25 Rock + Metal Bands Whose Singer Is the Only Original Member Left
And then there was one — remaining original member who's the lead vocalist, that is. The following bands no longer have any original members except for the singer. What band would you add?
Gallery Credit: Philip Trapp

Aborted
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Aborted (Sven de Caluwe)
Aborted vocalist Sven de Caluwe, the Belgian death metal act's sole constant member, has employed a half-dozen versions of the band's lineup since 1995. (The group's former members include over 20 musicians.) Today, drummer Ken Bedene is the second-longest serving member — he joined in 2010.

Black Veil Brides
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Black Veil Brides (Andy Biersack)
Lead vocalist Andy Biersack is the only member left from Black Veil Brides' original lineup. The glammy metalcore outfit formed in 2006, and longtime rhythm guitarist Jinxx joined in 2009. Drummer Christian "CC" Coma and lead guitarist Jake Pitts followed shortly after. They remain today alongside bassist Lonny Eagleton.

Bush
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Bush (Gavin Rossdale)

Founding drummer Robin Goodridge returned when Bush reunited in 2010. But since his departure nine years later, singer-guitarist Gavin Rossdale is the lone remaining original member of the English rock band. Pictured above is the classic Bush lineup with lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford (far left) and bassist Dave Parsons (far right) in 2001.

Danzig
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Danzig (Glenn Danzig)
The first lineup of Danzig included guitarist John Christ, bassist Eerie Von and drummer Chuck Biscuits. They backed the metal band's namesake, lead singer Glenn Danzig (Misfits, Samhain). But Glenn is the only remaining original Danzig member since Biscuits left in 1994, and Christ and Von followed him out a year later.

Eels
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Eels (E)
Singer Mark Oliver Everett, otherwise known as E, debuted his Los Angeles alt-rockers Eels with Jonathan "Butch" Norton on drums and Tommy Walter on bass. Walter left in 1997 to form Abandoned Pools; Butch departed in the mid-2000s. The group has had several lineup changes since, with Everett the only constant.

Dying Fetus
Relapse Records

Dying Fetus (John Gallagher)
Dying Fetus guitarist-vocalist John Gallagher has helmed the Maryland-born death metal band from their 1991 start. The group's rhythm section currently consists of bassist Sean Beasley and drummer Trey Williams, who joined in 2001 and 2007, respectively. (Pictured, L-R: Williams, Beasley, Gallagher)

Everclear
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Everclear (Art Alexakis)
Alternative rock fans from the '90s and early 2000s likely remember Everclear's classic trio of singer-guitarist Art Alexakis with bassist Craig Montoya and drummer Greg Eklund. But after the rhythm section parted ways with Alexakis in 2003, the bandleader became the only original member left.

FEAR
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FEAR (Lee Ving)
The punk icons FEAR have always had their leader in lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Lee Ving. Today, he's the band's only original member. However, early lead guitarist Philo Cramer did return to the group in 2018. Cramer supplanted founding guitarist Burt Good only a year after FEAR formed in Los Angeles in 1977.

Fever 333
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FEVER 333 (Jason Aalon Butler)
Former Letlive vocalist Jason Aalon Butler established the post-hardcore rap-rock outfit FEVER 333 in 2017 with guitarist Stephen Harrison and drummer Aric Improta. In 2022, Harrison and Improta left the trio, leaving Butler the only original band member. (Pictured, L-R: Harrison, Butler, Improta)

Hate Eternal
Season of Mist

Hate Eternal (Erik Rutan)
Guitarist and lead vocalist Erik Rutan runs the show for Florida's Hate Eternal, who formed in 1997. A rotating lineup of musicians has accompanied him in the death metal band since original drummer Tim Yeung left in 2000. The late Jared Anderson, the band's first bassist and a former Morbid Angel member, parted ways with the group in 2003. Rutan is also now lead guitarist in Cannibal Corpse

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Jethro Tull
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Jethro Tull (Ian Anderson)
Jethro Tull mastermind Ian Anderson is the only original Tull-er these days. All other current members of the influential classic rock act joined in 2007 or later. The original lineup was formed in England in 1967.

Machine Head
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Machine Head (Robb Flynn)
Lead vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn formed the groove-metalheads Machine Head in 1991 with guitarist Logan Mader, bassist Adam Duce and drummer Chris Kontos. But since 2013, Flynn has been the only original member of that lineup left. However, Mader and Kontos briefly returned to touring with the band in 2019 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their first album, Burn My Eyes.

