Metal Sludge — Why did your favorite band break up?

Or, why did they fire a certain member, or did that member quit and now refuses to return to the group.

One of the biggest examples of this, would be Steve Perry leaving Journey in May of 1998 for the second and final time, only to never return much to the dismay of fans around the globe.

Another big one from the American world of rock n’ roll, would be when David Lee Roth left Van Halen in 1985 to embark on his solo career.

Of course Roth returned at some point for a few tours, but much of it had been troubling and well past its ‘Use By Date’ and fans for the most part felt shorted when it did happen.

There are all kinds of ways a band comes together, and equally as many ways, as to why it falls apart, or submerges itself into the world of scab players, hired guns, or the 2nd or 3rd replacement players.

Examples of these, would be Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

You know it’s been happening for many years, before most of us were born, like going way back to The Beatles when Pete Best was dismissed from the band just as they were about to have world-wide success.

There were many variations of the comings and goings of bands throughout the 60’s and 70’s, but more related to our era, the 1980’s have all kinds of stories that we’ve watched unfold before our very eyes.

Def Leppard is a great early example when Pete Willis was let go from the band and replaced by Phil Collen who was previously in the English band Girl.

During the Sunset Strip era, there were several changes, before, during and after the success with Quiet Riot, who is now fronted by Jizzy Pearl many years after the unfortunate passing of the band’s unmistakable face and voice in Kevin DuBrow.

Speaking of Pearl, he is a great guy to give perspective on this, as he has stood on stage with a longer list than most of bands from the era.

At some point he was singing for L.A. Guns, then eventually found himself in Ratt and now is on his 2nd tenure with Quiet Riot.

All the while, Pearl‘s original band Love/Hate, has been up and down, both together and half falling apart. But somehow over the years, a version of the band exists with Pearl as the sole original member, but we’re sure, it was not without some chaos and a battle.

In the end, if all of the original member cannot see eye-to-eye, well, then they go their separate ways, but often in a lot of cases, someone in the band takes the reigns and marches forward (like Pearl has) but is forced to bring in replacement members.

Whether it was Steven Adler being fired from Guns N’ Roses, Sebastian Bach getting the boot from Skid Row, or Jack Russell getting replaced in Great White, all of these stories have their own history.

And each, has a variety of reasons as to why someone is shown the door.

Now not every band continues on, especially the groups who had less of a successful run then the Platinum noted bands above, so many of the D-list or lower bands, simply threw in the towel.

Remember this the next time you’re complaining about your favorite band not being all original members… truth is, many could not do this if they wanted, as someone has passed away, or, the parties all agree, we’re not meant to be in the same room together.

With that, we will step away from the keyboard here, and let Jizzy give you his perspective on ‘Why bands break up’. (see the video below)

Stay tuned to Metal Sludge for Breaking News, Updates and Features along with New and Classic interviews.