even by death metal standards, to the point that The Other Wiki has an entire page dedicated to them alone. As of 2024, they've had over 30 former members and counting, and that's not even including session and live members.
  • Megadeth - it doesn't get called "Megadave" for nothing. The only original member besides Dave Mustaine is bassist Dave Ellefson, and even he left the band between 2002 and 2010 and was fired in 2021.
  • The Melvins have had a serious problem with keeping a bassist. While the two founding members have been around since the band's inception they have gone through six official bassists and multiple stand-ins/auditions. Kurt Cobain even auditioned but was rejected because he got so nervous he forgot all of their songs.
  • Trope Makers of Grindcore Napalm Death are an extreme example. The founding duo split up before recording their first album; the remaining founder member lasted until the end of side one of the band's debut album before leaving, at which point the entire band had been replaced. The only bandmember who appeared on both sides of the group's debut album was blast-beat drummer Mick Harris, who left two albums later, at which point the entire band had been replaced again. They did eventually stabilize, with the current lineup of Barney Greenway, Mitch Harris, Shane Embury, and Danny Herrera qualifying as a Long Runner Lineup; Herrera joined in 1991 and apart from a year where Greenway was out of the band, the lineup has remained stable ever since.
  • The Ocean was this for the first nine years of existence. Over 20 musicians appeared on certain albums, and in the beginning, the band lineups were never consistent from one album to the next. Since 2009 they've had a far more stable line up of five members.
  • Oceano was down to one original member, vocalist Adam Warren, just 2 years after being formed in 2007, although there had been other vocalists before him. As of 2016, they're on their 3rd drummer, 5th lead guitarist, 3rd rhythm guitarist, and 3rd bassist.
  • Doom metal pioneers Pentagram had a fairly stable lineup from 1971 to 1975, but as singer Bobby Liebling's drug and ego problems became difficult for his bandmates to bear, Pentagram would become a Revolving Door Band from 1976 onward, with Liebling being the only constant member. A total of 37 musicians have been part of Pentagram since 1971, and only two of them aside from Liebling (current member Victor Griffin - guitars, 12 years in four stints, and ex-member Joe Hasselvander - multiple instruments, 13 years in three stints) have spent a combined decade or more with the band.
    • Thanks to manager, friend, and Last Days Here documentary maker Sean "Pellet" Pelletier, Liebling kicked drugs in the early 2010s, and that may have helped reduce turnover within the band.
  • Periphery have also been together since 2005. The only remaining founding member is Misha Mansoor, and fourth lead singer Spencer Sotelo joined in 2009.
  • Quiet Riot has blown through a good amount of members in the course of its 40+ year long history. Drummer Frankie Banali and bassist Chuck Wright (both of whom had been on-and-off members during their most famous period in the 80s) were the glue that held the band together from its fifth reunion in 2010 (which was organized by Banali with blessings from the family of deceased founding vocalist Kevin DuBrow) onwards until Banali's 2020 death, when his touring fill-in Johnny Kelly took over the role.
    • Wright left the band in 2021. He was replaced by Rudy Sarzo, who first joined in 1978.
  • Rose Funeral have been a band since 2005. In that time, 18 members have joined and left. Very few have anything good to say about the personalities of the core members.
  • Swedish Power Metal kings Sabaton kept the same lineup from 2005 to 2012 (they'd previously switched drummers and added a dedicated keyboardist in 2005), but after the release of Carolus Rex, everybody except lead singer Joakim Brodén and bassist Pär Sundström left due to Creative Differences. They've since changed drummers and one guitarist again.
  • Brazilian metal legends Sepultura have no original members left, including the founding Cavalera brothers (Max was replaced by American expat Derrick Green, and Igor was replaced by Jean Dolabella and then by Eloy Casagrande). Surprisingly enough, albums still get made and tours still happen, with guitarist Andreas Kisser and bassist Paulo Jr. being the glue that holds the band together.
  • Static-X's only consistent members were lead vocalist/guitarist Wayne Static and bassist Tony Campos. Pretty much everyone else kept changing throughout the band's career until their breakup in 2010, with Static continuing his solo career, and Campos joining Soulfly. Static died in 2014, shortly after he reformed the band without Campos. In 2018, Campos and the other two surviving original members reformed the band with a new singer.
  • Suffokate has, in their eleven-year runtime, had nineteen former members, with drummer Lars Diaz being the only remaining founder. Like the Rose Funeral example, few of those former members have anything nice to say about him.
  • Tank is an interesting example. The band was formed in 1980 but after the first three albums, in 1983, the original members except the singer Algy Ward are replaced, notably by guitarists Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans. The band splitted up in 1989, then reformed in 1997. Then in 2008, a new lineup is announced with Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans, but without the last remaining founding member Algy Ward. The latter would then create his own version of Tank in 2013, which is pretty much composed of himself only, playing all the instruments and recording everything by himself. There are now two bands called Tank, one referred as Tucker/Evans Tank, the other as Algy Ward's Tank.
  • Testament became one of these after The Ritual (where after that album was completed, two of the band's lineup for five albums left, and another one left after the following album), with constant switch-ups in guitarists and drummers in the nineties (at one point they had somehow gotten Dave Lombardo, Steve DiGiorgio and James Murphy all on one album) and even to this day have trouble keeping a drummer. Rhythm guitarist Eric Peterson is the only founding member left, and he and vocalist Chuck Billy (actually the third singer) are the only two to appear on all the albums.
  • Therion consists of Christofer Johnsson and whoever he's convinced to work with him on the latest album. See for yourself.
