Line #93 Main/SoloSideProject


1	Sometimes a band member just wants to do their own musical thing. There aren't any problems in the band (at least, not enough to justify a break-up). Instead, this lone member decides to take a break from the band, if it's active, or just get out on their own during a hiatus and write, record, and/or compose music and perhaps release an album or an [=EP=] when all's said and done.
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3	Contrast BreakupBreakout, where a band member finds success going solo AFTER the band... well, breaks up.
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6	!! Examples:
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8	* Music/{{KISS}} mainly did this with a set of four solo studio albums by each member at the time, released together in 1978 with the KISS name as an advertising tag. Peter Criss also released a second solo album, ''Out of Control'', during his time in the band.
9	* Fictional example: In ''Film/ThatThingYouDo'', Guy Patterson (the drummer) works on his jazz chops during the band's big tour.
10	* Brandon Flowers, Ronnie Vanucci, Mark Stroemer, and Dave Keuning of Music/TheKillers ''all'' have released solo albums. Flower's two albums ''Flamingo'' and ''The Desired Effect'' are arguably the most widely known. Keuning's second solo album ''A Mild Case Of Everything'' was released while he was on a hiatus from the band, but the rest of the solo albums were released alongside the whole group's work as The Killers.
11	* Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Phil Selway, and Ed O'Brien of Music/{{Radiohead}}--the frontman, lead guitarist/keyboardist, drummer, and rhythm guitarist, respectively--have all released solo work during the band's time together.
12	** Thom's got the electronic ''The Eraser'' and the ''Spitting Feathers'' EP under his belt, as well as remixes of other artists and a contribution to the ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' soundtrack.
13	** Jonny has done work with the BBC as a composer-in-residence, and has done the soundtrack for ''Film/NorwegianWood'', ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', ''Film/{{Bodysong}}'', and ''Film/WeNeedToTalkAboutKevin''.
14	** Phil has released both an album (''Familial'') and an EP (''Running Blind'').
15	** Ed has released a solo album (''Earth'') under his initials, EOB.
16	* Jonsi of Music/SigurRos has released ''Go'', a distinctly more electronic-sounding album than his band's usual PostRock output.
17	* After the release of Music/{{Boston}}'s second album, ''Don't Look Back'', songwriter and lead guitarist Tom Scholz got mired in legal conflicts with the band's producers, causing a long delay in the production of their third album. In the meantime, backup guitarist Barry Goudreau, along with singer Brad Delp, recorded a solo album titled ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Barry Goudreau]]''. Goudreau later went on to split away from the group, forming his own band, Music/OrionTheHunter (which featured the ''future'' Boston vocalist Fran Cosmo, and backup vocals from Brad Delp), and, later, with Delp, Music/{{RTZ}}.
18	** Scholz engaged in his own non-music side project during this time: developing and selling (through his own company, Scholz Research & Development) the Rockman headphone amp, which replicates the Boston guitar sound.
19	* Julian Casablancas of Music/TheStrokes has released a solo album.
20	* Davey Havok and Jade Puget of Music/{{AFI}} started a side project called Blaqk Audio, which has released six albums.
21	* Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz of Music/KillswitchEngage started a solo project (with former Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach) called Times of Grace.
22	* The list of side projects various Music/{{Converge}} members have been involved in is as long as your arm.
23	* Music/{{Blur}}:
24	** In 2001, Damon Albarn released ''[[Music/GorillazAlbum Gorillaz]]'', which was more-or-less a solo album tied together with a [[VirtualCelebrity virtual band]] concept and art by [[ComicBook/TankGirl Jamie Hewlett]]. It ended up being a huge success, spawning many more Music/{{Gorillaz}} albums over the years and [[BreakupBreakout outsizing Blur in general popularity, especially stateside.]] When Blur released ''Think Tank'', which was made in the absence of Graham Coxton, many noted that it sounded a lot more like a Gorillaz album than a Blur one. Ironically, Gorillaz wound up becoming Albarn's main project post-''Think Tank'' -- Blur only released one more album in 2015 and have been mostly on hiatus since its supporting tour, while Gorillaz still maintains a steady stream of new releases. Albarn has also released several solo albums under his own name, with the first being in 2014, curiously making them solo side projects ''to'' the solo side project. (And that's not getting into his involvement in [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder multiple supergroups, various soundtracks, production work, an entire opera...]])