Megadeth
Travis Shinn

Megadeth (Dave Mustaine)
Through all their lineup shifts since 1983, Megadeth stayed centered on the duo of singer-guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson. (Well, mostly — Ellefson's 2004–2010 leave excluded.) But as of 2021, Mustaine remains the only original member of the metal titans. Ellefson parted ways with the band in May of that year.

Ministry
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Ministry (Al Jourgensen)
Al Jourgensen is the primary creative force in the industrial metal icons Ministry. It's been that way since the Cuban-American vocalist and producer started the band as a synth-driven new wave act in Chicago in 1981. But the group's formative lineups burnt out by 1986 — just before Ministry took off in the metal scene a couple of years later

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Pedro the Lion
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Pedro the Lion (David Bazan)
Pedro the Lion have always been about the dark indie rock created by singer-songwriter and founding member David Bazan. Since reforming the band in 2017, two new recruits in Erik Walters (guitar) and Sean Lane (drums) have rounded out the group as a trio, with Bazan on bass.

Queens of the Stone Age
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Queens of the Stone Age (Josh Homme)
Singer-guitarist Josh Homme is Queens of the Stone Age's only remaining original member after first bassist Nick Oliveri split in 2004. Early drummer Alfredo Hernandez left in 1999. Alas, the band has always been a vehicle for Homme's songs – they were founded with that aim in 1996 before he even recruited band members.

Soul Asylum
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Soul Asylum (Dave Pirner)
Lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Pirner is the sole remaining original member of Soul Asylum. Original bassist Karl Mueller died in 2005. Founding lead guitarist Dan Murphy left the longtime Minneapolis rock band in 2012.

Starflyer 59
Tooth & Nail Records

Starflyer 59 (Jason Martin)
Starflyer 59 started as a heavy shoegaze band when the duo of singer-songwriter Jason Martin and bassist Andrew Larson first came together in Southern California in the early '90s. Three decades later, the outfit's proven more as an alt-rock solo vehicle for Martin. (Larson was out by 1997.) Former Starflyer 59 members have included drummer Frank Lenz, guitarist Josh Dooley, and the late keyboardist Richard Swift (The Black Keys, The Shins).

The Beach Boys
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The Beach Boys (Mike Love)
The classic Beach Boys lineup, including original members Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, toured together again amid a brief reunion of the group's surviving members in 2012. But since then, seeing The Beach Boys live means seeing only original vocalist Mike Love onstage with the band. (Longtime but non-original sideman Bruce Johnston is also there.) This was also the case before the reunion. There is a caveat — Wilson and Jardine are still official "members," though only one original Beach Boy currently performs onstage with the act.

The Cure
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The Cure (Robert Smith)
Robert Smith, the iconic lead singer in new wave favorites The Cure, is the band's only remaining original member. However, bassist Simon Gallup is almost an original member — he supplanted founding bassist Michael Dempsey just a year after the group formed in England in 1978.

The Shins
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The Shins (James Mercer)
Besides singer-guitarist James Mercer, the longest-serving member of The Shins is bassist Yuuki Matthews, who joined in 2011. But Mercer started the indie-rock band in 1996 with drummer Jesse Sandoval. Bassist Dave Hernandez and keyboardist Martin Crandall joined in 1998. All three parted ways with the group in 2009.

Vader
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Vader (Piotr 'Peter' Wiwczarek)
The Polish death metal band Vader were formed by Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek in 1983. The group has been through several lineup changes, resulting in all other current members having joined in the 2010s or later.

Venom
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Venom (Conrad 'Cronos' Lant)
English metal pioneers Venom cemented their ambition around lead vocalist and bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant in 1979, after he joined the band that was previously called Guillotine. As Venom, Lant has steered the ship creatively for four decades. Today, he remains the only original member of the proto-black metal mainstays.

W.A.S.P.
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W.A.S.P. (Blackie Lawless)
Blackie Lawless is the sole original member in the classic metal act W.A.S.P. The singer formed the band in 1982 with members of his previous outfit, Circus Circus. All other current members joined in the '90s or after. Pictured (L-R) are original guitarist Randy Piper, Lawless, guitarist Chris Holmes and original drummer Tony Richards in 1985.

Whitesnake
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Whitesnake (David Coverdale)It tracks that lead vocalist David Coverdale is the only original member left in Whitesnake. After all, the band was formed solely as a vehicle for his singing after he left Deep Purple in the mid-'70s. Now, save from longtime drummer Tommy Aldridge, every other Whitesnake member joined in the 2000s or later.