  • Turisas. Only two original members remain (vocalist Mathias 'Warlord' Nygard and guitarist Jussi Wickstrom), and since the band's inception in 1997, they've had eighteen members (that's including Nygard and Wickstrom). In the time period between their last album and their current one, they've managed to go through three bassists. That's a space of about two or two and a half years. Bassists seem to be the main source of the problem - since 1999, they've had no less than six (that's including the current one), three of whom only lasted one year each.
  • When drummer/singer Aaron Gillespie left in 2010, it left no original members remaining in the Christian metalcore band Underoath. Between 1999 and 2003, every original member except for Gillespie quit the band. The band reunited in 2015 with their best-known lineup, but that means Gillespie is once again the only original member.
  • Warrant, the band that made Cherry Pie, has had around 2 dozen musicians since 1984, but since lead singer Robert Mason joined in 2008 their lineup has been stable. Bassist Jerry Dixon and guitarist Erik Turner are the only constant members.
  • We Came As Romans had this bad during their early years (circa 2005). The only founding members left are lead guitarist Joshua Moore and now-vocalist then-guitarist David Stephens (who stepped away from WCAR for a year). They had three singers, two bassists, and two drummers leave in the course of a two-year span. The band's lineup was consistent from 2008 to 2017, when drummer Eric Choi left.
  • Woe, Is Me was only active for about four years, and their constant lineup shifts might have played a hand in that. They blew through no less than eight different musicians (most notably Tyler Carter and Michael Bohn who started Issues) in two years and their final lineup only lasted for one album before calling it quits (and even then Austin Thorton was kicked out shortly after Genesis dropped). The only consistent member was guitarist Kevin Hanson.
  • Woods of Ypres tore through 23 different members in their 9-year run, with only late frontman David Gold surviving through each lineup and album. Of their members, only two (David Gold and ex-keyboardist Jessica Rose) even appeared on two of their 5 studio albums.
  • No one really knows what the glue is that keeps the name Zao going on, but albums keep getting made.

    Pop 
  • This is an enforced trope for many Japanese and Korean Idol Singer groups which use an "admissions and graduations" system. This just means that new members are regularly added to and leave the group, usually by the management company's will but sometimes upon request or after a set number of years.
    • Morning Musume, for example, has seen over forty girls join and leave during its >25-year history, and AKB48 has had more than three hundred. On the Korean side, there's groups like After School which had thirteen lineup changes in six years, and Blackswan (fka Rania) with 18 changes in 12 years and counting.
  • Bronski Beat's namesake and only consistent member was Steve Bronski, who died in 2021.
  • Spanish vocal group Fórmula Abierta was formed in 2002, after the first season of talent show Operación Triunfo, by contestants Álex, Javián, Geno and Mireia. Álex left before the end of the year and Miguel Ángel Silva from the second season of Operación Triunfo would take his place in 2003 until the group disbanded in 2004. In 2017, the group reunited with its original four members, but Mireia had to pull out just a few days later, and in January 2020, Geno left the band and was replaced with Tessa, who, like Miguel Ángel Silva, was an OT2 alum. Álex died in a motorcycle crash in 2021; and by January 2023, the band once again changed its lineup entirely, no longer featuring Javián, the band's only constant member until that point, with new arrivals Verónica (OT1) and Enrique Anaut (OT2) now joining the returning Geno.
  • Menudo. As a long-running, teen-focused boy band, its lineup would change whenever a member grew facial hair, went through a voice change, grew too tall, or turned sixteen, whichever came first.
  • The Pussycat Dolls started out as a burlesque dance troupe and didn't really have a stable lineup until they became a recording group and released their first album. All of that lineup left the band over the course of 2010.
  • UK newspapers actually more or less invoked this trope when the last original Sugababe had a breakdown and "quit", which meant Sugababes replaced all three of its original members over the last 12 years or so. To add to the Sugababes mess, as soon as the last original member (Keisha) left, there was immediately talk of the original three reforming as a new band, which ultimately became a reality three years later.
    • In 2019, the three original members discarded their new band and regained the Sugababes brand and name, meaning the original line-up are officially back in action as the Sugababes for the first time in nineteen years, releasing new music and a re-issue of their 2000 debut album in 2021.

    Punk 
  • Against Me! initially started as an acoustic solo act by Laura Jane Grace, who then recruited Kevin Mahon to play drums. This duo recorded a few demo cassettes together. Then Kevin was fired, and bassist Dustin Fridkin came into the fold. Grace and Fridkin then recorded together before guitarist James Bowman and drummer Warren Oakes were hired. The lineup of Grace, Bowman, Fridkin, and Oakes recorded the band's first full-length album, Reinventing Axl Rose. Fridkin then left and was replaced by Andrew Seward. The Grace-Bowman-Seward-Oakes era remained constant until Oakes left (or was fired, depending on whom one talks to) after their major-label debut New Wave. George Rebelo of fellow punk band Hot Water Music recorded their next album White Crosses as drummer before leaving to return to Hot Water Music. He was then replaced by Jay Weinberg, son of Max. The lineup of Grace-Bowman-Seward-Weinberg managed to record a single, "Russian Spies / Occult Enemies" together. This lineup also attempted to record the band's next full-length album Transgender Dysphoria Blues together, but this didn't materialize. Weinberg quit via Twitter, and Seward left amicably. The album was recorded with Atom Willard on drums, with Grace handling bass herself on the album save for two songs, which were recorded by Fat Mike of NOFX. After a few years of Inge Johansson of The (International) Noise Conspiracy handling bass duties, Seward returned in 2018. The current lineup is now Grace, Bowman, Seward, and Willard, or about 3/4 of the band's classic lineup, after a brief hiatus during Covid when the band stopped talking to eachother and Laura recorded some solo material.