25	** Guitarist Graham Coxton wrote and released his own albums while the band was still together, and has continued his solo career post-breakup.
26	* For Music/TheBeachBoys, Dennis Wilson was the first of the classic 6-man line-up to release a solo album, with the lost classic ''Music/PacificOceanBlue'' in 1977, which is still held in high regard. He attempted to create a second solo album, called ''Bambu'', but as Dennis's personal life was going downhill, the album was never completed by the time he drowned in 1983.
27	* Plenty for Music/TheBeatles:
28	** Music/PaulMcCartney's score for the film ''The Family Way'' (1967) would technically be the first solo side project by a Beatle, but since it was more a CultSoundtrack than an actual solo effort it's usually not regarded that way.
29	** Music/GeorgeHarrison's ''Music/WonderwallMusic'' (1968) was the first official solo side project released by a Beatle. He followed it up later with ''Electronic Sound (1969)''
30	** Music/JohnLennon was the next Beatle to release albums while technically still a member of the band. His two ''Unfinished Music'' albums (''Music/UnfinishedMusicNo1TwoVirgins'' (1968), ''Music/UnfinishedMusicNo2LifeWithTheLions'' (1968)), ''Music/WeddingAlbum'' (1969) and ''Live Peace in Toronto'' (1969), were all recorded with Music/YokoOno. They are arguably the most notorious solo side projects ever released.
31	** Music/RingoStarr's ''Sentimental Journey'' (1970) and [=McCartney=]'s self-titled first solo album, ''Music/McCartney'' (1970) were recorded while the Beatles were still technically together.
32	** Lennon, [=McCartney=], and Harrison also wrote for and produced a number of other acts.
33	* Mono Puff was the side project of John Flansburgh of Music/TheyMightBeGiants. John Linnell had two solo releases as well: The first was the EP ''House Of Mayors'', released on the subscription-only record label Hello Records, and the second was a more widely released full album, ''State Songs''.
34	* Mike Shinoda of Music/LinkinPark had the side project Music/FortMinor.
35	* Around 1977-8, all the members of Music/{{Yes}} released solo albums.
36	* Bill Wyman was the first [[Music/TheRollingStonesBand Rolling Stone]] to release a proper solo album, with the brilliant and underrated ''Monkey Grip'' in 1974. This was followed by the average ''Stone Alone'' in 1976, the great but dated ''Bill Wyman'' in 1982, and finally the awful ''Stuff'' in 1992 (immediately prior to his departure from the Stones). He was also the only Stone to have a major solo hit, with "(Si, Si) Je Suis un Rockstar" in 1981, as well as the minor hits "A New Fashion" and "Come Back Suzanne" in 1982. His first solo single was "In Another Land" from the Stones album ''Music/TheirSatanicMajestiesRequest'' in 1967. He also composed and contributed to the soundtracks for the films ''Green Ice'', ''Phenomena'' and ''Terror At The Opera''.
37	** Wyman also formed the short-lived band Willie And The Poor Boys in the mid-80's, and created a self-titled album which had many high-profile musicians, as well as Charlie Watts.
38	** Both Music/MickJagger and Music/KeithRichards have also released solo albums from the 80's onwards. Mick's solo albums are ''She's The Boss'' in 1985, ''Primitive Cool'' in 1987, ''Wandering Spirit'' in 1993, ''Goddess In The Doorway'' in 2001, and the soundtrack to the film ''Alfie'' in 2004. He also contributed to the soundtracks of ''Performance'' and ''[[Film/NedKelly1970 Ned Kelly]]'', with "Memo From Turner" being his first solo single in 1970. However, his solo career (especially early on) nearly destroyed The Rolling Stones, and has helped destroy Mick and Keith's friendship.
