Beech Tree News Network

Against The Grain by: Andy Sullivan
Every now and then, a band is in need of a new lead singer.  The singer dies( Michael Hutchence of INXS) , gets kicked out of the band ( JD Fortune of, again, INXS) the lead leaves because of family illness( Steve Perry left Journey because his mother became ill) are just a few examples of a group and lead separating.  Steven Paige of Barenaked Ladies left for a completely different reason, to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by Ed Robertson, who was already co-lead singer in the band.  And no, he’s not of the Duck Dynasty Robertson’s.
With these occurrences, a band has a decision to make.  Who will replace said person as lead singer? All the bands I mentioned above eventually got themselves a new lead singer.  What is the result? Not often, if at all, does the re-vamped line-up even hold a candle to the classic band of the past.  Michael Hutchence was lead singer of INXS from when he founded the group in 1977 until his death in 1997.  In 2005, CBS held the reality competition Rockstar: INXS, in which Fortune was fortunate enough to win.  Four years later, he was given the boot.  He would be guest vocalist on the band’s legendary track “Original Sin” for a one-time appearance.  The band has had guest lead singers ever since, including Train’s Pat Monahan.
Journey found their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, via you-tube.  Pineda was a bar and club singer working in Manila in 2007, doing some original material but mostly covers.  He got an email from Neal Schon, the guitarist from Journey.  Schon had seen clips of Pineda performing on you-tube and asked him to come to San Francisco and audition to become the new lead singer.  Pineda went from Journey fan to Journey member, all because of You-tube.  Oh, and he sounds exactly like former front man Steve Perry.  
Pineda is still lead singer of Journey.  Robertson is still lead singer of BNL.  Johnny Van Zandt has been the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd since the ‘80’s after his brother, lead singer Ronnie died in a plane crash.  
Peter Gabriel left Genesis in the mid-‘70’s.  He was replaced by Phil Collins.  They did more than alright with Collins at the helm.  Granted, they haven’t made an album in over a decade.  Styx was co-founded by singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung in 1972 and had five albums and the DeYoung ballad “Lady” before guitarist/singer Tommy Shaw joined the band in 1975. For nearly a decade, Shaw and DeYoung took turns on lead vocals, with DeYoung’s tunes taking on a more theatrical tone in hits like “Come Sail Away,” “Babe,” “The Best of Times,” and 1983s unforgettable and often-quoted “Mr. Roboto” from Kilroy Was Here. In-fighting led to Shaw’s departure after the Kilroy tour, putting an end to Styx’s hit-making days. In 1995, the original members put their differences behind them for a reunion tour and two subsequent albums, but by 1999, the tensions had risen again due to creative differences. When it was time for the band to hit the road again, DeYoung asked that the tour be delayed because he was ill, but the band went ahead without him hiring Canadian musician Lawrence Gowan to fill in. Nearly a decade later, Gowan is still fronting the band, which continues to tour, though fans have been divided in their loyalties between the two camps. Gowan does fill in beautifully on keyboards and sounds enough like DeYoung to satisfy the casual and diehard fan alike, but the DeYoung devotees have yet to give in to the current line-up. After being unceremoniously ditched from the band he created, DeYoung composed a musical for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and still performs live; he’s also appeared on TV’s Celebrity Duets.
Has there ever been a bigger debate in rock than the one about Van Halen/Van Hager? After their hugely successful 1984, singer David Lee Roth quit Van Halen, leaving the remaining three members in a lurch. Not only were Roth’s vocals and ad-libs unique for the band in tunes like “Jump,” “Hot For Teacher,” and “Panama,” but so was his live showmanship. Guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen could carry the band very far, but to complete their act, they needed a new front man with Roth’s charisma to match. Strangely enough they went with solo artist Sammy Hagar, who not only sang, but could play guitar for live shows and did know how to work the crowd. The problem is that Hagar sang differently than Roth and definitely looked nothing like Roth, but more importantly, co-wrote songs for the band that sound nothing like the ones from Roth’s six-year reign. Fans of VH’s early hard rock records were now met with mushy love songs like, “Love Walks In,” Why Can’t This Be Love,” and “When It’s Love” (see a pattern?). But while VH lost much of its old following, they gained a whole new following in the fans of pop rock (aka, the mainstream) and hair metal. And as with their Roth albums, the Hagar years saw all multi-platinum albums. While Hagar fronted VH, Roth initially hit it big with two solo albums in the late 1980s, but after that, his career went downhill. In 1996, after Hagar came to verbal blows with Eddie Van Halen, the band hired Extreme singer Gary Cherone to work on Van Halen III, while Hagar went back to his solo career. VH III was basically ignored and the band went on hiatus until 2003 when they reunited with Hagar, after which Hagar went back to his solo career. After years of rumors, in 2007, Van Halen officially reunited with Roth for a world tour that’s still raging.
Those are several bands who eventually found their lead singer.  A few of them worked out, some didn’t.  It’s nearly impossible to recreate the magic of the original band line-up.  That’s why it has rarely worked.  
Hello.  My name is Andy Sullivan.  I received my bachelor’s degree in business from Mid-Continent University in June 2009.  I began writing for beechtree in July 2009.  I enjoy writing, photography, watching basketball and football, and playing guitar.   Thanks for reading!