  • Andrew Jackson Jihad, which has only two constant members.
  • Arizona band Authority Zero could just as easily be called “Jason Devore and Friends” as he has been the only constant since 1994.
  • The lineup of Black Flag flip-flopped so much that they'd occasionally have random audience members join the band because someone quit on extremely short notice.
  • Seminal deathrock group Christian Death has had 49 different members in the past 30 years; they're not a big band, mind you, they only ever have 4-5 people in the band at a time. They just rotate in and out like mad. No member has been with the band for its entire run.
  • Psychobilly / horror punk godfathers The Cramps had twenty-one bassists, rhythm and lead guitarists and drummers between their formation in 1976 and their dissolution in 2009, besides founder members/constants vocalist Lux Interior and his wife, guitarist Poison Ivy.
  • Seattle punk band Fastbacks were famous for their inability to keep a regular drummer, the official count is somewhere between 15 and 20. Among the band's drummers were Duff McKagan (later the guitarist of Guns N' Roses), John Moen (later of The Decemberists), Dan Peters of Mudhoney and Jason Finn of The Presidents of the United States of America. The band eventually settled on a permanent drummer, Mike Musberger, who stuck with them for a decade until the band's 2002 split.
  • Post-Hardcore band Glassjaw has had trouble keeping a rhythm section (bass/drums). Singer Daryl Palumbo and guitarist Justin Beck are the only constant band members.
  • Horror-punk group The Misfits have had some 17 different members in only about 20 active years. Though many people would consider Glenn Danzig the band's face, he actually never spent that much time with the band.
  • Screeching Weasel has gone through 24 members across its 35 year history, including four hiatuses/breakups and the entire band aside from frontman (and only consistent member) Ben Weasel quitting after an infamous incident at SXSW. Their lineup briefly included Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt in 1994.
  • Senses Fail's only constant member is singer/arranger/lyricist James "Buddy" Nielsen. Their first bassist and secondary songwriter Mike Glita left the band after the second album due to interpersonal problems, guitarist and Vocal Tag Team Heath Saraceno left in 2010, to be replaced by Zach Roach. Garrett Zabrocki left shortly after Heath, and the band has subsequently lost its sole other founding member, drummer Dan Trapp, to be replaced by Chris Hornbrook. This was quite an unpopular decision because of Trapp's skill on drums. The rest of the band aside from Nielsen, current guitarist and fill-in bassist Gavin Casswell, and Chris Hornbrook, are all touring members.
  • Social Distortion's lineup has completely gone through a revolving door since 1978. Only lead singer/guitarist Mike Ness has stuck around forever.
  • Northern Irish Punk band Stiff Little Fingers have gone through four drummers, three bassists (including losing their original bassist just before they got a record deal and replacement Ali McMordie leaving in the early '90s and coming back in the late 2000s) and two guitarists in their time together. Only lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist Jake Burns has been a constant member.
  • Suicidal Tendencies have gone through over 30 members (including former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, current Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and funk bassist Thundercat), but lead singer Mike Muir has been the band since 1982!
  • The UK Subs, which formed in 1976 have gone through 21 different guitarists, 34 different drummers, and 19 different bass guitarists. Lead singer Charlie Harper has been the only constant member, with co-founder and Guitarist Nicky Garrett routinely playing for several years, taking a break for a few years, and then returning.

    Rock 
  • AC/DC was founded in 1973. Five years later, they were on their second vocalist, seventh bassist, and eighth drummer. Two years later, they had to replace the vocalist again after the incumbent one died. However, the lineup has stabilized since, with only a few personnel changes. And one drummer case takes the "Revolving" part to the extreme: Chris Slade was replaced in 1994 by the returning Phil Rudd (said eighth drummer, who recorded the band's best-known albums such as Back in Black), and replaced Rudd in 2015 once he was arrested and consequently expelled from the band. Between 2014 and 2016, four of the band's five longstanding members all left, with just founding guitarist Angus Young remaining from the Long-Runner Line-up that had existed just a few years prior. Three of those band members (Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd) rejoined AC/DC in 2018.
  • The Alan Parsons Project, centering around songwriters Parsons (also producer/engineer) and Eric Woolfson while the musicians rotated regularly. Woolfson sang and played piano from time to time; Parsons almost never sang (he talked through a digital vocoder on their first album).
  • Asia has even had musicians join and leave without ever recording.
  • While most bands tend to become more like revolving doors over time, The Beatles did the reverse. The original Quarrymen was a frequently-shifting lineup of teenagers: formed in 1956, Paul McCartney didn't join until 1957 and George Harrison until 1958, and it wasn't until 1959 that the group was reduced to just John Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. The band's revolving door tendency stops there, with just two major changes after that: In 1960-61 they took on, then lost, Stu Sutcliffe and went through a number of drummers before settling on Pete Best. Best was fired in favour of Ringo Starr in 1962, a few months after they got their original big recording contract, and the lineup was almost completely stable (minus Ringo and Harrison's brief and unannounced resignations during the recording of The White Album and Let It Be, respectively) from then until the band dissolved once and for all in 1970. (Apart from the Quarrymen reunion that didn't include any of the Fab Four...)
  • Boston: After going through many lineup changes and members (with Fran Cosmo and Stryper founder Michael Sweet being among their ranks), founder/multi-instrumentalist Tom Scholz is the only original member left. Brad Delp, the lead singer on all of the band's hits, was also the closest thing they had to a second consistent original member, but even he had two separate tenures with Boston before his death in 2007.