39	** Music/KeithRichards also released three solo albums: ''Talk Is Cheap'' (1988), ''Main Offender'' (1992) and ''Crosseyed Heart'' (2015). His earliest solo single, a cover of Music/ChuckBerry's "Run Rudolph Run" dates back to 1978.
40	** Ronnie Wood's solo career started in 1974 with ''I've Got My Own Album To Do'' (Bill Wyman's ''Monkey Grip'' pre-dates it by a few months). This was followed by ''Now Look'' in 1975, a soundtrack to the movie ''Mahoney's Last Stand'' with Ronnie Lane in 1976, ''Gimme Some Neck'' in 1979, ''1234'' in 1981, ''Slide On This'' in 1992, ''Not For Beginners'' in 2001, and ''I Feel Like Playing'' in 2010.
41	** Also, Music/BrianJones wrote the soundtrack to the film ''A Degree Of Murder'' in 1967, and produced the album ''Music/BrianJonesPresentsThePipesOfPanAtJajouka'', posthumously released in 1971.
42	** Charlie Watts also released some solo work, which is of a very different style (Jazz) than the Rolling Stones normally play.
43	* Almost all the members of the supergroup Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung released solo albums during the band's tenure.
44	* Several members of Music/TheGratefulDead:
45	** Guitarist Jerry Garcia released several solo albums, and also had several side projects, including Saunders and Garcia (rock and funk), Old and In the Way (bluegrass), and Wales and Garcia (free jazz).
46	** Guitarist Bob Weir put out a solo album, and also had a couple of side-project bands that released albums.
47	** Bassist Phil Lesh had a solo album of experimental electronica featuring a wide variety of guests from several San Francisco bands. (His band, Phil and Friends, didn't form till after the Dead broke up, though, and thus does not qualify.)
48	** Drummer Micky Hart had a couple of albums with his band Rolling Thunder.
49	* Eddie Vedder of Music/PearlJam did the soundtrack for the film Film/IntoTheWild while Pearl Jam were still together. He also released a solo Ukulele album.
50	* Music/PhilCollins started his highly successful solo career in 1981. Around the same time, Music/{{Genesis\|Band}} grew more popular, too, with Collins still as their drummer and lead singer. That way, it was pretty much impossible to avoid his music in TheEighties. It wasn't until the late Nineties that Collins left Genesis.
51	** Also, guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford recorded two solo albums before forming his own Solo Side Project, Mike + The Mechanics.
52	** Not to mention Genesis' former and gone-for-good lead singer Music/PeterGabriel.
53	** Steve Hackett's first solo album, ''Voyage of the Acolyte'', was recorded before he formally left Genesis.
54	* Music/AndrewHorowitz of Music/TallyHall is "edu" when left to his own devices. He released his debut album only on cassette tape in 2012.
55	** Rob Cantor also began a solo career in 2012. That song about Creator/ShiaLaBeouf being a cannibal? [[Music/ShiaLaBeoufLive That was him.]]
56	* Music/FrankZappa is a special case. When he was part of the Mothers of Invention he released one solo album outside the group's activities, namely ''Music/LumpyGravy''. None of the band members appear on it as a group, though a few of them (Jimmy Carl Black, Roy Estrada, Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood and Bunk Gardner) have guest appearances, but only in speaking parts. All music on the record is instrumental and recorded with an orchestra. Seeing that Zappa was pretty much IAmTheBand from the start and all of his output nowadays is branded under the name "Frank Zappa" the distinction has disappeared.