  • Buckcherry went through many guitarists, bassists and drummers, but only lead singer Josh Todd has performed on all their albums.
  • The Black Crowes are the brothers Chris and Rich Robinson, and whoever else they can get to play with them at the time. Drummer Steve Gorman comes the closest to being the third constant, having joined the band in their second year, and only missing a couple months after they reformed (after their first breakup). When the band reunited in 2019, the Robinson brothers hired a new backing band.
  • Southern rockers Blackfoot changed membership throughout its career, with something like 40 musicians passing through its ranks. The group retained only lead singer Rickey Medlocke throughout all of the changes until 1997 when he retired to re-join his old band, Lynyrd Skynyrd. The most notable change came in 2012, when the entire lineup, including original member Greg T. Walker, were replaced by younger hired hands and began recording new material, produced by Medlocke. Many fans of the band have accused this new lineup of being nothing short of a glorified cover band.
  • The Byrds from 1966 to 1969. Roger McGuinn was all that remained of the founding line-up throughout its tenure.
  • Camel could be considered as such, as Andrew Latimer has been the only consistent member since its conception. Drummer Andy Ward deserves a prize for at least sticking with him until the early 1980s.
    • In recent years, however, the line-up has mostly stabilized as Latimer, long-time bassist Colin Bass (from 1979-1981, and since 1984), and drummer Dennis Clement (since 2000), with the keyboardist spot changing every tour.
  • Chicago went through flurries of musicians from about the time Terry Kath died to about 1990. They've since stabilized, but have had a total of 16 different "permanent" members, along with several guests and subs. Still, the band has had 4 members remain for its entire history: keyboardist Robert Lamm, trumpet player Lee Loughane, trombonist James Pankow, and saxophonist Walter Parazaider (who retired from touring in 2017 but he's still a member of the band).
  • Collective Soul now qualifies. Ed Roland (lead vocals, songwriting, rhythm guitar, piano), Ross Childress (lead guitar) and Shane Evans (drums) founded the band in 1992, with Ed's younger brother Dean Roland (guitar) and Will Turpin (bass, backing vocals) joining soon after. Since 2001, they've had two new lead guitarists (Joel Kosche and Jesse Triplett) and three drummers (Ryan Hoyle, Cheney Brannon, and Johnny Rabb).
  • The Cult is singer Ian Astbury, guitarist Billy Duffy, and a revolving door of bassists and drummers.
  • Dance Gavin Dance has been through many changes over the years with only band leader, guitarist, and singer Will Swan and drummer Matt Mingus being around since the beginning. Rhythm guitarists go through the most, with them currently on their fifth rhythm guitarist (excluding fill ins).
  • Deep Purple, which has had nine different line-ups, with drummer Ian Paice as the only constant member — and true to the "revolving" part, three times the band returned to the Mark II formation that recorded Machine Head.
  • The Doobie Brothers is probably one of the most infamous examples of this. The only member to stay throughout the band's history is Patrick Simmons, with Tom Johnston taking a brief hiatus for health reasons in the late '70s. They cycle through touring members quite a bit, and even the number of principal members that recorded studio albums is a staggering 14.
  • Canadian rock band Econoline Crush's only consistent member is frontman Trevor Hurst. All other members throughout the band's history (and there have been many, between the band's 4 albums, 2 E.P.s, and heavy touring history) have popped in and out of the lineup depending on availability and interest.
  • Prog rock band The Enid have had numerous changes of lineup since their formation in 1975, with only keyboardist/composer Robert John Godfrey being common to all.
  • Evanescence: The band has had many lineup changes since its 1995 formation. Frontwoman Amy Lee is the only original member left.
  • The only member of Fleetwood Mac to remain in the band for its entire history was drummer Mick Fleetwood. The band was named after him and bassist John McVie, the latter of whom initially declined membership and Bob Brunning became the band's original bass player...for a few weeks before McVie changed his mind. Things got even more complicated over the next few decades with members coming and going and coming back only to leave again.
  • Fuel has an interesting version of this. The original singer, Brett Scallions, left in 2005 and was replaced by Toryn Green. Around 2008 or so, the band became inactive. In 2010, Brett started touring with his band under the Fuel name, however none of the other original members were in this version of the band. This means that not a single member of the band has appeared on both of their last 2 albums.
    • The 2010 formation probably counts on its own, having gone through 3 guitarists and 4 drummers.
    • As of 2020, founding guitarist Carl Bell restarted the band with a new lead singer.
  • The Gentrys were formed in 1963 when seven Memphis high school classmates got together. They broke through nationally in 1965 when "Keep on Dancing" became a Top 5 Billboard hit. After a series of unsuccessful follow-ups, several members dropped out and were replaced, before they finally broke up in 1967. Then in 1969, one of the founding members, Jimmy Hart, formed an entirely new band with himself as the frontman, and resurrected the Gentrys name, becoming huge in the Memphis area while scoring a few minor national hits. But even that edition of The Gentrys had major turnover, with Hart as the only constant. The Gentrys (mark 2) eventually broke up for good in 1972, and Hart became a pro wrestling personality shortly thereafter.
  • Gong has had dozens of members throughout the years, and there have been several instances where the band has featured no original or classic members. Bandleader and founder Daevid Allen left Gong in 1975 and the band was subsequently renamed Pierre Moerlen's Gong to identify both its new leader (drummer Pierre Moerlen, a member since 1973) and their change in sound from space rock to jazz fusion. Allen and co-founder Gilli Smyth reconvened Gong in 1992 with a mix of current and former members, with the two of them as the only constant members. Smith left the band in 2013 and died three years later. Allen was still leading Gong when he died in 2015, but he had encouraged the current version of band - all of which had joined in the preceding 10 years - to continue on without him. Right now, the official version of Gong contains no original or classic-era personnel.
  • The Grass Roots began in 1965 as a studio project instigated by producers/songwriters Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan, playing Follow the Leader with The Byrds. After some initial success, Barri and Sloan hired an actual band called The Bedouins to become The Grass Roots. But with the producers controlling most of the band's material and even hiring session musicians to play on the recordings, the band clashed with them and were essentially fired. Another band was hired to assume the role of The Grass Roots in 1967—The 13th Floor, with bassist/lead singer Rob Grill, lead guitarist Creed Bratton, rhythm guitarist Warren Entner and drummer Rick Coonce. Right off the bat they scored a huge hit with "Let's Live for Today", with Bratton playing the song's Epic Riff. The next year they had another major hit with "Midnight Confessions", but Bratton became the band's Michael Nesmith figure, demanding more control over their music, which the record label wasn't willing to give them. After a disastrous appearance at the Fillmore West in San Francisco in 1969,note  Bratton was asked to leave the band. After that they went through literally dozens of members as they had a few more hits. By 1974, Grill was the only 13th Floor member remaining, and he went solo three years later, though he rejoined in 1980 to lead them onto the oldies circuit. Ironically, despite his short tenure, Bratton is now the band's most famous member because of his role on The Office.
  • Popular culture would have you believe this was the case with Grateful Dead's keyboardists, but they're actually a Downplayed example, with most of the changes taking place years apart: Founding keyboardist Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played with the band for seven years before he was gradually replaced by Keith Godchaux (the two were even in the band at the same time for a nearly a year). Godchaux also lasted seven years before he too was replaced, by Brent Mydland in 1979. Myland stayed on until his death 11 years later in 1990 (making that lineup of the Dead a Long Runner Lineup), and was replaced by Vince Welnick, who remained with the band until they broke up five years later.
  • Guns N' Roses took its name partially from lead guitarist Tracii Guns, who was replaced in its first few months and restarted L.A. Guns (the band that had merged to form Guns n' Roses). But shortly thereafter, they found a fairly stable lineup consisting of Axl Rose (vocals), Slash (Lead Guitar), Izzy Stradlin (Rhythm Guitar), Duff McKagan (Bass) and Steven Adler (Drums). The early '90s began to wear on the group, with Steven fired after not being able to get his drug habit under control, Izzy leaving because he sobered up and wanted to stay that way, and Axl's ego running away with him, along with whatever sanity he may have once had. His treating the band like it was his and his alone drove away Slash, Duff and eventually Matt Sorum (Steven's replacement) leaving Axl with, essentially, whomever he could get to tour with him. Since the dissolution of the classic line-up, there have been four lead guitarists, five rhythm guitarists, four drummers, two keyboardists and one other bassist. Few but the most hardcore of fans can name any of them. Slash and Duff rejoined the band in 2016.
  • Hawkwind. They've had at least 8 bassists, 8 keyboardists and at the last count 13 drummers, and they've gone from 7 members to 3 back up to 5 again, but always revolving around co-founder Dave Brock.note 
  • Iron Butterfly went through 59 lineups (Arguably 60, but the Doug Ingle/Ron Bushy/Erik Braunn/Lee Dorman happened twice, and is the version of the group that recorded their best known song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida") in 46 years—including hiatuses. None of these members, not even relative constants Ingle and Bushy, have been in the band consistently since its formation.
  • Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship. Just look at this list. Dear god.
  • Jethro Tull had bandleader Ian Anderson from the beginning, and guitarist Martin Barre since 1969. Much of the band's history has revolved around Anderson, Barre, and various keyboardists, bassists, and drummers (and recently occasional female violinists for live work). When Anderson reformed the band in 2017, Barre wasn't part of the lineup.
  • John Mayall's Bluesbreakers have featured 32 musicians from 1963-1970 and 1982-2008, and have been a farm system of sorts for some of England's most influential rock and blues musicians. Bluebreakers alumni include but are not limited to Eric Clapton, three-fifths of the original Fleetwood Mac (the aforementioned Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, and Peter Green), and ex-The Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.
  • In its nearly 40-year history, Journey has chewed up and spit out six lead vocalists, six drummers, three keyboardists, and three bassists, with several of those revolving door personnel lasting less than a year. The only person who has been ever-present since the band's founding in 1973 is lead guitarist Neal Schon, although keyboardist Jonathan Cain has also been a constant since 1980.
  • Kansas has had a large number of musicians who have joined, left, rejoined, and re-left the band. Each tour might have a different set of musicians depending upon who is up for touring at any given time. Most of the departures seem amicable, as those members occasionally help out later tours and/or records. The only stable members are drummer Phil Ehart (who had a short-term replacement on one tour so he could focus on being the manager) and guitarist Rich Williams. Lead vocalist and keyboardist Steve Walsh has been there nearly the same length of time, only being gone from about 1981 to 1986. His short-term replacement, John Elefante, has never returned, though he was invited to rejoin in 2014 after Steve Walsh's retirement (he respectfully declined). Guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter/founder Kerry Livgren often reappears on tour. Original bassist Dave Hope occasionally reappears, but current bassist Billy Greer has been around since 1986, although at one point they were both bassists at the same time! Touring keyboardist Greg Robert was officially a member in the early '90s, but permanently retired after 10 years and has not rejoined. Violinists Robby Steinhardt and David Ragsdale have also alternated through the years, each bringing different benefits -Steinhardt contributes original vocals, which don't seem to have deteriorated over the years, unlike Steve Walsh. However, when not singing or playing the violin, he pretty much stands around uselessly on stage, as opposed to David Ragsdale, whose ability to play guitar allows him to contribute to every song all of the time. And as of August 2014, long time singer Steve Walsh has retired after forty-one years to be replaced by Ronnie Platt. Following that, they added longtime contributors David Manion and Zak Rizvi on keyboards and guitars, respectively.