57	* Music/FreddieMercury released two solo albums while still part of Music/{{Queen}}, namely "Mr. Bad Guy" and ''Music/{{Barcelona}}'', in collaboration with opera singer Montserrat Caballé.
58	** Fellow Queen member Music/BrianMay released ''Music/StarFleetProject'' in 1983, an EP collaboration with Eddie Music/VanHalen.
59	* Tom Barman, lead singer of Belgian rock band Music/{{dEUS}}, has released two solo albums, namely "Live" (with Guy Van Nueten) and "That's Blue!", a collection of snippets from interviews with pop art painters, intercut with music. He has also collaborated with CJ Bolland for their duo solo side project Magnus, which is a dance act. Barman is also a special case, because although dEUS still exists most of the early members have left and went on having solo careers themselves, leaving only Barman and Klaas Janszoons as the permanent members.
60	* Five albums from four members of Music/TheCars during a couple of breaks in 1982 and '86.
61	* While other members focused on other solo work such as variety shows, Music/CNBlue leader and main vocalist Jung Yonghwa made his solo debut in 2015 with the album "One Fine Day" which is full of his self-compositions and collaborations. It allowed him to produce and release music outside of the band's usual style.
62	* After Music/{{Fun}} went on hiatus, which they insist is NOT a break-up, frontman Nate Ruess embarked on a solo career as an IndiePop artist. If fun. hasn't truly broken up, it can be assumed that Nate's solo career is this.
63	* Similar to {{Music/Kiss}}, the members of {{Music/Melvins}} also released three solo EP's at the same time - As a ShoutOut, the cover art was even done in a similar style to the solo Kiss albums. Later on, King Buzzo released an acoustic solo album called ''This Machine Kills Artists'', and Dale Crover had his own album ''The Fickle Finger Of Fate''.
64	* Music/{{Alabama}} frontman Randy Owen released the solo album ''One on One'' in 2008 without interrupting the career of the now semi-retired-but-still-occasionally-touring band.
65	* Music/{{Sugarland}}'s two members, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, released solo projects in early 2014 and early 2015 respectively. Both have been emphatic about the fact that both solo albums are only a side project, and that Sugarland is not broken up, merely on hiatus.
66	* When Music/BigAndRich went on hiatus in 2008 so that Big Kenny could recover from a neck injury, both he and John Rich released solo albums. Big Kenny only did one, but Rich did a full one followed by two [=EPs=].
67	* Aaron Lewis, frontman of the rock band Music/{{Staind}}, has released two albums of CountryMusic.
68	* William Lee Golden of Music/TheOakRidgeBoys did two albums after ExecutiveMeddling resulted in him temporarily getting kicked out of that band. (He later rejoined.)
69	* Curtis Rx of Music/CreatureFeature started a solo project under the name Music/RufusRex. This spawned one album: ''[[Music/RufusRex Dead Beat]]'' (2011).
70	* Music/MindInABox's vocalist, Stefan Poiss, runs a side project under the alias "THYX". Like mind.in.a.box, THYX is [[{{Industrial}} futurepop]], but is overall faster paced and lacks [[StoryArc the overarching narrative]] of mind.in.a.box's discography.
71	* After Music/LadyAntebellum went on hiatus in 2015, both lead singers did this. Charles Kelley released the solo album ''The Driver'', while Hillary Scott put out a Christian album featuring her parents and sister.
72	* Music/ButtholeSurfers have had several:
73	** Gibby Haynes had the group P (also featuring Creator/JohnnyDepp), who released a single self-titled album in 1990, as well as the later solo project Gibby Haynes And His Problem.
74	** Haynes and bassist Jeff Pinkus had the short-lived electronic duo The Jack Officers, with 1990's ''Digital Dump'' as their only release.
75	** Guitarist Paul Leary's album ''The History of Dogs'' is a "solo project" in the truest sense, since he both wrote all the songs and performed all the instruments (which primarily consist of vocals, guitar, drum machine and synthesizers).