  • King Crimson is the King of this trope. Since they were founded in 1969, they've had 19 members (not including recording/touring guest musicians, with which the number would climb to about 30) pass through, around, and back to the band. It's so complicated that The Other Wiki resorted to using a table. The only constant is guitarist Robert Fripp, who has been with the band from the very start (and he didn't start making major songwriting contributions until the band's fourth album). Now he's become the band, but only partly by default, as by his words "King Crimson is a way of doing things" (of course by this point his influence on the band's writing is indisputable).
  • KISS has only had two mainstays; Paul Stanley (lead vocals, guitar) and Gene Simmons (lead vocals, bass). Founding members Peter Criss (drums) and Ace Frehley (lead guitar) both left (or were kicked out) in the early '80s, to be replaced by Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent, respectively. Vincent was fired as well, replaced briefly by Mark St. John and for longer by Bruce Kulick. In 1991, Carr died and Eric Singer replaced him at the drums, but both he and Kulick were fired when the original line-up was reunited. After that, it became a confusing mix of either Frehley or Criss leaving, with Tommy Thayer replacing Frehley whenever he was gone, and Eric Singer returning to the drum set whenever Criss left. Stanley, Simmons, Thayer, and Singer have been the fairly stable line-up since 2004, but just in case, both Thayer and Singer just use Frehley's and Criss's old make-up just to make it less confusing.
  • The French band Les Fatals Picards was almost exlusively created on the initiative of the lead singer Ivan Callot, who autoproduced the first two albums in 1999 and 2000. After this, a new member of the definitive band formation arrived in each new album, with Pamplemousse Mécanique being the album having all the members of the definitive lineup and Ivan Callot, who then left the band in 2007.
  • The Little River Band has replaced all of its members multiple times. In fact, the original lineup got in legal trouble in the mid-2000s when they wanted to tour under the name "Little River Band" and the current lineup wouldn't let them. To make things more insane, the band was formed in Australia and is identified as an Aussie band, but many LRB lineups since tend to lack Australian members. The longest-serving band member, Wayne Nelson, is from Illinois and joined the band in 1981.
  • When founding guitarist Gary Rossington died in March 2023, Lynyrd Skynyrd has no founding band members left.
  • Manfred Mann, Manfred Mann Chapter Three, and Manfred Mann's Earth Band, combined, are Manfred Mann and many, many others.
  • Marillion up until 1984. They also had three different vocalists in 1989, but their line-up has remained stable ever since.
  • Mike + the Mechanics were a supergroup formed by Genesis guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford in 1985 as a vehicle for his solo compositions, after Rutherford had produced one solo album, Smallcreep's Day, in 1980 with a different singer throughout, followed by 1982's Acting Very Strange, which had Rutherford himself singing. They comprised of Rutherford, keyboardist Adrian Lee, vocalist Paul Young (not the "Everytime You Go Away" one) of Sad Café, keyboardist/vocalist Paul Carrack (ex-Squeeze) and drummer Peter Van Hooke of Manfred Mann. By 2004's Rewired, particularly after Young's death, the band had been reduced to Rutherford and Carrack; the album was credited to "Mike + The Mechanics featuring Paul Carrack". Rutherford formed a completely new lineup for the album's follow-up, "The Road".
  • Fellow Southern rock band Molly Hatchet had a similarly fluid lineup. Their only semi-regular members were founding guitarist Dave Hlubek and singer Danny Joe Brown, the latter of whom wasn't an original member but had joined before their first album. When Hlubek quit in 1987, he was the last remaining original member. Brown would also quit in 1995, and since then Molly Hatchet has been led by two members that joined in the late '80s after their hitmaking days were over. Hlubek would return from 2005 until his death in 2017.
  • There are no original members left of the Newsboys. Jeff Frankenstein and Duncan Phillips have been consistent since the early 90s, while Michael Tait's been with them since 2009.
  • Christian Rock band Petra, founded in 1972, was like this throughout its career, in particular during the '80s. Rarely did two consecutive albums have the same lineup. The longest-running member is founder and lead guitarist Bob Hartman who retired from touring in 1994 but still wrote music and played in the studio until he returned to touring in 2001 with the release of Revival. He remains active with the band to this day. The second longest-running member is lead singer John Schlitt who has actively toured with the band since 1986.
  • Puddle of Mudd had trouble keeping a constant lineup until 2014. Wes Scantlin is the only original member left.
  • The only member of Queens of the Stone Age that has appeared on all their albums is its founder, Josh Homme. Homme's side project, The Desert Sessions, is the same way.
  • Rainbow were notorious for frequent changes during their lifetime; founder and only constant member Ritchie Blackmore never retained the same line-up for two successive studio albums. On one occasion he hired and then fired a bassist before he even got the chance to record on the album they were working on!
  • Renaissance was originally formed by two former members of The Yardbirds, lead singer Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty, with Relf's sister Jane and two other members. The band released their debut album in 1969, but fractured while recording the second. Shortly after that second album was completed, the last two original members, Jane Relf and keyboardist John Hawken, left Renaissance. Guitarist Michael Dunford and singer Annie Halsam joined in 1970 and 1971 respectively, and the lineup stabalized under their leadership. Dunford, Halsam, keyboardist John Tout, bassist Jon Camp, and drummer Terry Sullivan are considered to be Renaissance's classic lineup and stayed together from 1973 to 1980, but none of them were original members. The latter three left between 1980 and 1985, and the band broke up in 1987. When Dunford and Halsam reformed the band in 1998, and again in 2009, they continued it with rotating replacements until Dunford died in 2012. Halsam now leads Renaissance with a lineup of members mostly recurited in the 2000s and 2010s.
  • Ringo Starr and the All-Starr Band has a revolving door membership by design. The concept for the group is that everyone on stage with Ringo is a "star in their own right", who each get their own spotlight moments during concerts to perform songs from their career. There are usually a couple membership changes with each tour, although certain musicians like Todd Rundgren and Colin Hay have had multiple tenures with the band.
  • Carlos Santana is the only permanent member of Santana, which has 65 past members with some tenures lasting for less than a year. It had the most turbulence in the '70s, but has congealed into the current line-up since 2016.
  • Other than bandleader and guitarist Kim Simmonds, for several decades, the British blues rock band Savoy Brown could not retain a single member for more than five years at a time. In its 57-year-long existence, Savoy Brown saw an insane 47 changes in roster with nearly 70 different musicians, before finally stabilizing after 2009. The final lineup of frontman Simmonds, bassist Pat DeSalvo, and drummer Garnett Grimm would barely cross the threshold of Long-Runner Line-up before breaking up for good following Simmonds' death in December 2022.
  • Sha Na Na has gone through many, many members across its decades-long history, and now has only two original members left out of 15.
  • Sloan subverts this: they regularly change who plays which instruments — even during concerts. However, the members have always been Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland, Jay Ferguson, and Andrew Scott.
  • There are two categories of Sound Horizon band members: Revo and people who aren't Revo.
  • The Strawbs: 32 musicians so far, in 25 lineups. Not even frontman Dave Cousins was immune, having taken a break at the start of the '80s.
  • Thin Lizzy. The only constant members were Phil Lynott (vocals, bass and songwriting) and Brian Downey (drums). After Phil Lynott died in 1986, who will be touring under the name next time it appears is anyone's guess, but if you're lucky it'll at least have one of the members that were in the band whilst Phil was alive (since 1991 that's usually Scott Gorham). Ex-members include Gary Moore, Snowy White and Midge Ure. Their door revolved so much the issue has its own page on The Other Wiki.
    • It's been, mostly, stable since 2010, having only lost two guitarists, and containing three members from the 1969-'83 incarnations.
  • The Christian Rock group Whiteheart had a large number of band changes during its 15-year existence; including Steve Green (better known as an inspirational singer) on the debut album. After Green left, a vocalist named Scott Douglas joined for a pair of albums only to be kicked out following an arrest in 1985 for aggravated sexual battery before Rick Florian took over main vocals for the remainder of the band's existence. By the time the last album was released in 1997; only 2 original members (Billy Smiley and Mark Gersmehl) remained in the band.
  • Whitesnake were infamous for their constant personnel changes during the mid-80s. Infamously, David Coverdale fired all his band members who played on their best-selling album Whitesnake after the album's sessions finished, even though they had only played on that album. The current post-2003 lineup enjoyed relative stability for a while but in 2010 not one, not two, but THREE members left. The Other Wiki has a page dedicated to the various Whitesnake line-ups over the years.
  • Wings, Paul McCartney's second band, lasted for about eight years. During this time, they had five or six line-ups, three lead guitarists, four drummers (five if you count Paul when there were only three members), and two periods when only the core trio (Paul, his wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine) was present.
  • The Yardbirds. In both the original band and the current reformation, drummer Jim McCarty has been the only consistent member.
  • Yes has had a rotating cast of musicians in all positions, except bass, which had been Chris Squire until he died in 2015. Prior to his own death in 2022, drummer Alan White was also a constant since joining in 1972. When Squire died in 2015, former guitarist Billy Sherwood took his place. Currently, no original members remain in Yes, with Steve Howe (who joined in 1971) as the last remaining member from the classic lineup.
    • It got so ridiculous, Wikipedia actually has to devote a whole page full of lists, charts, and graphs for the sole purpose of tracking the ever-shifting lineup.
    • One unique period between 1991-1992 occurred when the Los Angeles-based, pop-friendly 1980s official lineup of Yes joined up with the members of splinter group Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (a more progressive rock-based lineup composed of departing Yes vocalist Jon Anderson and 1970s Yes alumni) to form an eight-man supergroup. The result was a rush-released, botched and heavily doctored 1991 album Union, comprising recordings from each lineup stitched together. An eight-man "in the round" world tour (described by Bill Bruford as "the cast of Dallas meets the cast of Dynasty (1981)") was better received but never repeated. The Union album was disliked even by band members. Wakeman called it "Onion" and Bruford said it was the only album of his that he hated.

    R&B/Soul/Funk 
  • Few groups can top the achievement of The Drifters. They first formed as the backing group for Clyde McPhatter after he left Billy Ward & The Dominoes. Then after a year McPhatter was drafted into the military and elected to go solo after his discharge. Jazz trumpeter George Treadwell took over as manager and oversaw various personnel shifts over the next few years. In 1958 he fired the entire lineup and hired another vocal group, The Five Crowns, to become The Drifters. After a few years, lead singer Ben E. King went solo, there were more changes, a couple previous members returned, and numerous competing Drifters groups flooded the oldies touring circuit. The Other Wiki sorts it all out. When the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, seven of the most famous members were chosen, few of whom had actually ever performed together.