76	** Drummer King Coffey led the group Drain, who released albums in 1992 (''Pick Up Heaven'') and 1996 (''Offspeed And In There'')
77	* Both "heads of the band" of Music/DieArzte have done this. Farin Urlaub being a prolific songwriter initially credited this to the fact that his output was much larger than the gentleman's agreement of a roughly 50:50 share of songs written by him and Bela B. on each album. Bela has however also started a solo-career since and Farin's music is notably heavier on trombones and has stronger ska and funk influences than the pretty mainstream rock the band usually does.
78	* As for Music/{{ABBA}}, both singers Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad recorded solo albums while the group was still around.
79	** Agnetha recorded two albums in Swedish: ''Elva kvinnor i ett hus'' in 1975 and ''Nu tändas tusen juleljus'' in 1980, this one with her daughter Linda Ulvaeus. She also recorded ''Never Again'', a duet with Tomas Ledin released as a single in 1982.
80	** Frida also recorded two albums in the meantime: ''Ensam'' in 1975, and ''Something's Going On'' in 1982, the first in Swedish and the latter in English.
81	* All the members of Music/FleetwoodMac have recorded solo albums during band hiatuses, with Music/StevieNicks having the most success.
82	* Future Islands keyboardist Gerritt Welmers has a synthwave side project under the name Moss of Aura.
83	* Princess Century is this for Maya Postepski of Austra.
84	* Music/DestinysChild officially broke up in 2005. All three of the members released solo songs/albums during their various hiatuses, the most successful being Music/{{Beyonce}}'s 2003 album ''Dangerously in Love''. However, Beyonce was actually the last of the three to release a solo project: Michelle Williams released a gospel album in 2002 and Music/KellyRowland collaborated with Nelly in his hit single "Dilemma".
85	* In 1983, while Music/SoftCell were still active as a duo, Marc Almond released an album titled "Torments and Toreros" under the name Marc and the Mambas. It was panned by critics, leading to Marc (in a drug-fueled rage) confronting a music journalist while armed with a whip; he then [[TenMinuteRetirement announced that he was quitting the music industry, only to retract the statement shortly after]].
86	* Music/TonesOnTail was the side project of Music/{{Bauhaus}} guitarist Daniel Ash, later including their drummer Kevin Haskins, while Bauhaus was still active.
87	* Music/GodModule's Jasyn Bangert created the solo act Hexheart to to explore musical ideas and styles that did not fit into his main band.
88	* Andy Deane of {{darkwave}} band Music/BellaMorte went solo as The Rain Within, which has a more UsefulNotes/{{Synthwave}} influenced sound.
89	* Music/BruceSpringsteen had an odd case with ''Nebraska''. Springsteen originally recorded a sparse set of acoustic tracks by himself with the intention of giving them to the E Street Band and making them into an album with the full band. However, both Springsteen and the record label felt the original demos had a certain intimate, "haunting" quality that couldn't be replicated, and the demos were cleaned up and released as a Springsteen solo album. The E Street Band recorded more albums with Springsteen afterwards however, making ''Nebraska'' an unintended solo project.
90	* Marty Raybon, lead singer of Music/{{Shenandoah}}, recorded a gospel album in 1995 while his band was still active. He also did an album with his brother Tim as the Raybon Brothers in 1997 before his previous group had disbanded.
91	* Music/{{Chicago}} keyboardist Robert Lamm has released several solo albums, and guitarist Terry Kath was preparing to record one at the time of his death. Peter Cetera also released a solo album prior to leaving Chicago.
92	* Music/{{iamamiwhoami}} frontwoman Jonna Lee performs solo under the moniker ionnalee.