  • Parliament-Funkadelic, led by George Clinton. Clinton's TV Tropes page lists the musicians involved. It is a very long list. Suffice it to say that sixteen musicians were inducted when P-Funk got in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And that doesn't cover everyone who's played in Parliament-Funkadelic or its present incarnation, the P-Funk All-Stars.
  • Rotary Connection: Each of their six albums had lineup changes, with only Minnie Riperton and Charles Stepney involved in all of them. This was one reason the final album was billed as performed by The New Rotary Connection, although it is still considered part of the RC canon.
  • The Supremes in The '70s iteration, with sole original member Mary Wilson being the only constant member in the line-up.
  • The Temptations: Only Otis Williams — ironically, the member with the fewest lead vocal parts — survives from either one of the group's classic lineups (the ones fronted by David Ruffin, and later by Dennis Edwards). The group has undergone dozens of lineup changes since forming in the 1960s, even in their hitless early days, but especially after "classic" members like Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams left for one reason or another. Bass singer Melvin Franklin was, like Otis Williams, a mainstay of the Tempts since their formation, until his death in 1995. Those two co-owned the group's name.
  • The Trammps had more than enough members during the band's life to have two versions of the group, with differing line-ups, that toured the nostalgia circuit in 2007.
  • Tower of Power. They've been together for 43 years, and have had at least 60 members.

    Ska 
  • No Doubt up until 1995. Gwen Stefani is the only stable member since its formation in 1986, and even she was promoted from backing vocals after original lead singer and co-founder John Spence died by suicide in 1987. The band's lineup, apart from the horn section, was mostly stable by 1990 after the additions of classic members Tony Kanal (joined in 1987 shortly after the band started playing live), Tom Dumont (1988), and Adrian Young (1989). Stefani's brother Eric, who had co-founded the band with Gwen and Spence, left the band in 1995; The remaining quartet just missed out on being a Long Runner Lineup by staying together for nine years before they went on hiatus in 2004.

    Unsorted 
  • In the world of ensemble playing and singing, it is not entirely incredulous that community and professional ensembbles have a core group who have been there or a very, very long time. Collegiate ensembles, though, obviously, will end up with a more or less brand new group every 4 years or so.
  • Da Yoopers were founded in 1975 and only percussionist Jim DeCaire and keyboardist Lynn Bellmore (née Anderson) are original. The bassist alone changed three times between 1986 and the mid-90s. What's more, almost all of their albums from the second onward have included large numbers of guest musicians. (At least two of these, "Cowboy" Dan Collins and Dick "Dick-E-Bird" Bunce, were former guests that were later assumed into the lineup.)
  • Enigma: Michael Cretu has been the sole consistent member since the group's beginning in 1990. Many vocalists that have performed with Enigma have stayed with the group for less than a few years at the most.
  • Fascinating Aïda's line-up has included Dillie Keane from the start, and Adele Anderson from not much later, but the third member of the group is constantly changing.
  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor started out as a trio, then ballooned to about 15 members before settling down to 8 or 9 from then on.
  • Hi-5. None of the line-up for the original Australian incarnation have been around since the beginning (in fact, the latest "lineup" was comprised of non-permanent performers for touring purposes since the entire 2017 lineup left at the end of the following year). In fact, the lineup has changed so many times that Australian Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield once jokingly stated that he thinks the thing that should most worry parents is "the ever-changing ensemble that makes up Hi-5".
  • The Hit Crew, a cover band used for all the Drew's Famous CDs that are ubiquitous at party supply and drug stores. They cover every musical genre, and every single one is attributed to "The Hit Crew" - from New Age to Disco to Metal to Country. The lineup is different from album to album and even song to song.
  • Rasputina - after going through innumerable lineup changes, some of which lasted for several years at a time, founder Melora Creager is the only original member left and the only member to appear on every album.
  • There aren't any original members left of Rockapella (known as the house band from Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego).
  • The only original members of Steam Powered Giraffe to still remain are two of the main robots, The Spine (David Michael Bennett) and Rabbit (Isabella "Bunny" Bennett). Other than that, the band has seen two robots leave and another join, replaced both of its original "Walter Girls", and gone through several drummers and a guitarist. Even Rabbit's design has changed to the point where she could be mistaken for a new robot at first glance!
  • Swans' only true constant is frontman Michael Gira, with vocalist/keyboardist Jarboe and guitarist Norman Westberg both clocking in well over a decade each with the band and numerous others cycling in and out of the group over the years. In recent years, however, things seem to have settled down: The touring incarnation of the group upon reformation in 2010, which includes Westberg, is the longest-running in the band's history, having disbanded in 2017 following the live album Deliquescence. Gira had said in 2016 that Swans would feature a "revolving cast" going forward. Kristof Hahn is the only member of the previous lineup besides Gira on 2019's leaving meaning, but the rest appear as guests.
  • The Whiffenproofs are a singing group from Yale University made up of senior students. Because of this, the lineup is completely replaced every year.

    Fictional bands 
  • Forms the basis of a puzzle in Knights of the Old Republic where you have to activate the holograms surrounding the treasure chest in the order the band members joined.
  • In Mystery Science Theater 3000: Eegah! Joel and the 'bots draw attention to the unnamed Surf Rock band that switched two guitars in the middle of a single song.
    Crow: This band has more personnel changes than Menudo!
    Joel: It's a tag-team band.
  • This is Spın̈al Tap, when it came to drummers; a parody of Saxon, who have gone through six different drummers so far.
    David St. Hubbins: "...you saw exactly how many people have been in this band over the years, 37 people've been in this band over the years."

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