93	* The members of Music/TalkingHeads all began their own side-projects while the band was still active:
94	** Music/DavidByrne released his Music/BrianEno collaboration ''Music/MyLifeInTheBushOfGhosts'', his soundtrack to Twyla Tharp's dance project ''The Catherine Wheel'', and his solo debut ''Rei Momo'' while the band was still officially around. He would continue his solo career after Talking Heads announced their breakup at the end of 1991, released his solo album ''[[Music/UhOhDavidByrneAlbum Uh-Oh]]'' just a few months later, and still makes music to this day.
95	** Jerry Harrison's three solo albums were all released during the 1981-1990 period.
96	** Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth's side-band Music/TomTomClub released their first three albums between 1981 and 1988, with the third featuring Byrne and Harrison as backing vocalists on a cover of the Music/VelvetUnderground's [[Music/TheVelvetUndergroundAndNico "Femme Fatale"]]. Like Byrne, Tom Tom Club's career would also outlive Talking Heads, though their output is comparatively more sporadic.
97	* Justin Hayward (both by himself and with John Lodge), Ray Thomas, and Graeme Edge released solo projects during Music/TheMoodyBlues' commercial hiatus in the 1970's.
98	* Hayley Williams of Music/{{Paramore}} has released two solo albums outside of the group, ''Petals For Armor'' and ''FLOWERS for VASES/Descansos''.
99	* Paul Hartnoll of Music/{{Orbital}} has produced two solo albums while separated from his brother Phil; ''The Ideal Condition'' under his own name, and a self-titled album under the alias 8:58, which he considered a SpiritualSuccessor to Orbital's works (although they reunited for a second time a couple years after its release).
100	* All four members of the classic line-up of Music/TheWho also released solo albums, to varying degrees of success: the most commercially successful was Roger Daltrey's self-titled debut, while Pete Townshend is easily the most prolific. John Entwistle released several solo albums majoring on his trademark black humour which went largely unnoticed. Keith Moon made only one solo album, the more generous reviews of which label it SoBadItsGood.
101	* Tyler Glenn, lead singer and keyboardist of Music/NeonTrees, released ''Excommunication'' in 2016 during a six-year album hiatus for the main band. That album is much more deeply personal, as it deals with his decision to leave the LDS Church.
102	* Xeno & Oaklander co-founder Sean [=McBride=] has the solo act Martial Canterel.
103	* Drew Daniel of {{Music/Matmos}} has a microhouse/experimental techno side project called The Soft Pink Truth.
104	* In 2000, while indie rock band Creeper Lagoon were still active, founding member Sharky Laguana released an album of instrumental TripHop under the name Sly Doc.
105	* During Music/InformationSociety's hiatus as a group in the 1990's, singer Kurt Harland [[IAmTheBand used the name as a solo act]], while producer Paul Robb went solo as Think Tank.
106	* {{Music/Alphaville}} lead singer Marian Gold released two solo albums in the 90s: ''So Long Celeste'' and ''United''. ''So Long Celeste'' was written and recorded in the aftermath of Alphaville's ''The Breathtaking Blue'', which had such a tumultuous production that the band members stopped speaking to each other despite not officially breaking up. ''United'' on the other hand, which was recorded after Alphaville regrouped for ''Prostitute'', is a sort of "lost" Alphaville album, as Alphaville member Bernhard Lloyd was one of the mastering engineers, and other Alphaville member Ricky Echolette co-wrote several songs, as did frequent Alphaville collaborator Rainer Bloss.
107	* Music/PinkFloyd members Music/RogerWaters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason all released solo projects while part of the band.
108	* Hélène de Thoury, one half of the French DarkWave duo Minuit Machine and former keyboardist of the short-lived synthpop band Phosphor, records solo as Hante..
109	* Music/{{Korn}} vocalist Jonathan Davis released his debut solo album, ''Black Labyrinth'', between the releases of Korn's ''The Serenity of Suffering'' and ''The Nothing''.
110	* Dave, Martin, and Alan of Music/DepecheMode have released solo albums over time. Dave is the most prominent, and has even been featured in various lost songs from more minor artists that he's collaborated with.

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